More videos of lectures from Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference are online

Five more of the lectures presented at the Genetic Genealogy Ireland (GGI) conference last month have joined the online library of videos from the two previous conferences and are now freely available to view on the GGI's YouTube channel.

They are:

• Y-SNPs: Key to the future, with Robert Casey
  
• Connecting your DNA to the Ancient Irish Annals, with Maurice Gleeson
  
• The Marriage of Genetics and Genealogy: A Case Study, with Diahan Southard
  
• The Ups & Downes of atDNA matching, with Paddy Waldron
  
• The genetic identification of the 1916 Cork Rebel, Thomas Kent, with Jens Carlsson

Grim Bastilles of Despair: a newly published study on Ireland's Poor Law Union workhouses

Grim Bastilles of Despair, by Paschal Mahoney, is a short study on the Poor Law Union workhouses in Ireland. It has been published by the Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in the USA as one of this year's Famine Folios, a multi-disciplinary series which presents new research in Famine studies.

The folio explores how, despite strong Irish resistance, the British authorities established the 'Act for the Effectual Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland', which was to become one of the most despised Acts ever to come into effect in Ireland.

The author, himself a Dublin-based architect, includes an account of the selection of the workhouse architect, George Wilkinson, and provides a short biography of his career, together with a detailed description of his model designs for the workhouse buildings which had been created to ensure that nothing short of total destitution would compel anyone to seek refuge there.

The ideology of segregation and confinemen, as well as the traumatic daily experience of the paupers who had been forced by eviction and starvation to enter these brutal institutions, is described and illustrated with drawings and photographs.

Published in softback, the 48-page study also describes the devastating impact of the Great Famine and how these flawed institutions imploded under the enormity of this great tragedy, causing almost one third of a million people to die within their grey stone walls during the Famine years of 1846-51.

The Famine Folios are available through Cork University Press. Price €11.95.

ISBN: 9780997837421

Irish Roots Magazine publishes its 100th edition

100 editions of insightful, entertaining and
reliable news and features since 1992

Irish Roots Magazine has just published its 100th issue – a terrific achievement for Ireland's only independent genealogy magazine, now run by Maureen and Julie Phibbs, a mother and daughter team based in County Wicklow.

This quarter’s edition brings reflections and forecasts about the past, present and future of Irish genealogy, and reproduces a nostalgic feature, written by the late Tim Cadogan for the first edition of the magazine in 1992, exploring the impact on public libraries of developments then taking place in family history research.

In it, he writes: "In the course of the past 20 years, genealogical research has advanced from the low-profile mildly eccentric activity of times past to a high-profile semi-commercial activity, increasingly targeted by tourism interest as another aspect of our heritage that can be exploited. I must confess to a twinge of regret at the arrival of the new and aggressive approach to genealogy."

More than two decades later, such feelings are still being expressed by those of us getting a bit long in the tooth, even at we delight in the latest online releases of records that were previously difficult, inconvenient and time-consuming to access. I'm sure these conflicting sentiments will still be being discussed among genealogists in another 20-odd years!

But back to the contents of the magazine... There is also a mammoth listing of 100 research tips and ideas to inspire you. It's full of research techniques, notes of record collections you may have overlooked, historical context details that may cast a new light on some aspect of your family history, and background explanations to give you a better understanding of some of the major genealogical record sets.

Other research features include overviews of sources for tracing ancestors in County Waterford and New Zealand; an article explaining the Brehan Laws of Gaelic Ireland; news and views from around the industry; a review of the many record collections released online during the last quarter; letters to the editor; Q&A; and much more.

Irish Roots Magazine is available in print via good newsagents, and by post or by digital format at the Irish Roots Media website. You can also download a free sample of this special edition.

Book Launch: The Geraldines and Medieval Ireland

ISBN: 978-1-84682-571-2.

Four Courts Press has published The Geraldines and Medieval Ireland: The making of a myth. Edited by Peter Crooks and Seán Duffy, it is the inaugural volume in the Trinity Medieval Ireland Series, which arises from a symposium held three years ago to mark the 500th anniversary of the Great Earl of Kildare's death in September 1513.

The 446-page illustrated hardback traces the history of the Great Earl’s family from its origins to the sixteenth century. Some of Ireland’s finest historians offer fresh appraisals of the origins of the Geraldines, their significance and reputations, and explores the reception of the ‘myth’ of the Geraldines from the sixteenth century onwards.

You can see full details of the contents here.

The book is now available via the publisher's online shop for €45 (catalogue Price €50).

National Archives Advisory Council - candidates sought

Applications are being sought for ten suitably qualified candidates, including a Chairman (m/f), to sit on the National Archives Advisory Council (NAAC).

The NAAC is the board which advises the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs on all matters affecting archives and their use by the public. 

A regional spread of candidates is sought, and applications would be welcomed from those that reflect the diversity of the Irish population, particularly in gender, geography and cultural interests. Council members need to have accredited qualifications and professional experience as archivists, leadership experience as ICT specialists, or have senior professional/academic experience in related fields, one of which is genealogy.

The closing date for applications is Monday 19 December 2016.

For more information, see www.stateboards.ie

UPDATE 21 December: Closing date extended to Thursday 5 January.

Irish genealogy and history events, 28 Nov to 11 Dec

Tuesday 29 November: Reconstructing West Clare family histories using DNA, with Paddy Waldron. Host: Kilrush & District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co Clare. 8pm. New members welcome. €5 for non-members.

Tuesday 29 November: Heylands & Gettys of Ballintemple & Cullyrammer, with R.W. Patterson. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Causeway Coast and Glens Branch. Venue: Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Londonderry. BT52 1HF. 8pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 29 November: A Dominican's view from Dublin Bridge, with Bernadette Williams. Host: Milestones of Medieval Dublin lunchtime lecture series. Venue: Wood Quay Venue, Civil Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8. Free. 1:05pm. All welcome.

Saturday 3 December: The secrets of the Bog Bodies, with Eamon P Kelly. Host & venue: Tipperary County Museum, Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. 10:30am. €5. All welcome. Seats allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Sunday 4 December: Evensong at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. A thanksgiving service to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Irish Genealogical Research Society.  3:15pm. Details.

