Tuesday 31 March 2015

1916 Commemorative Centre to be built in Moore Street

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced that the Government is to acquire the National Monument at Nos. 14-17 Moore Street, Dublin.

The decision will allow for a 1916 Commemorative Centre to be developed at the site.

No. 16 Moore Street was the location of the final council of war of the Leaders of the 1916 Rising and is where the decision to surrender was made.  The house at No. 16, together with the surrounding buildings at Nos. 14, 15 and 17, were declared a national monument in 2007.

Making the announcement, Minister Heather Humphreys said: "[The decision] puts an end to the uncertainty surrounding the future of these buildings and ensures that they will be accessible to all who are interested in the history of the 1916 Rising. I hope that this project will be completed during the Centenary Year as a fitting tribute to the leaders of the Easter Rising.”

She advised that she will shortly bring further proposals to Government outlining plans to safeguard and fully restore the buildings, and to create a 1916 Commemorative Centre on the site. The requisite approval under the National Monuments Acts is already in place for the restoration project and the proposed Commemorative Centre.

Today’s decision means that:
  • the Moore Street national monument will now come into public ownership
  • the long-term future of this historical landmark is secured
  • the 1916 Commemorative Centre to be developed on the site will be run as a public facility with access for citizens and visitors alike
  • the new Commemorative Centre will enhance and complement the 1916 visitor facility currently being developed in the GPO.


Monday 30 March 2015

Dublin Correspondent joins British Newspaper Archive

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5895&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk%2F
The Dublin Correspondent has joined the
British Newspaper Archive's line up. The paper – a moderate pro-British Government title that, for a short time had the largest circulation in Ireland – started publication in 1806 as The Correspondent, only adding the 'Dublin' to its name in 1823.

More than 150 editions of the paper have been uploaded, most dating from that year, with just a handful of issues for 1824 and 1825.

There are now 71 Irish titles in the BNA database. They can be accessed via a BNA subscription or as part of FindMyPast's Ireland and World subscription packages.

This latest addition means there are a total of 400 titles in the British Newspaper Archive offering 10,616,161 pages of historical material.


Irish genealogy & heritage events, 30 March to 12 April

Monday 30 March: Finding Irish and Scots-Irish Roots, a half-day seminar with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Rogue Valley Genealogical Society. Venue: Jackson County Genealogy Library, 3405 So. Pacific Highway, Medford, OR, 97501 USA. 8:30am to noon. Members £30; Non-members $35. Details. Fully booked.

Monday 30 March: Snippets from the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ulster, with Johnny Dooher. Host: North of Ireland FHS, Foyle Branch. Venue: Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, LondonDerry BT48 6A. 7–9pm. All welcome.

Monday 30 March: Trim: Fairly typical medieval town, with Mary Hayes. Host: Clondalkin History Society. Venue: Arás Chronáin Irish Cultural Centre, Watery Lane, Clondalkin, Co Dublin. 8pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 31 March: The Police in Ireland & The First World War, with Dr Myles Dungan. Host: Garda Historical Society. Venue: The Palatine Room, Collins Museum, Dublin 7. Space limited, so need to reserve place. Email gardahistoricalsociety@gmail.com.

Tuesday 31 March: Arthur Griffith: his life and times, a History Ireland Hedge School. Host and venue: Cavan County Museum, Virginia Road, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan. The panel will include Dermot McMonagle, Brian Maye, Terence McKenna and Tony Jordan. 7:30pm. Enquiries: +353 49 854 4070.

Tuesday 31 March: An introduction to Irish and Scots-Irish family history research. A half-day seminar with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Rogue Valley Genealogical Society. Venue: Jackson County Genealogy Library, 3405 So. Pacific Highway, Medford, OR, 97501 USA. 8:30am to noon. Members £30; Non-members $35. Booking essential. Details.

Tuesday 31 March: Families associated with the lands west of the River Fergus in "An Leabhar Muimneach" or "The Munster Book", with Dr Cathy Swift. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co Clare. 8pm. Admission: KDHS members free/non-members €5. All welcome.

Tuesday 31 March: Sources for WWI Family History, with Chris Manson. Host: North of Ireland FHS, Coleraine Branch. Venue: Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, LondonDerry. 8–10pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 1 April: World War One Ancestors, with Ian Montgomery. Part of the Your Family Tree lunchtime lecture series. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Starts at 1pm. Free but need to book at proni@dcalni.gov.uk or (+44) 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 1 April to 30 May: The Irish at Gallipoli – an exhibition. Drawing on sources from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive, the exhibition will give an overview of the campaign and highlight the personal storiesof a number of Irish-born WW1 soldiers who fought in Gallipoli and other 'theatres of war'. Venue: Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

Thursday 2 April: Understanding the Poor Law and the Workhouse System, with Olwen Purdue. Plus AGM. Host: North of Ireland FHS, Belfast Branch. Venue: Holywood Arches Library, Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT. All welcome. 7:30pm – 9:30pm.

Friday 3 April: The geoarchaeology of County Down's High Crosses and Round Towers, with Ian Meighan. Host: Monuments and Building Record Public Lectures 2015. Venue: Pat Collins Reading Room, Waterman House, 5-33 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LA. Free. No need to book early but limited space so arrive early to secure your seat.

Saturday 4 April: One Million Dubliners - film screening to mark the first anniversary of the death of historian, tour guide and good guy Shane MacThomáis. Host: Stoneybatter & Smithfield People's History Project. Venue: The Elbowroom, 32 Brunswick St N, Dublin 7. 4pm. Free, but there will be a collection of donations to Pieta House.

Monday 6 April: The Road to the Rising, a major bank holiday event in Dublin's O'Connell Street and nearby venues. Host: RTE, An Post and Dublin City Council. Full programme explores Ireland on the eve of Revolution, as well as the ideas, people and the socio-economic forces which would shape the events of Easter Week 1916. Re-enactments, memorabilia roadshow, talks, screenings and family fun. Need to book for some events. Programme.

Tuesday 7 April: Remembering 1916: The Urban Folklore Project, with Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh. First of the Dublin City & Irish Folklore series of lunchtime lectures at City Hall. Venue: Council Chamber, Dublin City Hall. 1:05 to 1:50pm. Free. No booking required.

Tuesday 7 April: An update and discussion on DNA, with George Gordon. Host: North of Ireland FHS, Omagh Branch. Venue: Omagh Branch: Omagh Library, Dublin Road, Omagh, Co Tyrone. 7:15pm – 9:15pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 7 April: Wicklow Hedge Schools, with Tommy O'Rourke. Host: Kilmacanogue History Society. Venue: The Glenview Hotel, Glen of the Downs, Co Wicklow. 8.30pm. Entry €3 (members €2). All welcome.

Wednesday 8 April: Education Records, with Valerie Adams. Part of the Your Family Tree lunchtime lecture series. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Starts at 1pm. Free but need to book at proni@dcalni.gov.uk or (+44) 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 8 April: The Mass Rocks of County Cork, with Dr Hilary Bishop. Host: Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Crawford Art Gallery, Cork City. All welcome, no cover charge. 8pm.

Wednesday 8 April: Roscommon and the American Civil War, with Damien Shiels. Host: Strokestown Park House, in association with the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses & Estates, Maynooth University. Venue: Irish National Famine Museum, Strokestown House, Co Roscommon. 8pm. All are welcome. Entrance €5pp. Details: info@strokestownpark.ie/Tel: 00 353 71 9633013.

Thursday 9 April: Gallipoli 1915 – The 100th annivesary, with John Malcahy. Host: Blarney & District Historical Society. Venue: Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney, Co Cork. 8pm. Everone welcome.

Thursday 9 April: Gallipoli, with Michael Lee. Host: Mount Merrion Historical Society. Venue: Community Centre, North Avenue, Mount Merrion, Dublin. 8pm. Members free; non-members €4 (students: €2). All welcome.

