Saturday 30 September 2017

The Carrickfergus Advertiser joins online BNA

The online British Newspaper Archive has added The Carrickfergus Advertiser to its database.

The digital archive plans to add editions published in the following years:

1884–91 The Carrickfergus Advertiser and County Gazette.
1891–1912 The Carrickfergus Advertiser and East Antrim Gazette.

So far, the editions available to search span 1884–1895 and 1897–1899.

The title has also joined FindMyPast's Irish Newspaper Collection.

Friday 29 September 2017

10% discount on FindMyPast's 12-month subscriptions

FindMyPast is offering a 10% discount on most of its 12-month Local and World packages.  To take advantage of the savings, use the links below. The discount code will be automatically applied at the checkout.

The discounts will expire on Sunday 8 October.


FindMyPast Ireland
10% Off 12 month Ireland / World packages

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=2114&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=https%3A%2
 F%2Fwww.findmypast.co.uk%2Fbritish-and-irish-offer-10
FindMyPast UK
10% off 12-month Britain / World packages
FindMyPast Australia/NZ
10% off 12-month Australia / World package

FindMyPast US
10% off 12-month Premium package
(For Starter package, see below)


http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5927&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.findmypast.com%2Fstarter
Starter subscription available only via FindMyPast.com
Click banner for details.

Workhouse, Famine & Emigration conference, 7 Oct

On Saturday 7 October, the Irish Workhouse Centre in Portumna, Co Galway will be hosting a Workhouse, Famine, and Emigration conference. The programme for the day is below:

Click to download programme
Click to download pdf programme
9:30 am     Registration

9:45am     Welcome and Introduction, by Pierce Joyce. The conference is being chaired by Dr Christy Cunniffe who will share some of his own knowledge of 'relics int eh landscape' from this period.

10:10am    Exporting the 'permanent deadweight': emigration from the workhouse during The Famine, with Dr Gerard Moran.

11am         Tea/Coffee break

11:20am    Scariff Union Workhouse: fraught with fever, with Gerard Maddan.

12:10am    Counterprodutive: The Reproductive Loan Funds, with Steve Dolan.

1pm           Snack lunch

1:30pm      Tours of the Workhouse

2:30pm      Take care of the Emigrant Girls, with Dolores O'Shea.

3:20pm      Slow starvation: Why the workhouse system failed during the Great Famine, with Dr Christine Kinealy.

The conference is free and a light lunch will be provided; in lieu of a fee, attendees are requested to donate towards the development of a museum at the Irish Workhouse Centre.

Places are limited, so you need to book in advance by emailing info@irishworkhousecentre.ie or phoning 086 4070851.

Venue: Irish Workhouse Centre - Portumna, St. Bridget's Road, Portumna, Co. Galway.

Thursday 28 September 2017

Ancestry's ProGenealogists team in Dublin is to expand

Ancestry's ProGenealogists team in Dublin is to expand with the addition of a new Associate Genealogist role. The team, which was established in the summer of 2015, has grown to six people, and will become seven when this latest vacancy is filled.

The Associate Genealogist works with Research Managers to research, document, and prepare client sessions. The role involves gathering materials, clerical work, records dissemination and support, while allowing the Research Managers to focus on the Research project and analysis. This position will focus predominantly on Ireland, and Irish/US immigration records.

Clearly this is a professional position, demanding a degree level qualification in genealogy, history or a related field, plus at least two years' experience as a professional genealogist.

You can find a fuller job description and person specification on this recruitment page.

Autumn-term heritage/history courses at the NLI

The National Library of Ireland (NLI) is again partnering with UCD Adult Eductation to present a new series of one-term Irish heritage/history courses. Each course last eight weeks and the weekly sessions run for two-and-a-half hours.

Twentieth-Century Irish Writing
This course will be held on Tuesdays from 10am to 12:30pm. It starts on Tuesday 3 October and runs to 28 November. The tutor will be Dr Alan Graham.

From Bad News to Fake News: media and conflict 1850-2017

Presented by Dr Myles Dungan, this course will be held on Wednesdays from 10:30am to 1pm. It starts on Wednesday 4 October and runs to 29 November.

Latin America and the Irish Diaspora
Dr Edward Collins will be the tutor for this course which will be held on Thursdays, 2pm to 4:30pm, from Thursday 12 October to 14 December.

The fee for each course is €195.

You can find out more about the content of each course and the tutor at the NLI website's Lifelong Learning page.

Wednesday 27 September 2017

New look Duchas.ie relaunched with 10,000 photos

https://www.duchas.ie/enDuchas.ie, the website of the National Folklore Collection (NFC), has been relaunched. It still offers full access to the 250,459 stories of the popular School's Collection, of course, but now also sports not only a fresh design but also a digitised version of the NFC's Photographic Collection.

Just under 10,000 images are included in this photo collection, which spans the full spectrum of folk custom and tradition encompassing the following themes:
  • Settlement and Dwelling
  • Livelihood and Household Support
  • Communications and Trade
  • The Community
  • Human Life
  • Nature
  • Folk-Medicine
  • Time
  • Principles and Rules of Popular Belief and Practice
  • Mythological Tradition
  • Historical Tradition
  • Religious Tradition
  • Popular Oral Literature
  • Sports and Pastimes.
A large number of the photographs date from the early 20th century. Although it’s fair to say that there is a particular emphasis on country life, towns and cities were not neglected. The majority of urban photographs relate to Dublin and especially to the folklore collection initiative which took place at the start of the 1980s. It contains an interesting record of the people, places and various aspects of life in the capital city.

Showcasing the work of folklore collectors, many of whom were themselves talented photographers, the collection also contains images donated by NFC staff members and other stakeholders over the years. More images will be released in due course.

The DĂșchas project is the result of a partnership, beginning in 2012, between the National Folklore Collection in UCD, one of the largest folklore collections in the world, UCD Digital Library and Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge. The objective of the project is to digitize the National Folklore Collection and make it available to the public online.