Monday 5 December:  Agnes Jones – Pioneering Nurse, with Gerald McGill. Plus Members' Research Meeting. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: Derry Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Londonderry, BT48 6AL. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 6 December: Frongoch & 1916, a series of new 1916 exhibitions – Official Launch by Catriona Crowe. Host: Digital Repository Venue: National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7. Noon. All welcome. No need to book.

Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 December:  Reading Room closed to the public for annual media preview. National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Free Genealogy Service will not operate on these dates.Reopens Monday 12 December.

Thursday 8 December: WWI Ireland: Exploring the Irish Experience, an exhibition tour. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, 2/3 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Booking is not required. All welcome. 2pm.

Friday 9 December: Women of the Rising, with Dr Margaret Ward. Host: Enniskillen Library, Halls Lane, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh BT74 7DR. 12:30pm. Free. All welcome.Booking advised: T 028 6632 2886 or enniskillen.library@librariesni.org.uk.

Saturday 10 December: Ower the Sheugh – considering the Irish and Scottish migrations across the Narrow Sea in historical prespective, with Dr Paddy Fitzgerald. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Tyrone Branch. Venue: Omagh Library, Dublin Road, Omagh, BT78 1HL. 10am. All welcome.

Saturday 10 December: The National Library's History & Heritage, an introduction to the Library's rich architectural history and the Signatories exhibition, plus a guided tour of the Reading Room.  Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Admission free. All welcome. 1pm. No need to book.

Saturday 10 December: Finding the Source: A Survey of Irish Genealogical Websites and Databases, an intermediate level workshop with Miles Davenport. Host and venue: McClelland Irish Centre (Norton Room), 1106 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85004, USA. 10:30am to 1pm. Non-Members: $20/Members: $15. Need to register. Details.

Sunday 11 December: Family History Fair. Venue: Great National Abbey Court Hotel, Dublin Road, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, 11am- 4:30pm. Admission free.

Round-up of this weekend's Irish genealogy bargains

There's a selection of worthwhile Black Friday / Cyber Monday / Holiday Weekend discounts and bargains available this weekend. They include savings on DNA testing kits, subscriptions to records databases and historical newspapers, purchases of books and magazines.

Most, but not all, have been reported here on Irish Genealogy News over the last week, but for convenience, I've gathered them together onto just one page on my Irish Genealogy Toolkit site.

If you fancy grabbing yourself a good deal, take a look at the Special Offers page.

Ancestry DNA - November Holiday - Big Savings

To mark the Thanksgiving-Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend, Ancestry DNA has announced some very worthwhile discounts on its testing kits.

These special offers are available in Ireland, the UK, the USA and Canada, and each of the discounts comes with a 'lowest ever' or 'lowest this year' price tag. All will be available until Monday.

(Apologies to Australian/NZ readers. I haven't received details of any discounts for your neck of the woods.)

Just click 'your' flag below to find out more:

	Ancestry.co.uk – £30 off + shipping = £49 (lowest price ever). Order before 11:59pm GMT, Monday 28 November.
	Ancestry.com – 30% discount = $69 + shipping. Lowest price of the year. Order before 11:59pm ET, Monday 28 November.
	Ancestry.ca – $50 off regular price = $79 + shipping. Order before close Monday 28 November.

* I'm not absolutely sure what expiry time applies to the CA offer (I can't view the pages, thanks to Ancestry's wretched 'geo-locater', grrrr), but I expect it's just before midnight like the other two.

Irish Newspaper Archive: One month for just €7.50

The Dublin-based IrishNewsArchive.com has a Black Friday offer that will bring cheer to a good many researchers: one month's subscription to the entire database of 60 historical national, regional and local newspapers for just €7.50. That's a terrific saving... the regular monthly price is €30.

To take advantage of the offer, click the Subscribe button and select the monthly payment button. When you get through to check out, use the coupon code: BlackFri02.

The offer will be live for one day – Friday 25 November – only, so act quickly to ensure you don't miss out.

Four Courts Press offers 'Black Friday' double discount

Four Courts Press, one of Ireland's leading academic book publishers, has a double discount offer on all books ordered from its website between now and midnight on Friday 25 November. When you visit the company's website you'll see a 'web' price alongside each book; while this offer runs, you'll see a second discount applied when you reach the check out page and enter the coupon code.

The image below shows some indicative total price reductions on a selection of recently published titles.

The coupon code is FCPFRIDAY.

National Archives of Ireland: media preview closures

The Reading Room of the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) will be closed to the public from Monday 5 December until Monday 12 December to facilitate the annual media preview of archives of Government Departments. These archives will be opened to the public in January 2017. Only representatives of newspapers and broadcasting companies will be admitted during the media days.

The NAI's free Genealogy Service, which is usually available Monday to Friday, 9:30 to 5pm, will not operate during this week.

Registry of Deeds Index Project: November updates

Number of memorials of deeds: 24,978

The latest update to the volunteer-led Registry of Deeds Index Project sees 219,838 entries in the database, transcribed from 24,978 memorials of deeds.

Another refinement from earlier this month allows researchers to filter their search to the role each individual had in the memorials. For example, you can now enter 'W' in the 'Role Filled' field to view the names of people who were witnesses. See list of codes used.

As always, the database is free to search explore at http://irishdeedsindex.net/search/index.php.

RootsIreland offers big discounts on its subscriptions

To mark Thanksgiving, RootsIreland is offering some big savings on its annual and six-month subscription packages.

The cost of a new annual subscription is reduced by a whopping one-third to €150 (saving €75), £123 (saving £62) and $170 (saving $85), while the half-year sub is reduced to €125 (saving €25), £100 (saving £38) and $149 (saving $38).

These kind of discounts don't come along very often from RootsIreland, a not-for-profit company, so be sure to take advantage of them while you can.

Covering almost the entire island, the database holds more than 20million transcriptions from Roman Catholic registers (most extending to 1900, at least), Church of Ireland and Presbyterian registers as well as records for some congregations of other denominations.

In addition, RootsIreland now holds civil records (BMDs) into the early 20th century for half of the counties of Ireland, and a growing number of gravestone inscriptions.

The offer expires at 23:59hrs GMT (Dublin time) on Tuesday 29 November.

Prices for the one-month sub and 24-hour pass remain unchanged.

Ancestry World Archive Project: Irish School Masters

There's a lovely free curio coming our way from Ancestry's World Archives Projects in due course: Ireland School Masters and Mistresses,1826.