Friday 10 April and Saturday 11 April: Irish Women in the First World War era. Host: Women's History Association of Ireland 2015 Conference. Venue: Maynooth University, Co Kildare. Need to book. Details.

Friday 10 April: The command and staff structure of the IRA, 1918–21, with Tom Brace. Host: Military History Society of Ireland. Venue: Griffith College, South Circular Road, Dublin 8. Non-members welcome. 8pm.

Saturday 11 April: Genealogy workshop, with the Mayo Genealogy Group. Venue: National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough, Castlebar, Co. Mayo. No need to book. 11am–1pm. Free. New members always welcome.

Saturday 11 April: The social world of the landed class in Tipperary, with Dr Karol Mullaney-Dignam. Venue: Tipperary County Museum, Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. 10am to Noon, with refreshments provided. €5 per session. Bookings: julia.walsh@tipperarycoco.ie or 076 106 5564.

Saturday 11 April: Tracing your Irish family history on the Internet, with Chris Paton. (1pm-2:30pm) Part of Unlocking Your Past Family History Day 2015. Host: Cleveland Family History Society. Venue: Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner, Richmond, North Yorkshire, UK. (DL10 6NR, Junction A1M/A66) £15pp includes lunch and refreshments. Details.

Thursday 26 March 2015

Family History Day at DCL&A, Saturday 28 March

Yesterday I picked up the programme for the Family History Day at Dublin City Libary and Archive which is taking place this coming Saturday, 28 March.

  9:30 Registration
  9:50 Welcome
10:00 Francis Smyth & Son, Umbrella manufacturers, Dublin, with Greg Young
10:45 Filling the gaps: Ussher family history, with Joan Sharkey
11:30 Tea/coffee
12:00 Searching Glasnevin Cemetery, with Conor Dodd
12:45 Lunch (not provided)
  2:00 Dynamics with the Yeats family: a family in distress, with Anthony J Jordan
  2:45 Thomas Fitzpatrick: creator and chief cartoonist, the Lepracaun Cartoon Monthly (1860-1912), with James Curry
  3:30 Finish

Admission: The Family History Day is free to attend and there's no need to book. Just turn up.

Venue:
DCL&A, 138–144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

For more information: email or telephone 01 674 4800

Wednesday 25 March 2015

AncestryIreland adds BMDs for Antrim and Down

The Ulster Historical Foundation (ULF) has added more than 27,000 Church of Ireland records for Counties Antrim and Down to its AncestryIreland database. You can see the details in the table below.

These new baptism, marriage and burial records are from 24 parishes and were transcribed by the ULF's Emeritus Research Director, Dr Brian Trainor. The burial registers contain a wealth of information of use to both the family and local historian and are full of interesting entries. The ULF has provided a useful overview, and the following details:

In Ardkeen's register there was noted the burial entry of Henry Cleland, aged around four months old, in 1823 with a note by the minister that he was “found dead in a field with a letter mentioning his name. Perished from cold and hunger; Coroner's inquest wilful murder.”

Occupations were sometimes recorded, especially if the deceased was in the military or the clergy. Ballyculter burial register occasionally contained the occupation of the deceased, particularly if they were servants. For example, the following men were recorded as :Daniel Kain “Lord Bangor’s man”, William Wilson “gardener to Mr Price” and Roger Wade “steward to Mr Hoey”. This may be the only record of their employment which now exists.

Carrickfergus register contained an entry of the burial in May 1776 of Mr McCracken, “the buckle beggar”. A buckle beggar was someone who performed marriage ceremonies “in a clandestine and irregular manner”.

The history of a local area can also be seen through the Church records. For example one can see in the Blaris (Lisburn) register the arrival of the Duke of Schomberg’s army in September 1689 by the increase of the deceased who were serving in that army. These were not only soldiers, for example in December 1689 John Redbird “master baker to [the] Duke of Schomberg” died and in January 1690 Thomas Mansfield, “one of King William’s bakers” was buried.

The burial records of sailors, fishermen and those who had drowned are found in coastal areas. In Ballyhalbert in January 1864, for example, three men who had been shipwrecked were buried, including John Morrison from Douglas on the Isle of Man. This register also records the burials of two men from the HM Cruiser Bayano which was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1915. Also Donaghadee’s burial register contains an entry for James Conlin, a tide-waiter (customs officer) who was “killed by a fall on the quay” in October 1783.

In the majority of entries the cause of death was not recorded, but unusual incidents were often noted by the minister. For example in Ballyphilip, the death of Patrick Kelly, aged 15 years from Portaferry, in June 1876 is recorded as being from "a fall from a velocipede” (an early bicycle). Carrickfergus CI’s register details the burials of four men in October 1752 who were “killed with the bursting of a cannon” while Magheralin’s records contain an entry for Edward Lunn, an innkeeper who was buried in July 1817; he “died suddenly at Maze races”.

Many of the burial records also contain the name of the father, husband or next of kin of the deceased, providing additional information on each family. Some also record ages at death and, occasionally, occupations.


Name of Church County Type of record Years covered
Aghalee CI Antrim Marriages 1811 – 1844
Ardkeen CI Down Burials 1746 – 1875
Ballinderry CI Antrim Marriages 1840 – 1845
Ballyclug CI Antrim Marriages 1841 – 1844
Ballyculter CI Down Burials 1812 – 1871
Ballyhalbert CI Down Burials 1855 – 1922
Ballymacarrett CI Down Marriages 1827 – 1844
Ballymoney CI Antrim Marriages 1807 – 1844
Ballyphilip CI Down Burials 1831 – 1883
Bangor CI Down Burials 1814 – 1829, 1841 – 1846
Blaris (Lisburn) CI Antrim Burials 1661 – 1720
Blaris (Lisburn) CI Antrim Marriages 1663 – 1735
Carrickfergus CI Antrim Burials 1740 – 1870
Comber CI Down Burials 1683 – 1881 (with gaps)
Comber CI Down Marriages 1683 – 1845
Donaghadee CI Down Burials 1771 – 1786, 1817, 1818, 1820 – 1841
Down CI Down Burials 1752 – 1785, 1795 – 1829, 1837 – 1871
Dromore CI Down Marriages 1784 – 1845
Drumballyroney CI Down Burials 1839 – 1873
Finvoy CI Antrim Marriages 1812 – 1845
Glenavy CI Antrim Marriages 1708 – 1845 (with gaps)
Inver (Larne) CI Antrim Baptisms 1806 – 1826, 1836 – 1864
Inver (Larne) CI Antrim Marriages 1817 – 1845
Kilkeel CI Down Burials 1816 – 1884
Kilmore CI Down Burials 1822 – 1856
Kirkinriola (Ballymena) CI Antrim Marriages 1807, 1809, 1819, 1822, 1823 – 1841
Magheralin CI Down Burials 1783 – 1865
Magheralin CI Down Marriages 1783 – 1845

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral launches app

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin is launching an app which will allow visitors to access multimedia information on key features of the Cathedral through their mobile devices.

The app uses innovative iBeacon technology, which will automatically illuminate key points of interest on visitors’ mobile devices as they self-guide through the Cathedral. iBeacons are small transmitters, which have been installed at strategic locations within the Cathedral.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral will be the first fully iBeacon enabled visitor attraction in Ireland and the app has been especially developed for the Cathedral in a partnership with appybeacons.

At the launch later today, Dean Victor Stacey will be joined by Minister of State for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD, for a tour of the Cathedral using the new app. Both will be equipped with iPads and big headphones and will navigate between key features of the Cathedral including the famous Saint Patrick statue, the Cathedral’s impressive organ and Jonathan Swift’s grave.

The app provides details of service times, a brief history of the historic building, an audio guide for the buildings, "Cathedral Tales", and videos about Saint Patrick's cathedral. Download the app.