Tuesday 26 September 2017

John Grenham starts work on the NAI's Irish census corrections backlog

John Grenham MAGI FIGRS
Regular readers of Irish Genealogy News will remember my blogpost about the National Archives of Ireland 's project to (finally) tackle the backlog of corrections submitted by email by researchers who had identified errors, mainly of transcription, in the online 1901/1911 Irish census collections.

The tender for the project, which will last for about a year, was issued in June and yesterday the well-known genealogist John Grenham MAGI announced on his blog that he is the lucky chap now up to his elbows in these emails and making appropriate amendments to the database.

There are thought to be about  20,000 of these emails to work through. As far as I’m aware, amendments will be updated to the live site on a regular basis but I’m not sure how often that will be.

You can read John's initial observations about the project here.

When did electricity transform your ancestors' lives?

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1R6t46z_YjERI_4pn-fFzVhWuCsU&hl=en&ll=53.1614374676791%2C-6.66149164284343&z=7
ESB Archives has provided a free curio of information to add to your research into the daily lives of your more recent ancestors and family: an interactive map where you can discover when electricity reached more than 1,300 villages, towns and parishes across the Republic of Ireland.

Connection to Ireland's electricity network transformed our families' lives, but the rollout took nearly 50 years. The Electricity Supply Board was established in 1927, a time when only 45,000 homes had an electrical supply (usually from local authorities and private suppliers), and it was 1978 before the most rural communities were reached.

You can find out more about the creation of the map and ESB's ongoing project to digitise its archive collection at ESB.ie.

ESB Archives is based in Parnell Avenue, Harold’s Cross, Dublin 12 and is open by appointment.

Monday 25 September 2017

IGRS updates its exclusive Early Irish BMD Indexes

The Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) has added a further 5,000 records to its exclusive Early Irish Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes. This brings the total number of names in the collection to just under 260,000.

Originating from lesser used and obscure sources of Irish births, marriages and deaths, the indexes now comprise a total of 24,500 births (noting 47,800 names), 83,600 marriages (186,800 names) and 16,800 deaths (24,500 names).

This particular update draws from a range of material: surviving 19th century census records; marriage licence indexes; pre-1922 abstracts from exchequer and chancery court records; memorial inscriptions; biographical notices from newspapers; a large number of long forgotten published works on particular families and places; and memorials from Ireland's Registry of Deeds.

One of the rare books from which data is drawn is the Memoirs of the Fultons of Lisburn, which was published in 1903 and includes references not only to folk called Fulton, but many other associated families from the area.

Early BMD Index Project coordinator Roz McCutcheon says the book provides great detail, allowing long dead people to be easily identified. "Take Richard Fulton of Lisburn, as an example" she says. "We can conclude he was dead by April 1823, having outlived his wife, Elizabeth, whose maiden surname was Shanks, and who had died before him in July 1812 aged 60, and thus born about 1752."

"This particular update also draws heavily from Registry of Deeds memorials, access to which is now much easier since FamilySearch uploaded images of the old 1950s microfilms at the beginning of this year. Contrary to popular belief, the memorials make reference to all sorts of types and classes of people. A deed of 1808 allowed us to flesh out an entry in the death index to a widowed shopkeeper called Jane Rooney, noting her address as South Great George's, Dublin and her maiden surname as Kirk. It also linked her to her married sister, Matilda McDonnell."

The Society says there will be a further update of BMD data to the indexes before the end of the year.

You can search the databases here:

IGRS Early Irish Marriages Index - Free to all
IGRS Early Births Index - Name search only for non-members
IGRS Early Deaths Index - Name search only for non-members

Irish genealogy and history events, 25 Sept to 7 Oct

Monday 25 September to Friday 29 September: Return to the Causeway: A journey into the past, a week-long conference. Host: Causeway Coast and Glens Branch of the North of Ireland Family History Society. Venue: Atlantic Hotel, Portrush, Co Antrim. Details. Day tickets available.

Monday 25 September: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operating as normal. Details.

Tuesday 26 September: Sir Charles Coote, Earl of ellamont (1738-1800), politician, soldier and philanderer, with John Coleman. Host and venue: Cootehill Library, Bridge Street, Drumaveil North, Cootehill, Co Cavan. 7pm. Free but booking required by phone to 049 5559873.

Tuesday 26 September: Irish Genealogy Hour – hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. For more information, T: (406) 657-8258.

Tuesday 26 September: The Penal Times: The Catholic Church in Eighteenth-Century Ireland, with Professor Ian McBride. Host: Boston College. Venue: Devlin Hall, Room 101, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA 02467, USA. 5:00-7:00 pm. Free, but need to register in advance.

Tuesday 26 September: The grand old man of the Australian Parliament: The Hon. John Meagher (1836-1920), MLC, KCSG, with Paul O'Brien. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co Clare. 8pm. All welcome. Members free/non-members €5.

Wednesday 27 September: Open Irish genealogy session, with Lisa Dougherty. Host and venue: Irish American Heritage Museum, 370 Broadway, Albany, New York, USA. Free. 11am to 2pm. No need to book.

Thursday 28 September: Irish genealogy: Resources and research methods. Host and Venue: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, South Court Classrooms, New York State Library, 476 Fifth Avenue (42nd St and Fifth Ave), New York, NY, USA. Noon to 1:30pm. Basic computer skills and some research experience required. Free. No need to book.

Thursday 28 September: A Forgotten Irish Cultural Moment: The 1899 Ballinrobe Controversy, with Professor Brian Ó Conchubhair. The 2017 Dalsimer Lecture. Host: Center for Irish Programs. Venue: Devlin Hall, Room 101, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA 02467, USA. 5pm to 7:30pm. All welcome. Free.

Thursday 28 September: Sport in the Archives, with Andrew Toland. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Part of the 'PRONI’s archives unlocked' Thursday lunchtime public talks. 1pm. Free. Need to book as spaces are limited. Details and registration.

Friday 29 September: The Reading Room of the National Archives of Ireland, in Bishop Street, Dublin 8, will be closed until 2pm.

Friday 29 September to 14 October: Dublin Festival of History, organised by Dublin City Council. Full programme online at dublinfestivalofhistory.ie. Free admission to all events.