Currently being transcribed by volunteers, the source material is a Report from Commissioners into Education in Ireland in the stated year. The resulting index will include the name of the school master or school mistress, the name of the parish, and the name of the townland or other location of the school. Click the image, right, for a full size view of the pages being indexed. As the transcription is being done from printed type arranged in strict format, this is an ideal project for beginner transcribers with a familiarity of Irish names and placenames.

The Project was released only a couple of days ago and is already 25% through the Phase 1 keying stage. If you want to lend a hand, click the link above and become a volunteer. All World Archive Projects collections join Ancestry's database on a free to access (index-only) basis.

PRONI Preservation Week: public services reduced

Early Warning: The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland will be holding its annual Preservation Week from 12–16 December (inclusive).

During this time, PRONI's Preservation & Collections Management staff get an opportunity to dedicate some time to the vital work that goes on behind the scenes.

The knock-on effect means a reduced service to researchers.

There will be no ordering of documents from the stores during the week but the Search Room and self-service microfilm facilities will be available as normal. Standard hours of opening operate (Monday to Wednesday and Friday 9am to 4:45pm; Thursday 10am to 8:45pm).

Irish genealogy lectures and events, 21 Nov - 3 Dec

Until 25 November: 150 years of the Presbyterian Children’s Society – an exhibition. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Open during normal PRONI hours. Free. Details.

Monday 21 November: Genealogy information sessions, with Margaret Bonar and Elizabeth Craven. Morning and afternoon sessions. Morning venue: Raheny Library, Howth Rd, Dublin 5 from 10:30am to 11:45am. Afternoon venue: Donaghmede library, Donaghmede Shopping Centre, Dublin 13 from 2:30pm to 4pm. Free. Bookings to 087 6491605 or impossibleancestors@gmail.com.

Monday 21 November: Church Records, with Gillian Hunt of the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Monday 21 November: Using the National Library, a research workshop with Dr Emma Edwards. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. 2pm. Free admission. Booking required: learning@nli.ie or 01 6030 278. Details.

Tuesday 22 November: Quaker Records, with Noel Jenkins. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Belfast Branch. Venue: C.S. Lewis Room, Holywood Arches Library, Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 22 November: Report on the newly-released Survey of Hospital Archives, with Brian Donnelly. Host and venue: National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Free. 6pm. All welcome. No booking required.

Thursday 23 November: Book launch: Edenderry 1916 and the revolutionary era, by Ciarán Reilly. Host and venue: Edenderry Public Library, JKL St, Edenderry, Co Offaly. 7:30pm.

Thursday 24 November: Merchant sailors from Glenaan to Glenarm lost in the 1st World War, with Ian Bradley. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Ballymena Branch. Venue: Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena, BT43 5EJ. 7:15pm. All welcome.

Thursday 24 November: Exhibition launch – Milestones: Birth, Marriage and Death in County Down. Host and venue: Down County Museum, The Mall, Downpatrick, Co Down BT30 6AH. Launch 7:30pm (RSVP 028 4461 5218).

Saturday 26 November: Battle of the Somme Seminar, part of the Explore Your Archives Campaign 2016. Host and venue: Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 2pm–4pm in the conference room. Full programme available from cityarchives@dublincity.ie. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 29 November: Reconstructing West Clare family histories using DNA, with Paddy Waldron. Host: Kilrush & District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co Clare. 8pm. New members welcome. €5 for non-members.

Tuesday 29 November: Heylands & Gettys of Ballintemple & Cullyrammer, with R.W. Patterson. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Causeway Coast and Glens Branch. Venue: Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Londonderry. BT52 1HF. 8pm. All welcome.

Saturday 3 December: The secrets of the Bog Bodies, with Eamon P Kelly. Host & venue: Tipperary County Museum, Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. 10:30am. €5. All welcome. Seats allocated on a first come, first served basis.

IGP Archives: volunteer headstone transcribers needed

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives has issued a call for more volunteer headstone transcribers.

The free-to-access online repository of crowdsourced Irish genealogy records and photos relies on volunteers not only to submit material but also to help prepare that material for a live, searchable environment where other researchers can find it.

So, while some volunteers are tripping over the ancient remains of grave markers and getting rained on as they photograph headstone after headstone, others are needed to transcribe the names, dates and other details captured in those photographs. The transcribers don't get wet or bruised, and they can be based anywhere in the world.

Christina Hunt, who co-ordinates the online archive, told Irish Genealogy News that she's often asked why IGP Archives transcribes the photographs. "Search engines can't read the headstone inscriptions in the images," she explains. "They can only read text. So we have to present them with the words and names that researchers might be searching in a text format rather than a visual format."

The process of getting the volunteer-donated headstone photos online works like this:

The volunteer photographer submits the photos. Christina crops and enhances them as best she can, adding contrast to make the inscriptions stand out. She numbers each photo and then prepares a folder, ready to be sent to a transcriber. An example of a set of photos waiting to be done can be viewed here – Galway Bohermore waiting.

Christina then sends a volunteer transcriber a photo set. "If a volunteer is more comfortable with more recent, easier-to-read stones, I try to give them those," she says. "If they like a challenge, I send an older set. Very quickly, though, transcribers get a feel for the kind of wording used in headstones, and this helps."

The transcriber uses a text pad or Word.doc program, working from headstone image to headstone image. It helps to work with two pages open on the screen at the same time (or even to work from two open devices), but otherwise basic computer skills are all that's required.

"I would say our best transcribers have some curiosity," says Christina. "If they aren't sure of a month or placename, they may do some Googling or check a death index online. On the main practicalities, when a word or line can't be read we use dots to indicate missing words, and we use pipes '|' to show a new line on the headstone." Here's a finished text file as an example: Kilkenny Bennettsbridge text.

The transcriber's finalised text file is then emailed back to Christina, who adds details of both the photographer and transcriber, plus headings and links to the photo menu page before uploading the files to the IGP Archive website.

If you think you could spare a bit of time for some occasional transcription work, get in touch with Christina at chrisnina@gmail.com. You'd be contributing to a great cause – one that's been helping researchers all round the globe for many years – and one that's absolutely reliant on volunteers.