Tuesday 24 March 2015

Early C14th manuscript returns to Dublin after 400 years

An important early 14th-century manuscript produced at St Mary’s Abbey in Dublin has been returned to its city of origin, after 400 years, courtesy of Trinity College Library (TCL).

Lost to the world of scholarship since the 18th century, it has not been in Ireland since the 16th century, and it is the first Irish medieval manuscript to be offered for public sale in over 100 years. TCL is thought to have paid about a quarter of a million euros to secure the purchase.

St Mary's was the wealthiest monastic house in medieval Ireland and important enough to host parliament on many occasions.

TCL intend to digitise the manuscript, as well as use it to promote research and scholarship and popular interest. You can find out more in the 5-minute video below.

Monday 23 March 2015

Two more Irish titles join British Newspaper Archive

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5895&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk%2F
Two more Irish newspapers have joined the British Newspaper Archive database. They are:

Saunder's News Letter, a paper published from 1755 to 1879. Some 1,838 editions have been uploaded this week. The majority date from 1783 to 1787 when the paper was published six days a week. Less frequent editions are also available for February to November 1794 and January to December 1795.

Cork Advertising Gazette
. All 206 editions from October 1855 to October 1859 have been uploaded for this weekly paper. I'm not sure if the paper stopped publishing or if these are the only surviving editions, but it will be the full extent of the holding for this title.

By my reckoning, there are now 70 Irish titles in the British Newspaper Archive. They're all available as part of FindMyPast's Ireland and World subscription packages, too.


Irish genealogy and history events, 23 March to 6 April

Monday 23 March: Fighting the world's most deadly influenza pandemic in 1918-19: the Kildare story, with Dr Ida Milne. Part of the Carton Lecture Series. Host: Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates & NUI Maynooth. Venue: Carton House, Maynooth, Co Kildare. Admission fee €10. Light refreshments served from 7:15pm. Enquiries (0)1 651 7708/

Monday 23 March: Tracing Your Roots in the Emerald Isle: an Irish Genealogy Workshop, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Hosts: Heinz History Center & Westmoreland Historical Society. Venue: Detre Library & Archives, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 10:30am to 4:30pm. Admission: $25 for members, $35 for non-members. Details. Sold Out.

Tuesday 24 March: The Molly Maguires - Myth, History and Mystery, with John Kearns. Host: Stonybatter & Smithfield People's History Project. Venue: Backroom at the Cobblestone Pub, 77 North King Street, Smithfield, Dublin 7. Free. All welcome. 8.15pm.

Tuesday 24 March: Are my Roots Showing? One-to-One Genealogy Consultations. Host: Limerick Genealogy and Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Lissanalta House, Dooradoyle Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick. Consulations are free but booking is essential. Ring Caitriona or Aoife on +353 61 496542 or email research@limerickgenealogy.com.

Tuesday 24 March: "Better to die by the sword than to die of starvation”: protest and resistance during the Great Famine, with John Cunningham. Host: Aughty Famine Working Group. Venue: Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort, Co. Galway. 8pm. Free. Details (pdf).

Tuesday 24 March: Starting your family tree, with Helen Sisk (Cork Genealogical Society). Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Central Library, Grand Parade, Cork. 3pm–4pm. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 25 March: Cork Harbour through time, with Kieran McCarthy. Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Curraheen Family Centre, Meeting Room, Church of the Real Presence, Curraheen Road, Cork. All welcome. Free refreshments served. 10:30am. Queries: Irene Higgins, Tel 454 1583.

Wednesday 25 March: Church Records, with Valerie Adams. Part of the Your Family Tree lunchtime lecture series. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Starts at 1pm. Free but need to book at proni@dcalni.gov.uk or (+44) 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 25 March: Starting your family tree, with James Quain (Cork Genealogical Society). Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: The Library, Douglas Village Shopping Centre,Cork. 11.30am - 12.30pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 25 March: Open Genealogy Consultaton, with Lisa Dougherty. Host and venue: Irish American Heritage Museum 370 Broadway, Albany, New York 12207, USA. 11am - 2pm EDT.

Wednesday 25 March: How to start your family tree research, with Ann Marie Coghlan (Cork Genealogical Society). Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Blackpool Library, Redforge Road, Cork. 2:30pm–3:30pm. Free. Tel: +353 21 492 4933.

Wednesday 25 March: Waterford Food Fights, with Joanne Rothwell. Host: Waterford County Museum Society. Venue: Green Room, Town Hall, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. 8pm. Admission: €5. All welcome. Due to high demand, the Heritage Library has added a second class of Exploring Irish Roots.

Wednesday 25 March: How to trace your Irish roots, with Beth O'Keefe. Host and venue: Heritage Library, 852 William Hilton Parkway, second-floor suite A-2, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928, USA. 1:30pm–3:30pm. Fee: $10 Heritage Library members; $15 nonmembers.

Wednesday 25 March: Virtue and Vice: Political Rhetoric and Popular Action across the Atlantic during the Irish Land War, with Andrew Phemister. Host: University of Edinburgh; Modern Irish History Seminar Programme. Venue: University of Edinburgh, Room G.13, William Robertson Wing, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, UK. 5pm. Free. All welcome. Details.

Wednesday 25 March: The Ulster Plantation: Sources for 17th-century families in Ireland (5–6:30pm) and Records related to the different churches in Ireland (7-8:30pm). Both lectures from the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host and venue: Brown County Library, 515 Pine Street, Green Bay, WI 54301, USA. To register, call 920-448-5815.

Wednesday 25 March: Freemasonry in Cork City & County: its Halls, Artefacts & Heritage, with Dr David Butler. Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Cork City & County Archives Service, Seamus Murphy Building, 32 Great William O’Brien Street, Blackpool, Cork. 2:30pm. Free. Booking advised as places limited. Email: archivist@corkcity.ie or call 450 5876.

Thursday 26 March: The Herdsmen of Sion Mills, with Celia Ferguson. Host: Strabane History Society. Venue: Room 5, Strabane Library, 1 Railway Street, Strabane, Co Tyrone BT82 8EF. 7:30pm.

Thursday 26 March: Remembering 1916, a HistoryIreland Hedge School. Venue: Lecture Theatre, Ulster Museum. Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB. 7–9pm.(Refreshments and guided tours of the Ulster Museum’s 1916 artefacts in the new Modern History gallery, will be available from 6:15pm.) Free. Need to book.

Friday 27 March: Stories from the Archives: Cork in the 1920s & 1930s, with Kieran McCarthy. Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Cork City & County Archives Service, Seamus Murphy Building, 32 Great William O’Brien Street, Blackpool, Cork. 2:30pm. Free. Places limited, so booking recommended by tel 450 5876 or email: archivist@corkcity.ie.

Friday 27 March: Confessions of a monastic historian: (re)writing a thousand years of monastic history, with Fr Columba Stewart. Second of the Monastic Ireland AD 1100-1700: landscape and settlement lectures. Venue: Helen Roe Theatre, Royal Society of Antiquaries Ireland, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin. 5:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Friday 27 March: Starting your family tree, with Olive Coleman (Cork Genealogical Society). Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Tory Top Rd Library, Ballyphehane, Cork. 11am. Free. All welcome.

Friday 27 March: Tracing Your Irish and Scots-Irish Ancestors, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Latah County Historical Society. Venue: Best Western Plus University Inn, 1516 Pullman Road, Moscow, ID 83843, USA. 11:30am–4pm. Registration fee $35 includes lunch and workshop materials. Register online.

Friday 27 March: Starting your family tree, with Ann Marie Coughlan (Cork Genealogical Society). Host: Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Frank O’Connor Library, Mayfield, Cork. 2:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Saturday 28 March: Tools of the Boat Building Trade, with Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh. Venue: National Museum of Ireland, Country Life, Turlough, Co Mayo. Talk exploring the importance of Ireland’s rich maritime history through the Co. Sligo McCann boatyard collection recently donated to the National Museum. Booking required. 3–4pm. Booking required.