Friday 29 September: Waterford district lunatic asylum, 1834-1922, with Tony Gyves. Host: Waterford Archaeological & Historical Society. Venue: St Patrick's Gateway Centre, Patrick Street, Waterford City. 8pm. Members free / Non-members €5. All welcome.

Saturday 30 September: The National Famine Commemoration 2017 will take place at the Famine Warhouse 1848, Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary. Details.

Saturday 30 September: Irish Culture and Heritage Day, including Starting out in Irish family history talks, with Jill Williams FIGRS (at 1:30 and then again at repeat at 4pm).  Venue: The Grange Club, Portgower Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH4 1HQ. Noon to 6pm. Admission free. All welcome to attend talk but numbers restricted, so first-come, first-served.

Monday 2 October: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operating as normal. Details.

Monday 2 October: A beginner’s guide to DNA, with Michael McDowell. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Killyleagh Branch. Venue: Killyleagh Masonic Hall, 50 High Street, Killyleagh, Co. Down, BT30 9QF. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 3 October: Ireland, Egypt and India: 1919 an anti-imperialist turning point, with Dr Kate O'Malley. Host: National Archives of Ireland's 2017 Lecture Programme. Venue: Reading Room, National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Free. All welcome. 6pm. No booking required.

Tuesday 3 October September: Irish Genealogy Hour – hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. For more information, T: (406) 657-8258.

Wednesday 4 October: The Black Death in Dublin, with Finbar Dwyer. Host: Rathmichael Historical Society. Venue: Rathmichael National School, Stonebridge Road, Shankill, Co Dublin. 8pm. All welcome. Fee: €4.

Thursday 5 October: Capturing the past – photographic collections and digitisation at PRONI, with Joy Carey and Lorraine Bourke. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Part of the 'PRONI’s archives unlocked' Thursday lunchtime public talks. 1pm. Free. Need to book as spaces are limited. Details and registration.

Friday 6 October: How to start researching your family history, with Ann Robinson. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch, and LibrariesNI. Venue: Carryduff Library, Church Rd, Carryduff, Co Down, BT8 8DT.  11am. Ring/email library staff for details: (44) 028 9081 3568; carryduff.library@librariesni.org.uk.

Saturday 7 October Launch of new database: An Index of Catholics and their Friends in England 1680–1840, with Rory G Higgins FSC and William Shannon PhD. Host: Catholic Family History Society. Venue: The Conference Rooms, 24 Tufton Street, London SW1, UK. Tickets £20 to include lunch, refreshments and a disc of the database. 10am-4pm. Details.


Friday 22 September 2017

Ancestry updates London church records collection

Ancestry has updated its collection of Church of England record sets for London. I don't usually draw attention to updates, particularly if they don't concern records that originate in Ireland, but I'm making an exception for this collection because it's very large (53million records) and covers a city that many Irish people have made their home down the years.

Being Protestant records, I was surprised to find so many of my Santry family appearing in the collection.

My family, and all the Santry branches I've studied for my One-Name Study, not only comes exclusively from County Cork, its members have been unrelentingly Roman Catholic up to fairly recent times, yet there's a good 170 entries for this rare surname across the collection. The earliest is a marriage from 1757, and it's a new one to me.

I don't know in what way this collection has been updated, but it seems worthwhile mentioning it, if only to encourage family historians with Irish RC ancestors in London not to overlook it in their searches.

These are the individual record sets:

Church of England Deaths and Burials, London, 1813-2003 (2,724,094 entries)

Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, London, 1538-1812 (16,960,587 entries)

Church of England Confirmation Records, London, 1838-1921 (49,139 entries)

Church of England Births and Baptisms, London, 1813-1914 (21,020,251 entries)

Church of England Marriages and Banns, London, 1754-1930 (13,027,528 entries)

The collection is sourced from the London Metropolitan Archives.

FindMyPast adds free index to Dublin Electoral Rolls

FindMyPast has added a free index to the Dublin Electoral Rolls. It contains 427,000 entries recording eligible voters in the City of Dublin from 1908 to 1915.

https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5947&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.findmypast.ie%2Fsearch-world-Records%2Fdublin-electoral-rolls
At this time, eligibility for a vote at local elections was restricted to men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30 who resided or owned property in the city; eligibility for a vote at parliamentary elections was restricted only to ratepayers and freemen.

Searching the Index will provide you with name, address, ward and the electoral roll year. Researchers with registered accounts will also have access to transcribed details such as the individual's voter number and qualification for a vote (inhabitant/ratepayer/freeman etc).

A link to the original document, held by Dublin City Library & Archive and freely available on Dublin City Council's website, additionally reveals a description of the voter's residence ie house, stable and small garden or 3rd floor, front room on left, etc.

Dublin City Council's digitisation of the city's electoral lists is an on-going project that should see all the rolls from 1898 to 1916 made available as part of the City Council's Decade of Commemorations.


Wednesday 20 September 2017

Book launch: Atlas of the Irish Revolution

Just like its sister title Atlas of the Great Irish Famine, Cork University Press's newly published Atlas of the Irish Revolution is a whopper!

https://www.kennys.ie/atlas-of-the-irish-revolution-3.html?refer_id=4Its dimensions are 299x237 (12"x10" to my generation); it has 994 pages, 364 maps, more than 700 illustrations and 20 tables; and weighs in at a hefty 5kg.

It is also huge in scholarship. Edited by John Crowley, Donal O Drisceoil, Mike Murphy and John Borgonovo, the Atlas of the Irish Revolution brings together existing and ongoing new research into the revolutionary era in a broad ranging and inclusive manner. It includes contributions from leading scholars across a range of disciplines and explores the period from many diverse viewpoints and places it in its international context.

Beautifully presented and produced, this book makes the history it tells accessible to all.

Read Professor Diarmaid Ferriter's review in the Irish Times for more information.

The book is available from Kenny's, Amazon, Cork University Press, Easons and other good booksellers. Typical price €59.

Tuesday 19 September 2017

Up to 40% off Irish Newspaper Archives subscriptions

The Dublin-based Irish Newspaper Archives has had a website refresh and a re-brand. Gotta love the green!