Four-volume dictionary of surnames published

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland was published yesterday, with a four-volume hardback and a searchable online version (£) at OxfordReference (see below for temporary free access) providing details of the origins and geographical distribution of nearly 46,000 surnames.

According to the blurb: "Much of this evidence is new, drawn from previously untapped medieval and modern sources such as tax records, church registers and census returns. Each entry contains lists of variant spellings of the name, an explanation of its origins (including the etymology), lists of early bearers showing evidence for formation and continuity from the date of formation down to the 19th century, geographical distribution, and, where relevant, genealogical and bibliographical notes, making this a fully comprehensive work on family names. About 40,000 are native to Ireland and Britain, while the remainder reflect the diverse languages and cultures of immigrants who have settled on these islands since the 16th century, including French Huguenot, Dutch, Jewish, Indian, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and African arrivals."

The study, by the University of the West of England at Bristol, took four years and explores the frequencies of each name at the time of the (UK) 1881 and 2011 censuses, the name's main geographical home hub in Britain and Ireland, its language or culture of origin, and in some cases, an explanation supported by historical evidence for the name. You can view a free sample – for the surname Hawkins – to see what the pages might reveal.

For the surname Santry, there are a couple of options for English origins. I've never heard English origins suggested before, so I was curious to learn more. However, in the 'early bearers' section were individuals such as Andreas Santry (b1815 near Bristol) and Henry James Santry (b1845 in Brixton); I know them to have been the sons of Daniel and Cornelius, both born in Ireland. Cornelius, in fact, was born in Bandon. So these specimens didn't strike me as very good examples of 'English origins' for the name.

The 'Irish origin' etymological details were the same as I'd gathered from other sources. Of the three 13th and 14th century examples of documentary evidence, I'd previously seen only one.

The main Irish location for the name was given as Cork, which is easy enough to find from Griffith's Valuation when there were no incidences of the name outside the county. The main GB location for Santry in 1881 (as per the England and Wales census) was given as 67, with which FindMyPast agrees.

The 'Current Frequencies' in BB were recorded as 177, which I've no reason to not accept. But when it came to 'Current Frequencies' for Ireland, the result was a big fat 0. I know a good few people, many of them still in County Cork, who might like to argue with that finding. I've no idea what sources were used to come up with this result. I have asked the question and been told it's been passed on to the Irish consultant.

Presumably the source dates to the same period of history where there were 23,713 Doyles in Ireland and only 37 O'Driscolls (the frequency numbers for those names)...?

I confess to being more than a little irritated that the Santry entry, as well as those for Tierney, Tobin, Crowley and Donovan, were accompanyied by a map of the name's distribution in Britain. There were no maps for Ireland. When you're dealing with dominant traditional Irish names, surely a distribution map of Ireland wouldn't have been too much to ask. If they didn't want to go to the bother themselves, they should have had a word with John Grenham.

At £400 for the package of 4 volumes, this Dictionary is obviously intended for institutional use rather than for the shelves of the individual researcher. I'm sure it will become a popular and standard reference work but while I respect the work that's gone into it and the stamina of those involved, my enthusiasm is somewhat muted, at least for the Irish entries.

Until the end of November you can get free access to the online version at Oxford Reference by using these login details: Username: fanbi / Password: onlineaccess


Edited 13:35pm to include free access login details (thanks Joe Buggy @TownlandOrigin) and remove resulting redundancies.

FindMyPast adds more 19th-century directories

FindMyPast has added an unknown number of trade directories to its 'Ireland, 19th Century Directories' collection, totting up the number of volumes available to more than 120.

Among the additions are believed to be The Treble Almanac (now spanning 1802–1844), Thom's Irish Almanac (now spanning 1844–1900) and Pettigrew & Oulton's Dublin Almanac and General Register of Ireland (now spanning 1834–1850).

The Mayo Constitution joins British Newspaper Archive

The Mayo Constitution has been added to the British Newspaper Archive (BNA), becoming the 128th Irish title in the online portfolio.

In this initial upload, 740 editions of the Castlebar-published title have been made available, dating from 1852–1858 and 1864–1871. The holding will eventually span 1828 to 1872.

By joining the BNA site, The Mayo Constitution is automatically added to FindMyPast's Irish Newspapers collection, which is available to researchers with an Ireland or World subscription package.

Genetic Genealogy Ireland: more lecture videos online

A second tranche of videos of lectures presented at last month's Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference is now available for free viewing on the GGI YouTube channel.

The newly-added lectures are:

• Latest Developments in Y-DNA, with John Cleary
  
• Identifying our Soldiers of WWI, with Maurice Gleeson
  
• The Future of autosomal DNA testing, with Debbie Kennett
  
• Investigating Family History Mysteries with DNA: The Tools, with Jennifer Zinck
  
• Viking DNA in Ireland. Do you have some and where did it come from? with Peter Sjölund

Explore Your Archive week returns 19–27 Nov

The Archives and Records Association, Ireland (ARAI) has launched its fourth annual Explore Your Archive week, a campaign to increase awareness of the essential role of archives in society. A focus of this year’s campaign will be the growing importance of online archiving and the digitisation of valuable collections.

Explore Your Archive week is run jointly by ARAI and the UK's Archives and Records Association, and seeks to encourage people to discover the stories, facts, places and the people that are at the heart of Ireland’s communities. Archivists, record managers and conservators will host talks, workshops, exhibitions and tours of their unique collections from Saturday 19 November to Sunday 27 November.

Organisations participating in Explore Your Archive include business, university, state, military and specialist archives, both north and south of the border.

Many engaging online exhibitions and digitised collections are being launched as part of Explore Your Archive this year by a range of participants, including the Irish Traditional Music Archive, the IFI Irish Film Archive, Cork City and County Archives and many more. Additionally, the National Library of Ireland will host a talk outlining how it is capturing, preserving and making available the websites that tell the story of the 2016 commemorations for future generations.”

Events taking place during Explore Your Archive 2016 include:

• ‘1916: Tales from the Other Side’, a new exhibition exploring minority experiences of 1916 hosted by Marsh’s Library.
  
• The National Archives of Ireland will host a talk (22 November 6pm) on the newly published Report of The Survey of Hospital Records in Ireland. The talk will draw together archivists and historians to discuss the current state of Irish medical archives.
  
• The Irish Architectural Archive will open the new exhibition ‘House and Home’, featuring more than 40 original architectural drawings, models and photographs of residential projects in Ireland.
  