Saturday 28 March: Researching your Irish Heritage, a day-seminar with Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society. Venue: Mt Olive Lutheran Church, 7809 Tieton Drive, Yakima, WA 98908, USA. 8:30am to 4:00pm. $40, includes lunch. Registration.

Saturday 28 March: Family History Day. A full day seminar. A mix of practical information and case studies suitable for beginners or for those who have more experience in genealogical research. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Booking not required, but it's recommended to come early to ensure a place.

Saturday, 28 March: Finding Your Irish Townland of Origin: Research in the U.S. and Ireland; Advanced Irish Genealogy: Delving further into Irish Sources; Cemetery and Headstone Research in Ireland; Planning a Genealogy Trip to Ireland, all with Joe Buggy. Host: Fairfax County Genealogical Society (Spring Conference). Venue: Fairfax Marriott Hotel, 11787 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, Fairfax, VA 22033. 9am-3:45pm. Registration: www.fxgs.org/cpage.php?pt=20

Sunday 29 March:
Scots-Irish Seminar, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: California Genealogical Society. Venue: Holiday Inn & Suites Oakland Airport, 77 Hegenberger Road, Oakland CA 94621, USA. 7:30am to 5pm. CGS members: $100. Non-members: $125. Prices include breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and refreshments. Registration.

Monday 30 March: Finding Irish and Scots-Irish Roots, a half-day seminar with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Rogue Valley Genealogical Society. Venue: Jackson County Genealogy Library, 3405 So. Pacific Highway, Medford, OR, 97501 USA. 8:30am to noon. Members £30; Non-members $35. Details. Fully booked.

Monday 30 March: Trim: Fairly typical medieval town, with Mary Hayes. Host: Clondalkin History Society. Venue: Arás Chronáin Irish Cultural Centre, Watery Lane, Clondalkin, Co Dublin. 8pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 31 March: The Police in Ireland & The First World War, with Dr Myles Dungan. Host: Garda Historical Society. Venue: The Palatine Room, Collins Museum, Dublin 7. Space limited, so need to reserve place. Email gardahistoricalsociety@gmail.com.

Tuesday 31 March: Arthur Griffith: his life and times, a History Ireland Hedge School. Host and venue: Cavan County Museum, Virginia Road, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan. The panel will include Dermot McMonagle, Brian Maye, Terence McKenna and Tony Jordan. 7:30pm. Enquiries: +353 49 854 4070.

Tuesday 31 March: An introduction to Irish and Scots-Irish family history research. A half-day seminar with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Rogue Valley Genealogical Society. Venue: Jackson County Genealogy Library, 3405 So. Pacific Highway, Medford, OR, 97501 USA. 8:30am to noon. Members £30; Non-members $35. Booking essential. Details.

Tuesday 31 March: Families associated with the lands west of the River Fergus in "An Leabhar Muimneach" or "The Munster Book", with Dr Cathy Swift. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co Clare. 8pm. Admission: KDHS members free/non-members €5. All welcome.

Wednesday 1 April: World War One Ancestors, with Ian Montgomery. Part of the Your Family Tree lunchtime lecture series. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Starts at 1pm. Free but need to book at proni@dcalni.gov.uk or (+44) 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 1 April to 30 May: The Irish at Gallipoli – an exhibition. Drawing on sources from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive, the exhibition will give an overview of the campaign and highlight the personal storiesof a number of Irish-born WW1 soldiers who fought in Gallipoli and other 'theatres of war'. Venue: Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

Friday 3 April: The geoarchaeology of County Down's High Crosses and Round Towers, with Ian Meighan. Host: Monuments and Building Record Public Lectures 2015. Venue: Pat Collins Reading Room, Waterman House, 5-33 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LA. Free. No need to book early but limited space so arrive early to secure your seat.

Saturday 4 April: One Million Dubliners - film screening to mark the first anniversary of the death of historian, tour guide and good guy Shane MacThomáis. Host: Stoneybatter & Smithfield People's History Project. Venue: The Elbowroom, 32 Brunswick St N, Dublin 7. 4pm. Free, but there will be a collection of donations to Pieta House.

Monday 6 April: The Road to the Rising, a major bank holiday event in Dublin's O'Connell Street and nearby venues. Host: RTE, An Post and Dublin City Council. Full programme explores Ireland on the eve of Revolution, as well as the ideas, people and the socio-economic forces which would shape the events of Easter Week 1916. Re-enactments, memorabilia roadshow, talks, screenings and family fun. Need to book for some events. Programme.


Friday 20 March 2015

Want to let out your inner Viking?

It's Friday.

Filming for Vikings, the History Channel production with a successful three seasons under its belt, wants to find a minimum 8,000 extras to work on season 4, which will be filmed in Ireland from April. Most of the filming will be in Dublin and Wicklow.

The Canadian/Irish production team has announced three dates for the selection process:

Tuesday 31 March – FILMBASE, Curved St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. 9.30am to 4.30pm
Wednesday 1 April – FILMBASE, Curved St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. 9.30am to 5pm.
Tuesday 7 April – Grand Hotel, Abbey St, in Wicklow. 10am to 6pm.

The work is casual and temporary; applicants need to be based in Ireland and able to work at short notice. Filming continues from April to December.

Men must be prepared to grow hair and beards, and women have got to have natural coloured hair. You can see more details of the selection process and what the casting team might be after here.

PRONI to host lectures on Ulster Scots topics in May

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is working in partnership with the Ministerial Advisory Group on Ulster Scots, the Ulster Scots Agency (USA) and the Ulster-Scots Community Network, to host a six-week series of lunchtime lectures commencing 20 May 2015.

Lecture topics are not yet available but speakers will include Cormac McSparron, Andrew Gault, Laura Spence, Frank Ferguson and Kathryn White.

The venue will alternate between PRONI's offices in Titanic Boulevard and the USA's offices at the Corn Exchange, 31 Gordon Street, Belfast, BT1 2LG. They'll all start at 1pm. I'd expect them to all be on Wednesdays, too, so you might want to mark up your diary while we await the details.

FindMyPast delivers Irish Marriage Bonds, Probate & census records

There's a strong Irish flavour in this Friday's FindMyPast package, not least the Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administration Indexes 1595–1858, which I was certainly not expecting to be delivered this month. I love surprises! Here are the details:

Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administration Indexes 1595–1858

This collection of more than 364,000 records contains indexes of all the wills and associated papers proved in Ireland's ecclesiastical courts up to 1858. From that date, the civil courts handled probate issues.

Unfortunately, most of the pre-1858 records were held at the PRO in the Four Courts when it went up in flames in 1922. This collection holds some of the surviving records and copies that weren't in the PRO when it was destroyed. It includes six volumes of surviving Prerogative Will Books and one volume of Cause papers (described by FindMyPast as '1810 inventory of records, books & papers, with an index to the Cause Papers 1670-1810 List of original wills, deeds, etc. in the Cause Papers').

The will books cover:
  • 1644 – 1684
  • 1706-1728
  • 1728-1729
  • 1777 (A-L only)
  • 1813 (K-Z only)
  • 1834 (A-E only)
While the amount of information in the books may vary, each record will include the deceased’s name, residence, diocese and the year the will was proved.

A small number of very lucky researchers will also find full details of the will, including who benefitted and what the estate entailed.  

Find out more or search the Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administration Indexes here.


Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Indexes 1623-1866

This record-set holds more than 218,000 entries and will be of great value to those with middle-class ancestors. In the main, marriage licences were sought only by those who owned property and/or wanted to avoid the publicity of Banns, and both parties to the marriage had to stump up a bond of surety. By the 19th century, they had become something of a trendy statement of status.