To celebrate the new look, which is better in tune with the company's Irish origins and the heritage of the newspapers in its database, the family-run firm is offering a couple of discounts on its subscription packages, as follows:

1 Month subscription:
30% discount – coupon code Web30

12-month subscription:
40% discount – coupon code Web40

Subscriptions can be purchased in Euros, US$ and GP£.

In addition to the new appearance and presentation, detailed information about the origins (founders, circulation, political/religious orientation) of each newspaper is being added to the site. It's not yet there for every title, but it will be steadily added as this project progresses.

See the full list of titles in the Irish Newspaper Archives.

Monday 18 September 2017

Church records digitised for onsite research at PRONI

Partial page from St Colman's Derry 1642 registers
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has digitised the registers from fifteen Church of Ireland and Methodists churches. Approximately 150 volumes have been digitised. The earliest dates from 1642 to 1703 and records the baptisms, marriages and burials performed at St Colman's, Derry Cathedral.

These digitised records are not online via the PRONI site. Previously, some of these registers were available on microfilm in the Search Room. Access to the digital copies will be a huge improvement for visiting researchers who until now, have had to scan worn and sometimes damaged film.

This development comes as a result of an ongoing project to digitise church records that are still in the custody of local churches. The digitisation is undertaken in-house by PRONI’s experienced reprographics technicians but the project is only possible because of the co-operation of churches who agree to deposit their records with the Archive on a temporary basis and agree to make them publically available in a controlled manner.

Noted below are the churches for which digitised records are now available to view onsite at PRONI.

Church of Ireland
St Columb’s Cathedral (CR1/113), Londonderry
Derryloran parish (CR1/114), Co. Tyrone
St. Anne’s Cathedral (CR1/115), Belfast
Drumcree parish (CR1/116), Co. Armagh
St. Andrew’s parish (CR1/117), Hope Street
St Mary Magdalene parish (CR1/118), Donegall Pass, Belfast
Dromore Catherdral (CR1/119), Dromore, Co. Down
St. Luke’s (CR1/120), Mullaghglass, Co. Armagh
St. George’s parish (CR1/121), High Street, Belfast
St Patrick’s parish (CR1/122), Ballymacarret, Belfast, Co. Down

Methodist

Ballymacarett Methodist Church/Newtownards Road Methodist Church/East Belfast Mission (CR6/18), Belfast
Hyde Park Methodist Church (CR6/19), Mallusk, Co. Antrim
Ligoniel Methodist Church (CR6/20), Belfast
Frederick Street Methodist Church (CR6/21), Belfast
Salem Methodist New Connexion Church (CR6/22), York Street, Belfast

Launch event: To mark the successful digitisation of these church records, and to highlight the church records held by PRONI, a formal launch has been organised for next Friday, 22 September. Both Dr Susan Hood, Librarian and Archivist at the Representative Church Body, Dublin and Rev Robin Roddie, Archivist at the Methodist Historical Society will both speak at the event. It's a free event, to be held 12:30pm to 1:30pm, at PRONI in Belfast's Titanic Boulevard, and you need to register.

Irish genealogy & history events, 18-30 September

Monday 18 September: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the building. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operating as normal. Details.

Monday 18 September: Landed Estate Papers, with Gillian Hunt. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Monday 18 September: Genealogy and family history advice, with Margaret Bonar and Betty Craven. Host: Donaghmede Library, Donaghmede Shopping Centre, Grange Road, Dublin 13 or Raheny Library, if preferred. All welcome but you need to book by phone: 087 6491605. Free.

Tuesday 19 September: Charles Doyle, an 1870s Irish Victorian cad, bounder, conman and convict, with Dr Michael Kennedy. Host: National Archives of Ireland's 2017 Lecture Programme. Venue: Reading Room, National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Free. All welcome. 6pm. No booking required.

Tuesday 19 September: Irish Genealogy Hour – hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. For more information, T: (406) 657-8258.

Tuesday 19 September: The Stone Corridor: Cork City's Ogham Collection, with Dr Nora White. Signs and Symbols in Urban Cork lecture series. Host: City Library, Grand Parade, Cork City. 7pm. Free. All welcome. No booking required.

Wednesday 20 September: The early story of brewing in Cork: history and archaeology, with Caen Harris. Talk will be followed by a short guided tour. Host: Department of Archaeology, UCC. Venue: Cork City Library, Grand Parade, Cork City. No booking required. Free. All welcome. 3:30pm to 5:30pm.

Wednesday 20 September: Magheralin in pictures old & new, with Aaron McCormick. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh Branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 8TD. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Thursday 21 September: Prison records (mid_C19th to late C20th) at PRONI, with Graham Jackson. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Part of the 'PRONI’s archives unlocked' Thursday lunchtime public talks. 1pm. Free. Need to book as spaces are limited. Details and registration.

Thursday 21 September: Art of Remembrance: The Irish Famine and the 1916 Rising, with Richard Kearney and Sheila Gallagher. Host: Boston College Center for Irish Programs. Venue: Boston College, Connolly House, 300 Hammond Street, 300 Hammond St, Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA, USA. Free, but need to register. All welcome. 5:30-7:30pm.

Thursday 21 September: Suffer little children – Life in the workhouse during the Great Famine, with Dr Gerard Moran. Host: Uld Tuam Society. Venue: Tuam Library, High Street, Tuam, Co Galway. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Friday 22 September: Culture Night. An annual extravaganza that sees cultural institutions and venues opening their doors and gates for an all-island celebration of arts, heritage and culture. Extensive programme of free special events, tours, exhibitions, entertainment... Programme.

Friday 22 September: Launch of digitised church records at PRONI. Host: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Dr Susan Hood, Librarian and Archivist at the Representative Church Body, Dublin and Rev Robin Roddie, Archivist of the Methodist Historical Society will speak at the free event. All welcome. Booking advised. 12:30pm to 1:30pm. Light refreshments included.

Saturday 23 September: 19th-century Irish genealogy research: What's available and how to find it, a level II – Intermediate workshop with Miles Davenport. Host and Venue: Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library (Norton Room), 1106 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. 10:20am to 1pm. Costs: Library/ICC members $15; non-members $20. Need to register by 16 September. Details.