• A ‘story box’ to mark the 70th anniversary of rural electrification, including previously unseen photographs and other documents, will be launched by ESB Archives.
  
• Dublin City Library and Archive together with Near FM will host a workshop to showcase the Near FM Archive, a digital audio archive with a particular emphasis on local arts, music, news, history, heritage and community events. The Archive has also generated the exhibition 'Dublin Remembers: Stories from the Somme’, focusing on personal stories of individual Irish men who fought at the Battle of the Somme, as well as seminars on popular theatre and on the First World War and the Somme with a range of expert speakers.
  
• The IBVM (Loreto) Irish Province Archives will launch the new online exhibition and digital collection ‘Loreto 1916’ during Explore Your Archive week 2016. The exhibition captures the bewilderment, anxiety, fear and hunger of the Loreto Sisters and their pupils caught in the midst of the Easter Rising, as they sheltered from stray bullets, coped with food shortages, threatened evacuation, and watched Dublin city centre burn.
  
• The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland will launch a unique ‘story box’ on the RCSI during 1916 and the death of RCSI graduate Charles Hachette during the fighting. The story box also discusses how archival material relating to Charles's life was discovered following a call-out via social media to try and locate any relatives who may be able to put a face to his name.

Latest updates to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives

Daly family cross, St Mary's, Navan, Co Meath
Photo courtesy Kev Murray & IGPArchives

The files added to the volunteer-led Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives (IGP-web) in the first half of the month are dominated by photos and transcriptions of headstones, but if you've family connections to Co Louth, don't miss the Drogheda Rentals & Properties file contributed by Mary Heapy; it includes details of leases dating from the late 1600s to early 1800s.

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Brigids (R.C.), Killeshandra
Ballyconnell (CoI) Headstones (Updated)

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Deansgrange Cemetery, St. Mary's Section, Pt. 13

GALWAY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Bohermore Cemetery, Galway

LEITRIM Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Gortletteragh Cemetery, Cloone
Drumeela (R.C.) Graveyard

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Clonbroney New Cemetery (Partial)

LOUTH Genealogy Archives - Land
Drogheda Rentals & Properties - 1835

MEATH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Mary's (Right Side), Navan (A-D)
St. Mary's (R.C.) Church, Navan

More lecture videos join PRONI's YouTube channel

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has updated its YouTube channel with more videos of talks and events it has presented. They include:

• History of County Armagh series – 4 talks
  
• East Belfast & The Great War – 1 lecture
  
• HMS Caroline – history and restoration – 2 talks
  
• Our maritime heritage – research, resources and restoration – a conference
  
• An Ghaeilge Inniu & Inné: The Irish language today & yesterday – 4 talks
  
• Year of Food and Drink series – 4 lectures

See the full list of linked topics on the PRONI's website.

More Sligo marriage transcriptions (to 1920s) online

The Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Centre has uploaded more than 3,000 civil registration marriage records to the RootsIreland.ie database. The transcriptions have been made direct from the local custody marriage registers for the following districts:

Collooney: 1864–1923 (1040 records)
Geevagh: 1864–1928 (890 records)
Riverstown: 1864–1928 (1321 records)

Looking at the list of this Centre's online sources, I think these latest additions mean that transcriptions for ALL marriages registered in County Sligo from 1864 to the 1920s are now searchable on the RootsIreland database.

All FindMyPast's World collection for just $1/£1/€1/$1

Findmypast is offering new customers a chance to discover the rich and varied lives of their ancestors with a special deal: 30-days access to FindMyPast's entire World collection of records for just US$1 / £1 / €1 / AUS$1. This offer has now closed.

To take advantage of this discount, sign up for a monthly World package before 11:59pm on Monday 21 November using one of the flag links below.

After the initial 30-day period, your subscription will be automatically renewed at the standard price unless you un-tick the 'auto-renew my subscription box' in the My Account section of the site.

	FindMyPast Ireland – 30-day World access for €1 only, normally €14.95		FindMyPast USA/Canada – 30-day World access for US$1 only, normally $19.95
	FindMyPast UK – 30-day World access for £1 only, normally £12.95		FindMyPast Australia/NZ – 30-day World access for AUS$1 only, normally $19.95

Irish genealogy, history & heritage events, 14–27 Nov

Until 25 November: 150 years of the Presbyterian Children’s Society – an exhibition. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Open during normal PRONI hours. Free. Details.

Tuesday 15 November: Attempting to heal on the hinterlands of Hell: The Great War endeavours of four Tipperary nurses, with Alice McDermott. Tipperary People and Places Lecture series. Host: Tipperary Studies. Venue: The Gallery of the Source Library, Cathedral St, Thurles, Co Tipperary. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 15 November: The Records of the Erasmus Trust Archive, with Alan Phelan. Host: Irish Genealogical Research Society. Venue: Helen Roe Theatre, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2. 18:45pm. Free. All welcome. Details

Tuesday 15 November: Irish Medical Heritage, a seminar to launch the National Archives of Ireland's Survey of Hospital Records in Ireland. Host and venue: Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 9am - 1pm. Details. 

Wednesday 16 November: Freemasonry in Carlow, with Arthur Keppel. Host: Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Masonic Hall, Athy Road, Carlow Town. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 16 November: Steelboys, Oakboys and Bad Boys: the troubled County of Armagh, 1750 to 1800, with Dr Eoin Magennis. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free. All welcome, but need to book your place.

Wednesday 16 November: Making Sense of the Census, with Roddy Hegarty. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh Branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 8TD. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Thursday 17 November: The fortress prison - the archaeology of Victorial Spike Island, Cork, with Dr Barra O'Donnabhain. Host and Venue: National Museum of Ireland Archaeology. Ceramics Room, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. 1pm to 1:45pm. All welcome. Free but need to book by email to educationarch@museum.ie or telephone to (0)1 648 6334.

Thursday 17 November: 1916 Galway & the Battle of the Somme – Conference. Host: Galway County Council and Loughrea Memorial Group. Venue: Loughrea Hotel & Spa, Old Galway Road, St Laurencesfields, Loughrea, Co Galway. 9:30am to 5pm. Free. Includes refreshments and lunch. Booking essential. Details.

