Earlier this year, I attended an excellent lecture, hosted in London by the Irish Genealogical Research Society, by professional archaeologist and historian Damian Shiels who runs the Irish in the American Civil War blog. It was a fascinating talk, opening up a colourful and unexpected area of research for Irish family historians, and I know Damian has been well-received wherever he's presented talks on the topic.
With its steady and wide-ranging output of educational, touching, curious and always enlightening posts, the Irish in the American Civil War blog has attracted a considerable following over the last few years, and I was delighted to see that Damian's hard work earned his blog the best Arts and Culture Blog at the Irish Blog Awards in October. He saw off stiff competition, too.
I'm telling you this in case you haven't come across his blog before. And also to direct you to an outstanding new blogpost, where Damian presents some of the research he has recently carried out among the Confederate Army and pension files for Irishmen living in the state of Alabama in 1907. With heat maps and biographical notes on 54 emigrant Irish, it reveals a unique glimpse into the lives of these men and how they had fared as they aged in their adopted home.
Read it here: Mapping Confederate Irish Veterans in 20th-century Alabama.