Saturday 23 September: The Great Irish Famine, an afternoon of lectures. Host: Tipperary Heritage Office and Tipperary Studies. Venue: Tipperary Studies, The Source, Cathedral Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Lecturers include Dr Martin Mansergh, Dr CiarĂĄn Reilly, and Dr Thomas Mc Grath. 2pm–5pm. Free. Details.

Saturday 23 September: Names, Townlands and Emigration, with Brian Mitchell MAGI and Seoirse Ó Dochartaigh. An afternoon of talks, plus refreshments and musical interval. Host and venue: Monreagh Ulster Scots Heritage Centre, Carrigans, Co Donegal. All welcome. 2pm -5pm. Free. All welcome.

Monday 25 September to Friday 29 September: Return to the Causeway: A journey into the past, a week-long conference. Host: Causeway Coast and Glens Branch of the North of Ireland Family History Society. Venue: Atlantic Hotel, Portrush, Co Antrim. Details. Day tickets available.

Monday 25 September: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service operating as normal. Details.

Tuesday 26 September: Sir Charles Coote, Earl of ellamont (1738-1800), politician, soldier and philanderer, with John Coleman. Host and venue: Cootehill Library, Bridge Street, Drumaveil North, Cootehill, Co Cavan. 7pm. Free but booking required by phone to 049 5559873.

Tuesday 26 September: Irish Genealogy Hour – hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. For more information, T: (406) 657-8258.

Tuesday 26 September: The Penal Times: The Catholic Church in Eighteenth-Century Ireland, with Professor Ian McBride. Host: Boston College. Venue: Devlin Hall, Room 101, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA 02467, USA. 5:00-7:00 pm. Free, but need to register in advance.

Tuesday 26 September: The grand old man of the Australian Parliament: The Hon. John Meagher (1836-1920), MLC, KCSG, with Paul O'Brien. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co Clare. 8pm. All welcome. Members free/non-members €5.

Wednesday 27 September: Open Irish genealogy session, with Lisa Dougherty. Host and venue: Irish American Heritage Museum, 370 Broadway, Albany, New York, USA. Free. 11am to 2pm. No need to book.

Thursday 28 September: Irish genealogy: Resources and research methods. Host and Venue: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, South Court Classrooms, New York State Library, 476 Fifth Avenue (42nd St and Fifth Ave), New York, NY, USA. Noon to 1:30pm. Basic computer skills and some research experience required. Free. No need to book.

Thursday 28 September: A Forgotten Irish Cultural Moment: The 1899 Ballinrobe Controversy, with Professor Brian Ó Conchubhair. The 2017 Dalsimer Lecture. Host: Center for Irish Programs. Venue: Devlin Hall, Room 101, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA 02467, USA. 5pm to 7:30pm. All welcome. Free.

Thursday 28 September: Sport in the Archives, with Andrew Toland. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Part of the 'PRONI’s archives unlocked' Thursday lunchtime public talks. 1pm. Free. Need to book as spaces are limited. Details and registration.

Friday 29 September: The Reading Room of the National Archives of Ireland, in Bishop Street, Dublin 8, will be closed until 2pm.

Friday 29 September to 14 October: Dublin Festival of History, organised by Dublin City Council. Full programme online at dublinfestivalofhistory.ie. Free admission to all events.

Friday 29 September: Waterford district lunatic asylum, 1834-1922, with Tony Gyves. Host: Waterford Archaeological & Historical Society. Venue: St Patrick's Gateway Centre, Patrick Street, Waterford City. 8pm. Members free / Non-members €5. All welcome.

Saturday 30 September: The National Famine Commemoration 2017 will take place at the Famine Warhouse 1848, Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary. Details to follow.

Sunday 17 September 2017

Ireland Genealogy Project Archives: mid-Sept. update

Below, please find a summary of the files added to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives in the first two weeks of September. All the files and photos were submitted by volunteers and are free to access.

Newtowncashel, Longford
CORK Genealogy Archives - Wills
Wills from National Archives - Kew England

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Land
Rent Rolls from the Manor of Ballyshannon 1689-1774 (Assorted dates)

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Deansgrange Cemetery, St. Nessan's Part 11
Inchicore, Golden Bridge Cemetery, A-C, Pt. 1

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church
Marriages from Springfield Methodist Circuit 1879-1928

KILDARE Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kilshanroe Cemetery, Enfield

KILKENNY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Freshford, St. Lachtain's - Old

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Newtownforbes New Cemetery RC
Newtowncashel RC Graveyard (Additional)

MONAGHAN & FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church
Clones Parish Registers, Burials 1817-1818 (W. Division)

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Rock of Cashel (Additional)

TYRONE Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Urney Cemetery, Part 1 (A-G)

WEXFORD Genealogy Archives - Newspapers
Work House Admissions & Deaths, 7 Nov 1866 & 20 Apr 1859

Friday 15 September 2017

Seminar to explore C18-20th life in Henrietta St, Dublin

A Henrietta Street tenement house
A seminar – Henrietta Street and Hentown - from Georgian buildings to tenement – will take place at King's Inns, Dublin 1 on Wednesday 11 October (9:30am to 5pm).

The hosts are Dublin City Council and the Tenement Museum Dublin, and the seminar is an opportunity to present some of the historical research generated as part of the development of the Museum, which opened this summer at no 14 Henrietta Street.

The research sets out to answer some key questions that this unique street prompts. It examines the architecture of the 15 individual houses and explores the street's first residents who moved into them back in the mid-18th century, It also explores the reasons these houses became home to more than 800 people by 1911; what tenement life was like during the mid-20th century; and what happened to the tenants after they left the street.

Tickets need to be booked for this free event, which is part of the Dublin Festival of History programme.

Thursday 14 September 2017

From cream crackers to the 1916 Rising: an exhibition

A new exhibition – From cream crackers to the 1916 Rising – has been opened by Dublin’s Lord Mayor, MĂ­cheĂĄl Mac Donncha, at Dublin City Library & Archive in Pearse Street.