Thursday 17 November: Local Clocks & Clocktowers, with Ian Orr. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Down and Ards Branch. Venue: 1st Bangor Presbyterian Church Hall, Main Street, Bangor BT20 4AG. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Saturday 19 November: Intermediate Genealogy, with Toni McKeen. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Library. Meeting starts 10am. 47 Powell Ave., Bethpage, New York, USA. Details.

Monday 21 November: Genealogy information sessions, with Margaret Bonar and Elizabeth Craven. Morning and afternoon sessions. Morning venue: Raheny Library, Howth Rd, Dublin 5 from 10:30am to 11:45am. Afternoon venue: Donaghmede library, Donaghmede Shopping Centre, Dublin 13 from 2:30pm to 4pm. Free. Bookings to 087 6491605 or impossibleancestors@gmail.com.

Monday 21 November: Church Records, with Gillian Hunt of the Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Monday 21 November: Using the National Library, a research workshop with Dr Emma Edwards. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. 2pm. Free admission. Booking required: learning@nli.ie or 01 6030 278. Details.

Tuesday 22 November: Quaker Records, with Noel Jenkins. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Belfast Branch. Venue: C.S. Lewis Room, Holywood Arches Library, Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 22 November: Report on the newly-released Survey of Hospital Archives, with Brian Donnelly. Host and venue: National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Free. 6pm. All welcome. No booking required.

Thursday 23 November: Book launch: Edenderry 1916 and the revolutionary era, by Ciarán Reilly. Host and venue: Edenderry Public Library, JKL St, Edenderry, Co Offaly. 7:30pm.

Thursday 24 November: Merchant sailors from Glenaan to Glenarm lost in the 1st World War, with Ian Bradley. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Ballymena Branch. Venue: Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena, BT43 5EJ. 7:15pm. All welcome.

Saturday 26 November: Battle of the Somme Seminar, part of the Explore Your Archives Campaign 2016. Host and venue: Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 2pm–4pm in the conference room. Full programme available from cityarchives@dublincity.ie. Free. All welcome.

Fold 3's British Commonwealth Military Collection free

Until Sunday 13th November, 23:59hrs GMT

Fold 3, the dedicated Military Records database owned by Ancestry, is opening up a British Commonwealth Military Collection to free access this weekend.

Free access will be available until 23:59hrs GMT on Sunday 13 November. You need to register for an account if you don't already have one, but only your email address and a password are required from you. No financial details are requested.

The records include British and Australian records sets, including WW1 War Diaries, the surviving WW1 Service Records, Medal Rolls and Army Lists.

Also up for free viewing are the trio of pensioner collections released earlier this week (see blogpost for more details): Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Admission & Discharge Records, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, and the Royal Hospital Kilmainham (Dublin) Pensioner Records.

FindMyPast: free access to World Military Collection

Whatever you may call it in your neck of the woods – Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, Veterans Day – this weekend of November concentrates our minds on the soldiers in our living and ancestral families.

Cue a four-day free access promotion from FindMyPast.

From 9am today until 23:59hrs GMT on Sunday 13 November, you can explore FindMyPast's entire Military, Armed Forces & Conflict collection free of charge. Within this collection are more than 70million military records covering some of modern history's most significant conflicts.

You'll need a registered account. If you don't already have one, they're easy and free to set up and you don't need to provide financial details. All that's required is your name, email, country of residence and a password. You're then ready to go.

To start your weekend's free research, select one of the flags below (all give you access to the World Collection).

	FindMyPast Ireland – Free Access to World Military Records*		FindMyPast USA/Canada – Free Access to Military Records
	FindMyPast UK – Free Access to Military Records**		FindMyPast Australia/NZ – Free Access to Military Records

*  Click here for Ireland (only) Military Records
** Click here for British (only) Military Records

Book launch: The Country House and the Great War

From the Four Courts Press website at
a discounted price of €24.95.

Newly published by Four Courts Press is The Country House and the Great War – Irish and British experiences.

As you can see from the Contents list, the 208-page paperback presents a spectrum of experience, from owners, to servants and tenants, as well as the local communities that lived in the shadows of the country houses.

These personal narratives identify lost or forgotten figures, uncover unknown stories and military records and excavate the more hidden histories of those who endured the war at home. They are a powerful reminder of the experiences common to many during the 1914–18 period, as well as a record of how individual lives were shaped by personalities and unique circumstances.

The book is illustrated with previously unpublished images and has been edited by Terence Dooley, director of the Centre for Historic Irish Houses and Estates, Maynooth University, and Christopher Ridgway, curator at Castle Howard in Yorkshire.

(ISBN: 978-1-84682-617-7)

Surnames and Clans of Ireland: 2017 programme

A Clans and Surnames of Ireland genealogy event and conference is to be held next year, 15–19 May, in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

The three-and-a-half-day programme features personal research assessements for delegates, lectures, fieldtrips and consultations, followed by a further full-day Clans and Surnames Conference.

It will be held at Great National Abbeycourt Hotel and an Early Bird booking discount will be available until the end of December.

You'll find the full programme, details of speakers, rates (with or without B&B accommodation) and contact details on the Clans and Surnames of Ireland website.

Ancestry releases Kilmainham and Chelsea pension indexes

Ancestry has released a trio of indexes to military pension collections. One relates to Dublin's Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the others to London's Royal Hospital in Chelsea. In each case, the records on Ancestry are indexes to records transcribed from original documents; images of the documents are held on Fold3, so if you want to see them, you'll need an Ancestry All Access subscription*.

Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Discharge Documents, 1724-1924:
This collection of nearly 105,000 records is made up of certificates of pensioners of the Royal Kilmainham Hospital in Dublin. The Hospital dates back to 1680 and when built housed just 20 retired soldiers. It continued to be a veterans' home for more than two and a half centuries.

For each record, details provided generally include name, age, calculated year of birth, rank, regiment, date and place of admission to pension and/or date of discharge. In some cases a place of birth is provided. Here are a few of examples of entries I found in my travels through this collection:

– Martin Tobin, a private with the 62nd Foot Regiment – Pension Admission on 30 August 1858, aged 41, in Dublin.

– Owen Tierney, born Dungannon, Co Tyrone, a private with the 3rd Regiment of Royal Veterans – Discharged on 1 June 1821, aged 38, in Dublin.