Labourers and tenant-farmers don't figure in this collection.

Each record in the collection contains a transcript and an image of the original bond register. The amount of information varies but most will include the names of the couple, the date of their marriage, residence, occupation, and rank or status.

Find out more or search the Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Indexes here.


1901 Census

While the 1901 (and the 1911) census is available free of charge at the National Archives of Ireland's Genealogy (NAIG) website, the collection now joining FindMyPast's database offers a new and more detailed search facility. It allows researchers to search the collection for more than one household member, by birth year and by variants on the spelling of first and last names.

A detailed transcript of each census return is provided, as is a link to the free images on the NAIG site.

If you've had trouble finding ancestors on the NAIG website, this version should be checked out.

Find out more or search the 1901 Census here.

Thursday 19 March 2015

Range of online historical NI maps in development

A new online map shop for Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland (OSNI) has been officially launched in Belfast, with Finance Minister Simon Hamilton MLA doing the honours.

As you'd expect, the new site offers OSNI's detailed and up-to-date maps for all six counties of Northern Ireland and they're available as both paper products and as downloadable digital products.

Very useful, for sure, but of particular interest to Irish family historians is news of a range of historical maps now in development.

Kickstarting this new facility, the first Ordnance Survey maps of the 1830s have already been added to the site.

They're wonderful. At six inches to one mile, the detail is fabulous, with each dwelling and every typographical feature noted. I've been getting lost in the back lanes of Northern Ireland for the last hour or so, zooming in and out to my little heart's content. And I don't even have any family connections with the North!

As far as I can tell, there's no purchasing mechanism for downloads of the 1830s maps, but you can view them without charge. Presumably the purchasing element will be added when more maps join the site. (I hope they'll get someone who isn't a 'map-head' to write the sales pages.)

"Other historical maps will be developed over the coming months," said the Minister at the launch reception. "This will provide an opportunity for anyone in the world to easily view and purchase maps of their ancestors’ home as it existed almost 200 years ago.”



IrishNewspapers.com launches in the USA

It seemed mighty unusual for a St Patrick's Day to come and go without any big Irish record collection being released, but that's how it looked from this eastern side of the Atlantic.

Until this morning, when news was carried over the waves of a partnership between Ancestry.com and the Dublin-based IrishNewsArchives which has resulted in a new standalone site: IrishNewspapers.com.

There's an explanation for why the news took 48 hours to reach these shores. The new site, IrishNewspapers.com, is available only in the USA. When I visit it, I'm re-directed to IrishNewsArchive.com, so I can't comment on how it functions, although I did manage to catch a screengrab of the home page before the redirect kicked in:

Phillip Martin of Irish News Archives spoke to Irish Genealogy News this morning to reveal more about this exciting development for the family-owned company.

"IrishNewspapers.com is derived from the current Irish News Archives but will be overseen in the US by Ancestry's Newspapers.com," he explained. "Partnering with Newspapers.com offers Irish News Archives a pathway to the expansive US market.

"The new US site has launched with a first tranche of Irish historical newspapers from across the island. More titles will be added in due course."

Subscriptions to the US site cost $19.99 monthly and $99.99 annually (Ireland site is €30 per month or €178 per year).

A marked difference between the two sites is that IrishNewspapers.com will offer editions up to 1980, while the Irish market, via the existing IrishNewsArchive.com, will continue to offer a growing range of Irish newspaper titles up to the current year.

Phillip also told me of a new subscription feature available via IrishNewsArchive. New members can avail of a 3-day free trial before signing up for longer term subscriptions. Researchers sign up, with credit card details, for a month's subscription, but they aren't charged until the three days is up. They can cancel the subscription at anytime during the three-day trial.

Details of the free trial are now published on the IrishNewsArchive.com website.

UPDATE 26 March 2015: Kilkenny-raised genealogist Joe Buggy has access to the IrishNewspapers.com because he's now based in Washington DC; he's written a thorough review of the new website, providing a list of all the papers in the database, on his TownlandOfOrigin blog.

UPDATE 25 February 2016: The US site closed.

2023 Note: Images have been removed and most links disabled on this old blogpost.

Wednesday 18 March 2015

National Archives to open late on 27 March

Early warning: The Reading Room of the National Archives of Ireland in Bishop Street, Dublin 8, will open one hour later than usual on Friday 27 March. It will open at 10:15am.

The free Genealogy Service, which is typically available from 10am to 1:30pm, will start 15 minutes late on that day.

Make a note in your diary, now!

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Land, testamentary & CSORP records from NAI 'soon'

Here's some good news, delivered specially for St Patrick's Day, from the National Archives of Ireland (NAI).

You know those Griffith's Valuation Field, House & Quarto books and Testamentary records (see below) we've been waiting on for rather a long time... well, they're ready-and-waiting for upload to the NAI's free Genealogy website. All the problems I mentioned some time back with the GV books have been resolved.

Unfortunately, it's the 'waiting' part of ready-and-waiting where there is still a problem.

The NAI has been without an IT manager since June last year and cannot modify, remove or add records to its Genealogy website until a replacement is appointed. This is obviously very frustrating, not only to us family historians who are keen to get stuck into some absolutely fresh records but also to FindMyPast.ie who have to wait for simultaneous upload before they can launch them on their database (also free of charge).

Catriona Crowe, Head of Special Projects at the NAI, told Irish Genealogy News that it's been frustrating for the NAI, too. "We haven't wanted to be this tardy getting the records released. We rely very heavily on the website to get our material out there for people to enjoy and explore. But without an IT manager, we can't add material to the site.

"We will, however, be holding interviews for an IT manager next week and we hope to have someone in place in early April. The website can then be updated and the material released."

So, this is what we can expect in the near future:
  • GV Field Books: information about the size and quality of the soil of an individual land holding
  • GV House Books: these recorded the occupier's name so, to genealogists, they are the most worthy of study of the Valuation Books. They also record details of living conditions, not just in terms of space but also the materials used for walls and roofs, and of outbuildings. Some even include sketches of the property, barns and outbuildings
  • GV Quarto Books: While the other books deal with rural settings, the Quarto books cover small and medium-sized towns.
  • Diocesan Courts: indexes to wills, administrations and marriage licence bonds pre-1858
  • Prerogative Courts: indexes to wills, administrations and marriage licence bonds pre-1858.
I also asked Catriona about cataloguing progress on the Registered Papers of the Chief Secretary's Office (CSORP) collection. This particular collection has its own website - www.csorp.nationalarchives.ie - and contains details of all kinds of fascinating material from the early 19th century, but work on the cataloguing project came to a grinding halt more than a year ago due to the departure of the dedicated conservator.

At that point, five years' worth of papers had been catalogued: 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821 and 1822.

There's good news here, too. Two people have been working on the project since September 2014 and will soon complete another seven-year tranche of catalogued items. This 1823–1829 material will make its way online in a couple of months, after the GV and testamentary records.

We've plenty to be happy about today!

BEANNACHTAÍ NA FÉILE PÁDRAIG.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: latest additions

Below are the updates from Ireland Genealogy Project Archives (IGP-web) of the resources added in the first two weeks of March. As you can see, the project to transcribe and publish records of men in the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1848 is moving on at a pace, but there are also some other very useful headstone inscriptions, church register entries and unusual records in the mix:

CORK Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Cork - 1848

DOWN Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary for Down - 1847 & 1848

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives
Headstones – Boho; Church of the Sacred Heart (R.C.) partial
Church Records – Brookborough Wesleyan Methodist: Births 1841-1930; Marriages 1867-1917

GALWAY Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Galway - 1848

KILKENNY Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Kilkenny - 1848
Land Records – Tenants on the Clifden Estate, Callan - 1839

LAOIS Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Queens - 1848

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Limerick - 1848

MONAGHAN Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Monaghan - 1848

OFFALY Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Kings - 1848

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Roscommon - 1848

SLIGO Genealogy Archives
Headstones – Aghanagh (R.C.) Graveyard (partial)
Military & Constabulary – Irish Constabulary from Sligo - 1848

WATERFORD Genealogy Archives
Headstones:
Portlaw (Guilcagh) Cemetery (CoI) Updated
St. Nicholas Graveyard Ballyduff (partial)
Tramore (CoI) & Sea Horse marker Cemetery (partial)

WEXFORD Genealogy Archives
Miscellaneous – Subscribers to Taghmon Relief Fund, Cholera 1833

Monday 16 March 2015

St Patrick's Day offers and bargains

There are usually a few special discounts flying around for St Patrick's Day and this year is no exception. Here are a few that have come my way. If I hear of anymore in the next 24 hours, I'll post them here.