It explores the history of the Jacob's biscuit factory and its impact on Ireland and on the lives of many thousands of workers throughout the 20th century.

Dublin City Library holds 330 boxes of archival material from W&R Jacob and Company, representing more than 150 years of biscuit making in the capital, and including items such as biscuit labels and packaging, advertisements, employee welfare booklets and other business and marketing ephemera.

In a series of illustrated panels and displays, the exhibition tells the story of the factory, its workers, the products it produced and its role in Irish life.

Thousands of Dubliners have an ancestral connection to Jacob’s, while generations of families across the island and abroad have enjoyed their selection of products.

The free exhibition has been developed by Dublin City Archives and funded by Dublin City Council Decade of Commemorations programme. It will run until 28 October.

Free Guided tours are available at 10:30am and 11:30am on Tuesdays for the duration, and a talk – From Bishop Street to Buenos Aires: Jacob’s Biscuit Factory, Dublin – will be presented by curator Wendy Williams at 1:10pm on Thursday 5 October (all welcome, no booking required).

Conservation opportunities at the National Archives

The National Archives of Ireland has issued a Request for Tenders (RFT) for a Project Conservator to work on 19th-century maps from the Valuation Office.

Image from @NARIreland on Twitter
The successful applicant will work on the Valuation Office OL 11 Map Conservation Project, which started in 2013. The project collection contains approximately 11,000 Ordnance Survey six-inch survey maps dating from the mid-1830s to 1874. These printed maps have been overlaid with data by the Valuation Office in their work of valuing to create the original cadastral maps of Ireland. So far, nearly 5,200 maps have been conserved.

Carried out under the supervision of the Head of Conservation, the project conservator will undertake a range of conservation activities including
  • Surface cleaning
  • Consolidation techniques
  • Identification of inks and pigments
  • Humidification and flattening of large items
The RFT deadline is Friday 22 September (noon). More details at eTenders.

In addition, the National Archives is offering an Internship in Paper Conservation (pdf 142kb) for a recent conservation graduate. The internship will be carried out under the supervision of the Head of Conservation and the project conservator.

FindMyPast updates site's BMD subcategories

Across its territories, FindMyPast has made a couple of small but significant website updates.

The Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD) categories have been split between civil and parish record types ie civil deaths and burials; parish baptisms etc. See the partial screenshot, right, to view the nine record types now available in the Life Events/Birth, Marriage, Death category on FindMyPast.ie.

In addition, multiple subcategories can now be selected within the search form.

In making these changes, the database provider says it is responding to subscribers' requests and to allow researchers to control the number of results they see in each search.

Wednesday 13 September 2017

Military specialist database Fold3 offers $30 discount

Fold3, Ancestry's dedicated military records sister site is offering a $30 discount on new 12-month subscriptions purchased before the end of the month.

http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-5737308-10967210
Offer ends 30 September
The site holds more than 487million records, many of them in military collections you won't find elsewhere online. Most come from the US and UK National Archives, and contain not only images of original military documents but also stories, photos and personal documents of the men and women who served in the military.

Among the gems awaiting researchers with Irish-born ancestors are the US Civil War Service records and Widows Pensions collection; World War II draft cards, photos and records; and the British Army WW1 Service Records, War Diaries and ROyal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner records.

In addition to Military records, the site provides access to city directories, newspapers, naturalisation records, and the 1860–1930 US Censuses.

The current offer reduces the annual subscription from US$79.95 to US$49.95 and is available only to new Fold3 subscribers (ie not to renewing subscribers). It will end on 30 September at 11:59pm MDT.

Registry of Deeds Index Project: mid-month update

The Registry of Deeds Index Project has been updated with the latest submissions from volunteers.

It now provides free access to 252,931 index entries from 28,221 memorials of deed.

All entries are contributed by researchers for other researchers.

National Library launches Photo Detectives exhibiton

A new exhibition – Photo Detectives – has opened this afternoon at the National Library of Ireland's Nationl Photographic Archive (NPA) in Temple Bar, Dublin. It is the National Library's first community-sourced exhibition of photographs and stories.

This community sourcing dates back to June 2011 when the National Library (NLI) joined the Flickr Commons to give wider exposure to its images and to encourage the public to help find out more about its photographs by adding comments, descriptions and tags. Contributors from around the globe have acted as virtual detectives and have helped to identify locations and people, established dates and provided context and background information for thousands of photos in the NLI’s collections over the past six years.

The new exhibition includes 26 striking images and stories dating from 1871 to 1970. They reveal almost a century of changing Irish lives, including weddings in Waterford, family holidays in Donegal, the footing of turf in Antrim, and royal visitors to Kilkenny Castle. One particular highlight is a large-scale image of the shopfront of Mortimer’s shop in Waterford, captured in 1916, from the NLI’s Poole Collection. Through interactions with online contributors, it was discovered that the Poole Photographic Studio had scratched out reflections in Mortimer’s window – an early form of photoshopping. The exact address of the shop and the name of the child standing in its doorway were also discovered through online detective work.

Formally launching the exhibition, Sabina Higgins, wife of the President of IreIand, Michael D Higgins, said: “We photograph and document so many moments of our lives online now, but it is important that we keep alive the stories and traditions of life in Ireland before the digital age. It is a testament to the Library and its staff for always looking for innovative ways to do that. Photo Detectives is a wonderful example of using technology to give life to old photos and share their stories.”

Photo Detectives is free to visit, and is open seven days weekly: Monday to Saturday 10am–5pm and Noon–5pm on Sundays. The exhibition runs in the NPA until September 2018.

For more information, visit www.nli.ie.

Tuesday 12 September 2017

Genealogy courses starting Autumn 2017, NI & ROI

The trees are starting to show their Autumnal colours, which means the start of the new academic year is just around the corner. Below are some of the genealogy courses due to start shortly across the island.

Belfast
Genealogy - Trace your family tree, an 8-week genealogy course taught by the Ulster Historical Foundation. Venue: Central building, Stranmillis University Collage, Belfast. Part of the college's LifeLong Learning programme. 7pm – 9pm. Starts Tuesday 10 October. Aimed at beginners. £55. Download brochure (see page 19).