– Thomas Lonergan, born Mollough, Co Tipperary, a dragoon with the 7th or Princess Royal's Regiment of Dragoons Guards – discharged on 10 June 1792 in Dublin, aged 44.

UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Admissions and Discharges, 1715-1925:
This collection of some 920,000 records is made up of registers of the award of 'out-pensions' of the Royal Hospital Chelsea to soldiers discharged from the Regular Army or the Militia on account of disability. Some British Army pensioners chose to surrender their pension in order to take up residence at the Royal Hospital. Those who preferred to receive their pension allowance and live elsewhere were called 'out pensioners'.

Inevitably, there are a lot of Irishmen in this collection. Those noting birthplaces in Ireland number about 40,000, but I'm sure there are many more. Here are a few representative entries of Irishmen going through the pension process in the 18th and early-19th centuries:

– Jas Doyle, born about 1722 in Charleville, County Cork, a Sargeant with the 47th Regiment of Foot – Examination or Pension Admission Date, 4 December 1759.

– Henry Sullivan, born about 1750 in Drogheda, Co Louth, a private with the 26th Regiment of Foot – Discharged 7 June 1811.

– Dominick Gallagher, born about 1736 in Sligo, served in Major Bowen's Company – Examination or Pension Admission Date, 1 February 1802.

UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920
This collection comprises service documents of soldiers (but not officers) who either became in- or out-pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. By 1815, there were more than 36,000 out-pensioners. Documents after 1883 usually contain fuller particulars, such as next of kin and details of marriage and children. The attestation and discharge documents constitute the most detailed record of a soldier's service. These records usually give particulars of age, birthplace, service (including any decorations), information about physical description, previous occupation on enlistment and the reason given for discharge to pension. After 1883, most soldiers will appear in these records if they survived their service. In total, more than one million records are in this collection; the number of Irish-born soldiers is 46,578.

Here's an example of a search result (I've yet to unravel it):

Geremiah Santry
Age: 23
Birth Date: abt 1843
Birth Place: Tremalagne, Cork
Service Start Year: 1866
Regiment: 62 Regiment Of Foot

Obviously the name should be Jeremiah, but I've no idea where Tremalagne is (google just suggested 'travel agent cork'!!). Could be Timoleague, I suppose. That would make sense.


*Hmmm. I don't think much of that. Seems the 'Explore comprehensive military, immigration & Irish records' promised by my Premium subscription is rather less comprehensive and rather more selective.

UPDATE, 11 November: Fold 3 is offering free access to these three new collections (and more) until 13 November. See blogpost.

Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2016: six videos online

Six lectures presented at the Genetic Genealogy Ireland (GGI) conference last month have joined the online library of lecture videos from the two previous conferences and are now freely available to view on the GGI's YouTube channel. They are:

• The DNA of clan O’Brien, with Dennis O’Brien
  
• Testing Ancestral Remains: the Barrymore Project, with René Gapert and Jim Barry
  
• ISOGG Ireland Update, with Gerard Corcoran
  
• The DNA of the Dál gCais & subclades discovered with Big-Y, with Dennis Wright
  
• Adding DNA to your Family History Society, with Maggie Little and Ann Marie Coughlan
  
• Five Tips to Make Sense of your DNA Testing, with Diahan Southard. This video will be available only until 17 November.

I'll let you know when another instalment of the recent lectures is uploaded.

National Library of Ireland launches public call for ‘Remembering 1916, Recording 2016’ web archive

The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has issued a call to members of the public to nominate websites which they believe best record Irish life in 2016 and remember the events of 1916.

‘Remembering 1916, Recording 2016’ is the NLI’s largest web archiving project to date and is part of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme.

Announcing the public call today, Dr Sandra Collins, Director of the NLI said: “With this public call we are asking everyone to think about the best Irish websites of 2016, because websites are an increasingly important source of information today. We want everyone to vote so that we can archive these modern Irish memories for now and for future generations to share."

The NLI asks that people nominate websites by answering the following questions:

• What website do you feel best remembers the events of 1916?
  
• What website do you feel best records Irish life in 2016?

Members of the public can nominate websites here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8CCV93P.

The top five websites chosen in each category for ‘Remembering 1916, Recording 2016’ will be selected, in accordance with the terms and conditions.

Nominations will be accepted for a period of three weeks, closing on Monday 28 November. An independent assessor will verify the decision making, and an awards ceremony will take place in December to announce the ten websites.

You can find out more at www.nli.ie.

Registry of Deeds Index Project: latest update

The Registry of Deeds Index Project has been updated. The index, which is created entirely by volunteers, now holds 218,880 entries from 24,868 memorial of deeds. It is free to access, and there's no need to register.

GRO England & Wales launches free enhanced indexes

The General Register Office for England and Wales has released free indexes to its historic birth and death registrations, which start from 1837.

They have been created following a project to digitise the registration records and include a number of enhancements on the index sets currently available on many commercial and not-for-profit databases. For example, where possible a mother's name appears in the new index for births registered before 1911, and the age of death is noted for deaths prior to 1865. These details could previously be seen only by buying the full-blown paper certificate, which can be a bankrupting exercise for those with a common name.

Births registered more than 100 years ago (1837–1915) and deaths 1837–1957 are included in the new indexes, which can be freely accessed (you need only to register) and links to the online ordering website.

There is also news of a trial service which sees uncertified digital certificates (births 1837–1934 and deaths 1837–1957 only) being made available for just £6 (the standard price for a paper cert is £9.25); it's a first-come first-served trial that will expire after 45,000 of these digital certificates have been issued and it will start on Wednesday. It's likely to be heavily subscribed.

Peter Calver, who runs the excellent Lost Cousins website, has been beta-testing the new index prior to its launch and has produced an in-depth introduction to it in a special newsletter here. If your Irish research takes you to England and Wales, you'd be well advised to check it out.

Irish genealogy and history events: 7–20 November

Until 25 November: 150 years of the Presbyterian Children’s Society – an exhibition. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Open during normal PRONI hours. Free. Details.

Monday 7 November: How to Start your Family Tree, with Gillian Hunt, Ulster Historical Foundation. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Killyleagh Branch. Venue: Killyleagh Masonic Hall, 50 High Street, Killyleagh, Co Down BT30 9QF. 8pm. All welcome.