  • UHF's births, deaths, marriage, deaths & headstone records

    The Ulster Historical Foundation (UHF) has a special 50% off St Patrick's Day sale that will continue for the duration of its North American Lecture Tour. The UHF database at AncestryIreland holds two million records from across Counties Antrim and Down and Belfast. The records include RC, Church of Ireland and Presbyterian baptism, marriages and burials parish register entries, as well as civil marriages for Counties Antrim and Down, and civil birth records for Belfast.

    The half price sale will end on 30 March.

  • IrishTimes Training Course: Tracing your Irish ancestors

    Designed by the well-known genealogist John Grenham, this online course is hugely practical and provides 12-months access so that you can choose your own pace of study. It is structured around a mixture of presentations and tutorials so that it is engaging and interactive, and is delivered over 11 modules covering records, resources and research techniques. It combines detailed analysis of the relevant sources.

    I don't have a note of the current standard price of the course (it cost €99 two years ago) but the special offer for St Patrick's is just €29.99. I'm not sure how long that price will hold, so don't delay if you want to take ITT up on the offer.

    See the full course description and sign up.

    UPDATE, 18 March: Due to 'phenomenol demand', the special offer has been extended to the end of March.

  • E-book British and Irish Newspapers

    A 50% discount is available until the end of the month on the e-book version of British and Irish Newspapers by Chris Paton of BritishGenes fame. The book was published last May, a little before the British Newspaper Archive cranked up its green button and increased its coverage of Irish titles, but it's still a very useful booklet for learning the most likely places to access newspapers online and offline, as well as pointing you in the direction of some lesser known titles that have great potential for your research.

    The ebook is available through Gen-ebooks.com, part of the Australian publisher Gould Genealogy, and is normally sold for AU$7.95. The discounted price of AU$3.95 converts (at today's rates) to around €2.86/£2.04/US$3.02. You can order the book or view a free sample here.

  • FindMyPast's World collection of 2billion records

    FindMyPast is offering a first month's access to its World collection for just €1, £1, $1. The standard month's price for this package is €14.95, £12.95, $19.95, so significant savings are available for access to FindMyPast's collection of two billion records, including millions of worldwide Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, the largest online collection of Irish Family History records, and more than 10 million British and Irish newspaper pages dating back to 1710, plus much more.

    For full details, see my blogpost from last week and act quickly, as this offer expires on St Patrick's Day at midnight.

  • Legacy Family Tree Webinars

    Three 'archived' webinars have been made available for viewing free of charge until Wednesday 18 March. All three are webinars presented by Judith Eccles Wight, owner of Wight House Research, an Irish genealogy specialist. The subjects of the three webinars are:

    – The Three Cs of Irish Research: Civil registration, church records, & census. Details.
    – Breaking down your Irish brick wall: Irish estate records. Details.
    – Some lesser-known Irish resources. Details.

    If you're quick you could also register for Irish Genealogical Records in the 17th-19th Centuries which Judith will be presenting on Wednesday (2pm Eastern, 6pm GMT). It's aimed at intermediate to advanced researchers.

  • E-booklet listing all new Irish genealogy records released during 2014

    This one comes from Yours Truly and it's a St Patrick's Day gift, rather than an offer or bargain.

    It's an unfussy 20-page listing, arranged by resource type ie census, wills, church records, of all the new and upgraded Irish family history records released from January to December 2014.

    Published last week, it's been merrily sailing around the Internet and seems to have been well-received by researchers.

    In pdf format, it can be downloaded (4.3Mb) from my website.









Irish genealogy, heritage/history events, 16–29 March

Monday 16 March: Finding Your Ancestors in Ireland, with Paul Milner. Host and Venue: Zion Genealogical Society of Lake County, Beach Park Village Hall, 11270 W. Wadsworth, Beach Park, Illinois, USA. For more Info. 7pm. Details.

Monday 16 March: Irish and Scots-Irish Family History Research Workshop, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Staunton Public Library, co-sponsored by the Augusta County Genealogical Society. Venue: 2nd floor meeting room, Staunton Public Library, 1 Churchville Ave, Staunton, VA 24401, USA. 1pm–5pm and 6:30pm–8:30pm. For registration details, email davidsonmk@ci.staunton.va.us or telephone 540-332-3902.

Tuesday 17 March: St Patrick's Day. Everywhere.

Tuesday 17 March: Tracing your Irish and Scots/Irish ancestors, with Ulster Historical Foundation. Hosts: Williamsburg Family History Center, Williamsburg Regional Library, and Ford’s Colony Genealogy Club. Session One (10am to 2:30pm) – Venue: (10:00am to 2:30pm): Williamsburg Library, 515 Scotland St, Williamsburg VA 23185, USA. Session Two (7pm to 8pm)– Williamsburg Family History Center, 2017 Newman Road, Williamsburg VA 23188, USA. Details.

Wednesday 18 March: Irish genealogical records in the 17th-19th Centuries, a webinar with Judy Wight. Host: FamilyTreeWebinars. Venue: Online. Time zones: 2pm (USA Eastern), 1pm (USA Central), 12pm (USA Mountain), 11am (USA Pacific), 6pm (GMT). Free. Need to register in advance. Details.

Wednesday 18 March: Finding your Scots-Irish Ancestors, a practical genealogical tutorial with Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Museum of the Shenandoah Valley-Shenandoah Valley Genealogical Society. Venue: Reception Hall, Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst St, Winchester, VA 22601, USA. 6pm–9pm. Registration (members). Any remaining tickets will be available beginning at 10am on day of the event. Telephone: 540-662-1473x224.

Wednesday 18 March: Rediscovering GAA Members who fought in WW1, with Dr Donal McAnallen. Host: Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB.  12pm. Need to book.

Wednesday 18 March: Using Street Directories, with Des McCabe. Part of the Your Family Tree lunchtime lecture series. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free but need to book at proni@dcalni.gov.uk or (+44) 028 90 534800.

Thursday 19 March: Writing Up Your Family History, with Michael McKeag, Vice-President of the North of Ireland Family History Society. Host and venue: Glengormley Library, 40 Carnmoney Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, BT36 6HP. 6:30pm-7:45pm. Free but need to book: telephone (+44) 028 9083 3797 or email: glengormley.library@librariesni.org.uk. Details.

Thursday 19 March: Early historians of Irish Presbyterianism, with Dr Robert Armstrong. Host: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland. Venue: May Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast. Talk starts at 8pm, following the Society's AGM. Details.

Thursday 19 March: WW1 and You – Objects and memorabilia. Hosts: Libraries NI and Living Legacy 1914-18. Venue: Newry City Library, Hill Road, Newry, Co Down. Three lectures. 12:30–4:30pm. Free. Full details.

Thursday 19 March: Surname formation in Ireland: discussion, debates and DNA, with Dr Catherine Swift. Host: Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Venue: Queens University Belfast, GO5, 6 University Square, Belfast. 6:30pm. All welcome.

Thursday 19 March: What's new in Presbyterian Historical Society records? with Valerie Adams. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Bangor Branch. Venue: 1st Presbyterian Church Hall, Upper Main Street, Bangor, Co Down. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Thursday 19 March: The life and times of Robert Halpin, a mariner from Wicklow. Host: Bray Cualann Historical Society. Venue: Bray Chamber of Commerce House, 10 Quinsboro Road, Bray. 8pm. All welcome. €4.

Thursday 19 March: Looking at Lissan: The Staples family and Lissan House, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, a half-day conference. Host and venue: Lecture Theatre, PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast BT3 9HQ. Free. 2pm to 4:30pm. Booking is essential. To reserve your place, contact PRONI.

Friday 20 March: Tracing Your Irish and Scots-Irish Roots, with Ulster Historical Foundation. Hosts: Blount County Public Library & and the Blount County Friends of the Library. Venue: Blount County Public Library, 508 N. Cusick Street, Maryville, TN 37804, USA. 8:30am to 4:00pm. Costs: Workshop $25; optional lunch $10. Registration. Telephone: (865) 982-0981.

Saturday 21 March: Next steps in Irish genealogy, with Barbara Scanlon. Host and venue: Kansas City Irish Center, Union Station, 30 West Pershing Road, Suite 700, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. 11am to 1pm. Class is free for KCIC members/$5 for non-members. Details.

Saturday 21 March: Rural Life in Fermanagh in the 1940s and 1950s, with Bryan Gallagher. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Fermanagh Branch. Venue: Seminar Room Upstairs, Enniskillen Library, Halls Lane, Enniskillen, BT74 7DR. 2:15pm – 4:15pm. All welcome.

Saturday 21 March: Getting Started on Your Irish Family History, with Joe Buggy. Host: Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library. Venue, Bay Shore-Brightwaters Public Library, 1 South Country Road, Brightwaters, NY 11718, USA. 12Noon–2pm. Free. Contact afitzgerald@bsbwlibrary.org for more details.

Saturday 21 March: Town and country in late medieval Ireland, a conference. Hosts: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, the Discovery Programme, Maynooth University, the Dublin Medieval Society and the University of Bristol. Venue: Helen Roe Theatre, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Free, but need to book. 9:30am to 5pm.

Saturday 21 March: Researching Your Irish Ancestors: Strategies for Success, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Hosts: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Venue: Courtyard Marriott Hotel, 275 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, USA. 9am–5pm. Registration includes continental breakfast. Cost: $85. Details.

Sunday 22 March:
Researching Irish Ancestry – Maximizing Griffith’s Valuation, with Ulster Historical Foundation. Hosts: Feile, Inc. and Fréamh Éireann Genealogy Group. Venue: Gaelic American Club, 74 Beach Avenue, Fairfield, CT 0682, USA. 1pm to 5pm. $25. Details: gacevent@gmail.com/John Minehan 203-293-8090.

Sunday 22 March: Finding Your Irish Townland of Origin: Research in the U.S. and Ireland, with Joe Buggy. Host: Savor the Arts of Ireland Festival. Venue: Middleton Arts Center, 36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748, USA. 1-3pm, tickets $5. Email jpacker@middletownnj.org for more information.

Sunday 22 March: Can we let go of history? a Newstalk's Talking History live broadcast discussing commemoration. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. 7pm. Host Patrick Geoghegan will lead a panel of special guests in discussion, before opening the floor to questions. Free. All welcome.

Monday 23 March: Fighting the world's most deadly influenza pandemic in 1918-19: the Kildare story, with Dr Ida Milne. Part of the Carton Lecture Series. Host: Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates & NUI Maynooth. Venue: Carton House, Maynooth, Co Kildare. Admission fee €10. Light refreshments served from 7:15pm. Enquiries (0)1 651 7708/

Monday 23 March: Tracing Your Roots in the Emerald Isle: An Irish Genealogy Workshop, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Hosts: Heinz History Center & Westmoreland Historical Society. Venue: Detre Library & Archives, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 10:30am to 4:30pm. Admission: $25 for members, $35 for non-members. Details. Sold Out.

Tuesday 24 March: The Molly Maguires - Myth, History and Mystery, with John Kearns. Host: Stonybatter & Smithfield People's History Project. Venue: Backroom at the Cobblestone Pub, 77 North King Street, Smithfield, Dublin 7. Free. All welcome. 8.15pm.

Tuesday 24 March: "Better to die by the sword than to die of starvation”: protest and resistance during the Great Famine, with John Cunningham. Host: Aughty Famine Working Group. Venue: Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort, Co. Galway. 8pm. Free. Details (pdf).

Tuesday 24 March: Are my Roots Showing? One-to-One Genealogy Consultations. Host: Limerick Genealogy and Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival. Venue: Lissanalta House, Dooradoyle Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick. Consulations are free but booking is essential. Ring Caitriona or Aoife on +353 61 496542 or email research@limerickgenealogy.com.

Wednesday 25 March: Church Records, with Valerie Adams. Part of the Your Family Tree lunchtime lecture series. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Starts at 1pm. Free but need to book at proni@dcalni.gov.uk or (+44) 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 25 March: Open Genealogy Consultaton, with Lisa Dougherty. Host and venue: Irish American Heritage Museum 370 Broadway, Albany, New York 12207, USA. 11am - 2pm EDT.

Wednesday 25 March: Waterford Food Fights, with Joanne Rothwell. Host: Waterford County Museum Society. Venue: Green Room, Town Hall, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. 8pm. Admission: €5. All welcome.

Wednesday 25 March: Virtue and Vice: Political Rhetoric and Popular Action across the Atlantic during the Irish Land War, with Andrew Phemister. Host: University of Edinburgh; Modern Irish History Seminar Programme. Venue: University of Edinburgh, Room G.13, William Robertson Wing, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, UK. 5pm. Free. All welcome. Details.

Wednesday 25 March: The Ulster Plantation: Sources for 17th-century families in Ireland (5–6:30pm) and Records related to the different churches in Ireland (7-8:30pm). Both lectures from the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host and venue: Brown County Library, 515 Pine Street, Green Bay, WI 54301, USA. To register, call 920-448-5815.

Thursday 26 March: The Herdsmen of Sion Mills, with Celia Ferguson. Host: Strabane History Society. Venue: Room 5, Strabane Library, 1 Railway Street, Strabane, co Tyrone Tyrone BT82 8EF. 7:30pm.

Thursday 26 March: Remembering 1916, a HistoryIreland Hedge School. Venue: Lecture Theatre, Ulster Museum. Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB. 7–9pm.(Refreshments and guided tours of the Ulster Museum’s 1916 artefacts in the new Modern History gallery, will be available from 6:15pm.) Free. Need to book.

Friday 27 March: Ulster GAA men who fought in WW1, a poetic documentary screening followed by talk with Donal McAnallen. Host: Nerve Centre’s Creative Centenaries project in conjunction with Derry City Council’s Museum Service. Venue: Tower Museum, Union Hall Place, Derry BT48 6LU. Starts 1pm. Free.

Friday 27 March: Confessions of a monastic historian: (re)writing a thousand years of monastic history, with Fr Columba Stewart. Second of the Monastic Ireland AD 1100-1700: landscape and settlement lectures. Venue: Helen Roe Theatre, Royal Society of Antiquaries Ireland, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin. 5:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Friday 27 March: Tracing Your Irish and Scots-Irish Ancestors, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: Latah County Historical Society. Venue: Best Western Plus University Inn, 1516 Pullman Road, Moscow, ID 83843, USA. 11:30am–4pm. $35 includes lunch and workshop materials. Register.

Saturday 28 March: Tools of the Boat Building Trade, with Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh. Venue: National Museum of Ireland, Country Life, Turlough, Co Mayo. Talk exploring the importance of Ireland’s rich maritime history through the Co. Sligo McCann boatyard collection recently donated to the National Museum. Booking required. 3–4pm. Booking required.