Cork City
Genealogy: How to trace your family tree, with Tony McCarthy. Part of University College Cork's Adult Continuing Education programme. A 10-week evening course held on Tuesdays from 26 September. 7pm to 9pm. Venue: Western Gateway Building, Room 304, UCC. The course provides an introduction to the top ten Irish genealogical sources, methodology and historical/social context. Fee €230. Enrol by Monday 18 September. Details.

Dublin City (and online)
Diploma in Family History, with John Grenham MAGI FIGRS. Classroom-based and online, the course runs over 10 weeks, one evening per week from 6:30pm–9:30pm. Next course starts Thursday 28 September. Venue: City Colleges, Wicklow House, 84-88 South Great George's Street, Dublin 2. The Institute of Commercial Management is the awarding body. Course fee from €845 online/€945 classroom, with instalment plans available. Details.

Malahide, Co Dublin
Beginners' genealogy course, with Claire Bradley. Venue: Malahide Community School, Broomfield, Malahide, Co Dublin. The 10-week course will start on Tuesday 26 September. No prior knowledge is required but ability to use a computer and the internet is essential. 7:30pm – 9:30pm. Cost €110. More details.

Newtownabbey, Co Antrim
The North of Ireland Family History Society is offering a range of 16 short courses, all starting between now and the end of November. Venue: Honneyman Room, NIFHS Research Centre, Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, BT36 7LS. The fee for each course is £7 for 1 session, £12 for 2 sessions and £15 for 3 sessions; each session lasts 2 hours. All courses open to members and non-members.Details.

Waterford City
Go back in time and meet your ancestors - an evening course in genealogy, with Tony Hennessy MAGI. Venue: Edmund Rice Heritage Centre, Barrack Street, Waterford. Held on Wednesdays, the course will run for 10 weeks from 4 October. 7pm – 9pm. Fee: €190. To book, contact Tony by tel: 087 152 8582 or email: waterfordorigins@gmail.com.

Monday 11 September 2017

Irish genealogy, history & heritage events, 11-24 Sept

Monday 11 September: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the building. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operate as normal. Details.

Monday 11 September: 'The Big Four' of the White Star Fleet, with Mark Chirnside. Hosts: The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Belfast Titanic Society. Venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Blvd, Titanic Quarter, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. 7:30pm to 9pm. Free. Need to register.

Monday 11 September: NIFHS 101 - An insight to the Society and the C4 Research Centre. 7pm. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey Co Antrim, BT36 5HP. 7pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 11 September: Some residents of Killarney Road, Bray, with Brian White. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). Venue: Dun Laoghaire Further Education Institute, Cumberland Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. €3 donation. All welcome.

Tuesday 12 September: Irish Genealogy Hour, hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. Details, tel (406)657-8258.

Tuesday 12 September: Irish Family History Group, monthly meeting. Host and venue: The Core Library, Theatre Square, Homer Road, Solihull, UK, B91 3RG. 10am to Noon. All welcome, for genealogy help and support.

Tuesday 12 September: Beyond the 1901 Census, with Anne Johnston. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: The Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT 28 1XP. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 13 September: A unique approach to recording family history, with Mike Kilkelly. Host: Western Family History Association. Venue: Lackagh Parish Centre, Lackagh, Co Galway. 8pm to 10pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 13 September: Flowing Tides: Musical Memory, History and Global Culture in County Clare, with Dr GearĂłid Ó hAllmhurĂĄin. Host: Gaelic Roots Program at Boston College. Venue: Connolly House, Boston College, 300 Hammond Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA. 6:30pm–8:30pm. All welcome; tickets are free but you need to register in advance. Details.

Thursday 14 September: Public tour of WWIreland Exhibition, exploring the Irish Experience at home and abroad. Host and Venue: National Library of Ireland, 2/3 Kildare Street (next door to main building), Dublin 2. Free. 2pm. No booking required.

Thursday 14 September: Drawn from our land: revealing maps from the collections, with Dr Glynn Kelso. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. First of the 'PRONI’s archives unlocked' Thursday lunchtime public talks. 1pm. Free. Need to book as spaces are limited. Details and registration.

Thursday 14 September: The Clogherney boys in World War 1: A mid-Tyrone story, with Robert Corbett. Hosts: Western Front Association and PRONI. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. All welcome. £4 donation requested. 6:30pm to 8:45pm. Details.

Thursday 14 September: Using the PRONI Historical Maps Viewer, a practical workshop. Host and venue: The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 2 Titanic Blvd, Titanic Quarter, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. Free. The workshop runs from 2.15pm to 3pm. Need to register.

Thursday 14 September: Keeping the head down? — the Protestant Folklore Project, a History Ireland Hedge School, with editor Tommy Graham, Deirdre Nuttall, Niall Meehan, CrĂ­ostoir MacCartaigh and Malachy Hand. Host and Venue: Cavan County Museum, Virginia Road, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan. 7.30pm.

Friday 15 September: The Irish in Canada: History and Achievements, with Professor Michael Kenneally. Host and venue: The Princess Grace Irish Library, 9 rue Princesse Marie-de-Lorraine, Monaco. 7:30 pm. Reservations are essential due to the limited number of seats; Tel +377 93 50 12 25 or Email pglib@monaco.mc. Entry €10 per person payable at the door. Details.

Saturday 16 September: Headstone Symposium. Host: North Wexford Historical Society. Venue: Ashdown Park Hotel, Gorey, Co Wexford. Registration/tea & coffee from 8:30am-10am. Four expert speakers, lunch, and two coach trips to local burial grounds. Cost per person: £30 euro inclusive. Details.

Monday 18 September: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the building. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operating as normal. Details.

Monday 18 September: Landed Estate Papers, with Gillian Hunt. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Monday 18 September: Genealogy and family history advice, with Margaret Bonar and Betty Craven. Host: Donaghmede Library, Donaghmede Shopping Centre, Grange Road, Dublin 13 or Raheny Library, if preferred. All welcome but you need to book by phone: 087 6491605. Free.