Monday 7 November: Derry - The First Million Years: a geological and historical story, with Sean McMahon. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: Derry Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Londonderry, BT48 6AL. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 8 November: 'All changed, changed utterly...'? Ireland 1916-1918, a History Ireland Hedge School. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 7pm. No booking required. Details.

Tuesday 8 November: Nurses, Medics and Volunteers of World War I, with Dr Johanne Devlin Trew. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT28 1XP. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 8 November: Tracing Irish Police Ancestors, with Jim Herlihy. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: Dún Laoghaire Further Education Institute, Cumberland Street, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Donation €3. All welcome. 8pm.

Wednesday 9 November Steelboys, Oakboys and Bad Boys: the troubled County of Armagh, 1750 to 1800, with Dr Eoin Magennis. Part of the County Armagh Lecture Series. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free. Booking recommended - email proni@communities-ni.gov.uk to secure your place. (Lecture rearranged from 12 October.)

Thursday 10 November: WWI Ireland: Exploring the Irish Experience, an exhibition tour. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, 2/3 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Booking is not required. All welcome. 2pm.

Thursday 10 November: From revival to rebellion, with Roddy Hegarty. Host: Libraries NI. Venue: Lisburn City Library, Linenhall St, Lisburn BT28 1FJ. 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Free. All welcome. Booking recommended: 028 9266 9345 or lisburncity.library@librariesni.org.uk.

Thursday 10 November: Dungannon in WW1, with Robert Butler. Host: Western Front Association. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 6:30pm. £4 donation requested. All welcome. No booking.

Thursday 10 November: Starting Irish family history, with Maureen Doyle and Beryl O'Gorman. Host and venue: Genealogical Society of Victoria, Level B1 257 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia 3000. 10am to 12Noon. Members $30/non-members $60/affiliated groups $45. Need to register. Details.

Thursday 10 November: Forgotten Soldiers: The Irishmen Shot at Dawn, with Stephen Walker. Host: Carrickfergus Museum. Venue: Carrickfergus Town Hall, Joymount, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT37 7DN. 7:30pm. Light refreshments will be served. Free, but you need to book a seat. Email: carrickfergusmuseums@midandeastantrim.gov.uk. Tel: 02893 358241.

Friday 11 November: Reading Room and free Genealogy Advisory Service closed until 2pm. National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8.

Saturday 12 November: A Tale of Two Cemeteries – a poignant story of two forgotten girls, with Harman Scott. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Tyrone Branch. Venue: Omagh Library, Dublin Road, Omagh, BT78 1HL. 10am. All welcome.

Saturday 12 November: The Irish Way of Death. Host: The Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas. Venue: South Woulfe Alumni Hall, Anderson Student Center, St Paul campus, Minnesota 55105, USA. 1pm–5:30pm. Free and open to the public. Details.

Saturday 12 November: The National Library's History & Heritage, an introduction to the Library's rich architectural history and the Signatories exhibition, plus a guided tour of the Reading Room.  Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Admission free. All welcome. 1pm. No need to book.

Tuesday 15 November: Attempting to heal on the hinterlands of Hell: The Great War endeavours of four Tipperary nurses, with Alice McDermott. Tipperary People and Places Lecture series. Host: Tipperary Studies. Venue: The Gallery of the Source Library, Cathedral St, Thurles, Co Tipperary. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 15 November: The Records of the Erasmus Trust Archive, with Alan Phelan. Host: Irish Genealogical Research Society. Venue: Helen Roe Theatre, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2. 18:45pm. Free. All welcome. Details

Tuesday 15 November: Irish Medical Heritage, a seminar to launch the National Archives of Ireland's Survey of Hospital Records in Ireland. Host and venue: Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 9am - 1pm. Details. 

Wednesday 16 November: Freemasonry in Carlow, with Arthur Keppel. Host: Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Masonic Hall, Athy Road, Carlow Town. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 16 November: Making Sense of the Census, with Roddy Hegarty. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh Branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 8TD. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Thursday 17 November: The fortress prison - the archaeology of Victorial Spike Island, Cork, with Dr Barra O'Donnabhain. Host and Venue: National Museum of Ireland Archaeology. Ceramics Room, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. 1pm to 1:45pm. All welcome. Free but need to book by email to educationarch@museum.ie or telephone to (0)1 648 6334.

Thursday 17 November: 1916 Galway & the Battle of the Somme – Conference. Host: Galway County Council and Loughrea Memorial Group. Venue: Loughrea Hotel & Spa, Old Galway Road, St Laurencesfields, Loughrea, Co Galway. 9:30am to 5pm. Free. Includes refreshments and lunch. Booking essential. Details.

Thursday 17 November: Local Clocks & Clocktowers, with Ian Orr. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Down and Ards Branch. Venue: 1st Bangor Presbyterian Church Hall, Main Street, Bangor BT20 4AG. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Saturday 19 November: Intermediate Genealogy, with Toni McKeen. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Library. Meeting starts 10am. 47 Powell Ave., Bethpage, New York, USA. Details.

British Newspaper Archive hits 16m pages milestone

The online British Newspaper Archive has hit another sweet milestone. As of this morning, 16million pages of historical papers are available to search and view in its database. Impressive.

In total there are 693 titles ready to access in the archive. Of these, 34 are from Northern Ireland (117,933 editions) and 93 are from the Republic of Ireland (238,901 editions).

They span 1708 to 1999, but by far the bulk date from the middle to late 19th-century.

One month (£12.95) and annual (£79.95) subscriptions are available from British Newspaper Archive. So, too, is a 40-page Pay As You Go option, and a free trial option. You can find out more here.

Alteratively, if you are actively involved in family history research, you'll want to check out the World subscription option from FindMyPast. In addition to its huge collection of genealogical records, the World (Premium in USA) option gives you access to the entire British Newspaper Archive database. Click your preferred currency and flag below to find out more about this option.

(There is also a dedicated Ireland subscription (€9.95/month €114.50/year) which provides access to all the Irish record collections and Irish newspapers. Just click the Ireland flag and make your choice of subscription.)

	FindMyPast.ie World sub €14.95/month €179.50/annual		FindMyPast.com Premium sub $19.95/month $239.50/annual
	FindMyPast.co.uk World sub £12.95/month £155.95/annual		FindMyPast.com.au World sub AUS$19.95/month AUS$239.50/annual