Saturday 28 March: Researching your Irish Heritage, a day-seminar with Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society. Venue: Mt Olive Lutheran Church, 7809 Tieton Drive, Yakima, WA 98908, USA. 8:30am to 4:00pm. $40, includes lunch. Registration.

Saturday 28 March: Family History Day. A full day seminar. A mix of practical information and case studies suitable for beginners or for those who have more experience in genealogical research. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Booking not required, but it's recommended to come early to ensure a place.

Saturday, 28 March: Finding Your Irish Townland of Origin: Research in the U.S. and Ireland; Advanced Irish Genealogy: Delving further into Irish Sources; Cemetery and Headstone Research in Ireland; Planning a Genealogy Trip to Ireland, all with Joe Buggy. Host: Fairfax County Genealogical Society (Spring Conference). Venue: Fairfax Marriott Hotel, 11787 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, Fairfax, VA 22033. 9am-3:45pm. Registration: www.fxgs.org/cpage.php?pt=20

Sunday 29 March:
Scots-Irish Seminar, with the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: California Genealogical Society. Venue: Holiday Inn & Suites Oakland Airport, 77 Hegenberger Road, Oakland CA 94621, USA. 7:30am to 5pm. CGS members: $100. Non-members: $125. Prices include breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and refreshments. Registration.


Friday 13 March 2015

New Irish Genealogy Records Released in 2014

Just in time for St Patrick's Day, Irish Genealogy News has published a 20-page e-booklet providing brief details of all the brand-new or, in some cases, upgraded Irish Genealogy resources released in 2014.

All of the collections featuring in the e-booklet were the subject of blogposts on Irish Genealogy News at the time of their release.

Arranged by type of resource ie Census, Emigration Records, Newspapers etc, the booklet is a handy aide memoire of recently-available resources useful to Irish family historians.

It costs just €2.50 (that's about £1.95 or US$2.2.75) and you can pay via a secure payment facility. Just click the Add to Cart button below.

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IGRS upgrades The Irish Genealogist Names Database

The Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) has launched an enhanced version of 'The Irish Genealogist Names Database'.

The Irish Genealogist (TIG) is the journal of the IGRS and is highly regarded by serious genealogists for its learned approach to research and the depth of study presented by its contributors. It has been published since 1937, the year after the Society was founded by a select group of well-known genealogists with the intention of gathering together transcriptions and copies of the records lost in the 1922 fire at the Four Courts.

Over time, this remit was extended so that the journal allowed members to share the results of their work through many thousands of genealogy related articles, family histories and transcriptions of unusual records and sources. Typically, members have submitted information from newspapers, parish registers, family bibles, genealogies, voters lists, pedigrees, membership rolls, deeds, marriage settlements, census substitutes, land and tenure surveys, marriage license bonds, courts records, wills and much more besides.

A searchable TIG Names INDEX has been freely available on the IGRS website, IrishAncestors.ie, for a over a year. It allows researchers to quickly search for their ancestor's name and discover whether it appeared in any article of The Irish Genealogist published between 1937 and 2001.

Successful searches of the TIG Names INDEX return a note of the page and TIG volume numbers where the article was published, allowing the researcher to hunt down a copy of the relevant journal, which is available in most major libraries around the world, and on CD.

The Names INDEX already holds more than a quarter of a million names, and this will be extended further during 2015 when the journals for 2002 to 2014 are indexed. 

The Society's latest development, The Irish Genealogist Names Database, sees an important upgrade to the existing Name INDEX. It not only returns details of how many times an ancestor's name might appear, it also provides a direct link to a downloadable copy of the published article(s).

Phase One of this enhancement to The Irish Genealogist Names Database delivers Volume 10 – the four journals published in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 – in a fully searchable format, with linked articles. This is being made accessible, free of charge, to non-members.

All articles from TIG Volumes 11 to 13, ie all the journals published 2002 to 2014 inclusive, will be linked to The Irish Genealogist Names Database over the next nine months. These will be accessible only to IGRS members.








Irish Lives Remembered – March/April issue published

https://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/2/71043/348044/pub/html5.html
The March-April issue of Irish Lives Remembered has been published and the front cover is sure to raise a smile from all readers.

As always, the magazine has a global spread and this issue focuses on tracing Irish ancestors with connections to County Leitrm as well as those who emigrated and settled in Ohio and New Zealand. There are nearly forty pages devoted to research in those three areas alone.

In addition, there's the third and final part of an analysis of Princess Charlene of Monaco's Irish family history as well as features on DNA and photo analysis, news of upcoming events, discounts and much more.

You can view and/or download a free copy of the magazine by clicking on the cover image.

Thursday 12 March 2015

Origins.net to close down in next few days

FindMyPast has confirmed that IrishOrigins, and, indeed, Origins.net, will close down in the next few days.

This won't come as any great surprise. Origins was bought by DH Thomson Family History, the parent of FindMyPast, a year ago and the site has been carrying a banner announcing its closure for most of the past few months. In the meantime, all the Origins records have migrated to the FindMyPast database.

Origins was the first company to set up a pay-as you-go model for online family history records and had a particularly strong line-up of Irish records at a time when there was very little else available for those researching ancestors from Ireland.

So now the time has come to say adieu to Origins.net.

UPDATE, 16 March: Origins closed today. The landing page of the origins website directs all visitors to FindMypast.

St Patrick's Day opening/closing arrangements

With St Patrick's Day fast approaching, here's a timely reminder that all the island's major institutions and archives (and, indeed, the minor ones) will be closed on Tuesday 17 March.

Operating to their normal schedules, they will close on Monday and reopen on Wednesday as if nothing had happened, except that some of the staff might look a bit rough around the gills.

Timeline launches Irish Genealogy Clerk Service

http://timeline.ie/irish-genealogy-clerk/
One of Ireland's best-known genealogy consultancies, Timeline Research, has launched an Irish Genealogy Clerk Service.

Timeline's Director, Nicola Morris MAPGI, told Irish Genealogy News that the service aims to help researchers quickly and easily obtain some of the Irish family history records that can be viewed or copied only by visiting repositories in Dublin.

"Although there are many genealogical resources now available online, some vital records are not so readily obtainable for those who cannot make a personal visit," she said.

"Timeline’s Genealogy Clerk Service offers those researchers the opportunity to order a digital image of the source they wish to research.  We have introduced a simple ordering system for digitial images of such vital sources as civil birth, marriage and death registrations, as well as the Valuation Office Revision Books for the Republic of Ireland. None of these is currently available to view online."

Timeline's clerks can also obtain copies of manuscript sources from Dublin's libraries and archives. If, for example, you've found a reference to a manuscript estate rental held in the National Library or a pre-1858 will in the National Archives, the Irish Genealogy Clerk Service will obtain copy documents on your behalf and send them on to you. Or perhaps you want to verify a transcribed parish register entry with a copy of the original entry? Again, Timeline's Genealogy Clerks can obtain a digital image of the manuscript for you.

Find out more about Timeline's Irish Genealogy Clerk Service.

Special offer! FindMyPast World package for €1, $1, £1

And along comes another offer from FindMyPast!

Sign up for a World subscription and enjoy the first month for just €1, £1, $1. The standard month's price for this package is €14.95, £12.95, $19.95, so there's a worthwhile saving to be had.

The World Subscription gives access to FindMyPast's collection of two billion records, including millions of worldwide Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, the largest online collection of Irish Family History records, and more than 10 million British and Irish newspaper pages dating back to 1710, plus much more.

To take advantage of the offer, you'll have to take out the subscription before 11:59pm (GMT) on St Patrick's Day, Tuesday 17 March, so don't delay.

The offer is available across all of the FindMyPast territories, so choose the one that best suits you, currency-wise: You'll find the full terms and conditions on the landing pages.