Tuesday 19 September: Charles Doyle, an 1870s Irish Victorian cad, bounder, conman and convict, with Dr Michael Kennedy. Host: National Archives of Ireland's 2017 Lecture Programme. Venue: Reading Room, National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Free. All welcome. 6pm. No booking required.

Tuesday 19 September: Irish Genealogy Hour – hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. For more information, T: (406) 657-8258.

Tuesday 19 September: The Stone Corridor: Cork City's Ogham Collection, with Dr Nora White. Signs and Symbols in Urban Cork lecture series. Host: City Library, Grand Parade, Cork City. 7pm. Free. All welcome. No booking required.

Wednesday 20 September: The early story of brewing in Cork: history and archaeology, with Caen Harris. Talk will be followed by a short guided tour. Host: Department of Archaeology, UCC. Venue: Cork City Library, Grand Parade, Cork City. No booking required. Free. All welcome. 3:30pm to 5:30pm.

Wednesday 20 September: Magheralin in pictures old & new, with Aaron McCormick. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh Branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 8TD. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Thursday 21 September: Graham Jackson – Prison records at PRONI, with Graham Jackson. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Part of the 'PRONI’s archives unlocked' Thursday lunchtime public talks. 1pm. Free. Need to book as spaces are limited. Details and registration.

Thursday 21 September: Art of Remembrance: The Irish Famine and the 1916 Rising, with Richard Kearney and Sheila Gallagher. Host: Boston College Center for Irish Programs. Venue: Boston College, Connolly House, 300 Hammond Street, 300 Hammond St, Chestnut Hill, Boston, MA, USA. Free, but need to register. All welcome. 5:30-7:30pm.

Friday 22 September: Culture Night. An annual extravaganza that sees cultural institutions and venues opening their doors and gates for an all-island celebration of arts, heritage and culture. Extensive programme of free special events, tours, exhibitions, entertainment... Programme.

Saturday 23 September: 19th-century Irish genealogy research: What's available and how to find it, a level II – Intermediate workshop with Miles Davenport. Host and Venue: Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library (Norton Room), 1106 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. 10:20am to 1pm. Costs: Library/ICC members $15; non-members $20. Need to register by 16 September. Details.

Thursday 7 September 2017

One-third off 12-month RootsIreland subscriptions

RootsIreland is offering a 12-month subscription to its database with a whopping one-third off the normal price.

Discounts of this size don't come along very often, so be sure to take advantage during the promotion, which runs until 11:59pm (Dublin time) on Sunday 17 September.

The unique RootsIreland database holds more than 20 million records. Among its top treasures are its collection of register transcriptions from Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland and Presbyterian churches, plus many from Methodist, Baptist, Quaker and other smaller denominations. Data from most of these collections is not available at any other website.

In addition, the database holds transcriptions of civil records of birth, marriage and death for more than half of Ireland's historical counties. Again, many of these are exclusive to RootsIreland.

Not for nothing did well-known genealogist and author John Grenham describe RootsIreland as 'the one essential commercial genealogy site for Irish research'.

Although coverage is not uniform across the island, there are collections for all areas others than South West Cork, County Kerry, and Dublin City. You can check each county's holding here.

Subscription payments can be made in Euros, US Dollars and GB Pounds.

Monday 4 September 2017

Irish genealogy and history events, 4-17 September

Tuesday 5 September: Irish Genealogy Hour – hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. For more information, T: (406) 657-8258.

Saturday 9 September: Out of the Frame and into the Picture, with Sheena McClure, plus Member Registration. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Tyrone branch. Venue: Seminar Room, First Floor, Omagh Library, Dublin Road, Omagh, Co Tyrone, BT78 1HL. 10am. All welcome.

Saturday 9 September: Ship records (and immigration records), with Mary Wickersham. Host: Irish Genealogical Society International. Venue: Minnesota Genealogical Library, 1185 Concord St North, South St Paul, MN 55075, USA. Members $15/ Non-members $20. 10:30am to Noon. Register.

Saturday 9 September: Testing the Links: DNA and the Chain of Irish Ancestry, with Professor Dan Bradley. Host: Seamus Heaney's Human Chain weekend. Venue: Seamus Heaney HomePlace, 45 Main Street, Bellaghy, Magherafelt, Co LondonDerry BT45 8HT. 11.30am. Tickets £3.

Sunday 10 September: History of the Irish and The City of London (The Square mile), a guided walk. Host: London Easter 1916-1924 Centenary Committee. Meet at Holborn tube station, Kingsway, London WC2, UK. Noon to 2:30pm. Free, but donations to hosts appreciated. No booking necessary. Details.

Monday 11 September: 'The Big Four' of the White Star Fleet, with Mark Chirnside. Hosts: The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Belfast Titanic Society. Venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Blvd, Titanic Quarter, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. 7:30pm to 9pm. Free. Need to register.

Monday 11 September: NIFHS 101 - An insight to the Society and the C4 Research Centre. 7pm. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey Co Antrim, BT36 5HP. 7pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 11 September
: Some residents of Killarney Road, Bray, with Brian White. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). Venue: Dun Laoghaire Further Education Institute, Cumberland Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. €3 donation. All welcome.

Tuesday 12 September: Irish Genealogy Hour, hands-on research in the computer classroom, with different topic each week. Host and venue: Billings Public Library, 510 North 28th Street, Billings, Montana, USA. Free. All welcome. Noon to 1pm. For more information, T: (406) 657-8258.

Tuesday 12 September: Irish Family History Group, monthly meeting. Host and venue: The Core Library, Theatre Square, Homer Road, Solihull, UK, B91 3RG. 10am to Noon. All welcome, for genealogy help and support.

Tuesday 12 September:
Beyond the 1901 Census, with Anne Johnston. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: The Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT 28 1XP. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 13 September: A unique approach to recording family history, with Mike Kilkelly. Host: Western Family History Association. Venue: Lackagh Parish Centre, Lackagh, Co Galway. 8pm to 10pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 13 September: Flowing Tides: Musical Memory, History and Global Culture in County Clare, with Dr GearