Monday 16 November 2015

Irish family history & heritage events, 16–28 November

Monday 16 November to Wednesday 25 November: Genealogy Advisory Service will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for extended hours from 10am to 5pm (closed 1–2pm). Venue: Reading Room, National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Normal hours, year-round, are 10am to 1:30pm. It's always free.

Monday 16 November: Unusual aspects of the Land War in Mid-Cork, with Michael Galvin. Host: Muskerry Local History Society. Venue: Ballincollig Rugby Club Hall, Ballincollig, Co Cork. 8pm. Members free; non-members €3. All welcome.

Monday 16 November: Griffiths Valuations, with Bill Macafee. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, Co Antrim, BT40 1DZ. 7:30pm.

Monday 16 November: All routes led to Chicago: Irish railroad workers and canal builders in the nineteenth century, with Tina Beaird and Debra Dukek. Host: Ulster Historical Foundation. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Free. 1pm. Details and booking.

Monday 16 November: Starting your family history, a practical workshop designed to give hands on experience in how to search the archives on the internet, searching and ordering as well as using original documents held at PRONI. Part of the Explore Your Archives 2015 campaign. Host and venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 2-4pm. Free. Booking required. Details.

Tuesday 17 November: Census records, wills and printed sources, with Gillian Hunt. Host: Ulster Historical Foundation. Venue: Discover Ulster-Scots Centre, 1-9 Victoria Street, Belfast BT1 3GA. 1–2pm. Free but registration required by email to discover@ulster-scots.com or telephone 028 9043 6710.

Tuesday 17 November: Testing the limits of the penal laws, with Dr Eoin Kinsella. Host: The Irish Historical Society. Venue: The Centre for Irish Programmes, Boston College Dublin, 43 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2. 7pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 17 November: County Carlow in the 18th century and the 1798 Rebellion, with Prof Kevin Whelan. Hosts: Trinity College Dublin and Carlow Collage. Venue: Cobden Hall, Carlow College, College Street, Carlow. 5pm to 7pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 17 November: The Decade of Centenaries: some reflections, with Catriona Crowe & Lar Joye as part of the Explore Your Archives 2015 campaign. Host and venue: Reading Room, National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. 5:15pm. All welcome. No booking necessary.

Tuesday 17 November: A strange kind of glory: the Easter Rising in Co. Galway and its context, a History Ireland Hedge School. Venue: Mechanics Institute, Middle Street, Galway. 8pm. Panel: Conor McNamara, Una Newell, John Cunningham, Jackie Ui Chionna.

Tuesday 17 November: Dublin soldiers and the Great War, with Pádraig Yeates. Also a short talk by Frank Woods on the Houses of Blackrock. Host: Foxrock Local History Club. Venue: Foxrock Pastoral Centre, Kill Lane, Foxrock, Dublin 18. 8pm. €5 for non-members.

Wednesday 18 November: Stories from WW1, with Ian Wilson. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh branch. Venue: Town Hall, 15-17 Edward Street, Portadown, Co Armagh BT62 3LX. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Thursday 19 November: Londonderry Family, with John Grace. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Down & Ards Branch. Venue: 1st Bangor Presbyterian Church Hall, Main Street, Bangor, Co Down, BT20 4AG. 7:30pm. All welcome. Visitors and guests £3.

Friday 20 November: Starting your family history, a practical workshop designed to give hands on experience in how to search the archives on the internet, searching and ordering as well as using original documents held at PRONI. Part of the Explore Your Archives 2015 campaign. Host and venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 2-4pm. Free. Booking required. Details.

Friday 20 November: Irish Volunteers - pre-exhibition call for your family items. If you have family items that you would like to donate or loan for the exhibition, take them along to Louth County Archives Service at the Old Gaol, Ardee Road, Dundalk. Times 10am – 1pm; 2pm – 4pm. Part of the Explore Your Archives 2015 campaign. Details.

Friday 20 November and Saturday 21 November: What's your 1916 story? A historical evaluation day. Share your family's story and get a free historical assessment of your Easter Rising treasures & heirlooms. Bring along any items of the time you may have and find out their history, these can include documents, letters, diaries, medals, uniforms and objects. Host and Venue: Glasnevin Cemetery Museum, Finglas Road, Dublin 11. 10am to 4pm.

Saturday 21 November: 19th-Century Irish Genealogy Research: What’s Available and How to Use It, with Miles Davenport. An intermediate level workshop. Host and venue: McClelland Library (Norton Room), 1106 North Central Avenue, Margaret T. Hance Park, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. 10:30am to 12:30pm. Details.

Saturday 21 November: Don’t Forget the Ladies - A Genealogist’s Guide to Women and the Law and Dowered or Bound Out: Records of Widows and Orphans, both with Judy Russell. Coffee break between the presentations. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Ave, Bethpage, NY 11714, USA. 10am to 12:45pm. Details.

Saturday 21 November: Clondalkin History and Heritage Day. Talks, walks, tours and more. Host: South Dublin Libraries and the Clondalkin Round Tower Heritage Group. Venue: Civic Offices, 9th Lock Road, Clondalkin, Co Dublin. 2–4pm. Free. No booking.

Tuesday 24 November: 19th-century Valuation records, with Gillian Hunt. Host: Ulster Historical Foundation. Venue: Discover Ulster-Scots Centre, 1-9 Victoria Street, Belfast BT1 3GA. 1–2pm. Free but registration required by email to discover@ulster-scots.com or telephone 028 9043 6710.

Wednesday 25 November: North Down women in WW1, with Dr Margaret Ward. Host and venue: North Down Museum, Town Hall, Castle Park Ave, Bangor, Co Down BT20 4BT. 7:30pm. Free but you need to reserve a place by tel: 02891 271200 or email: museum@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk.

Thursday 26 November: Surviving the City; Poverty and Health in Belfast 1888-1914. Exhibition launch. Hosts: Queen’s University Belfast and PRONI. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 6pm.

Thursday 26 November: Medieval use of the settlement type known as the crannógs: late medieval use in Ireland, with Dr. Kieran O'Conor. Host and venue: Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, Tulsk, Co Roscommon. 7:30pm. Tickets: 071 9639268. Details.

Thursday 26 November: The Battle of Kinsale – a future for our past, an illustrated account of the background and events of 1601 with Dermot Ryan, and a talk by Gerry McCarthy on the possibilities of raising awareness of 1601 at a local, national and international level. Host: Kinsale History Society. Venue: Actons Hotel, Kinsale, Co Cork. 8pm. All welcome.

Thursday 26 November to Friday 4 December : Reading Room of National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8, closed for preparation of departmental records being transferred from departments of state, and annual media preview

Friday 27 November: West Connaught and the Great War, Exhibition, Open evening. Venue: Clifden Library, Market St, Clifden, Co. Galway. 6:30–8pm. All welcome. Free.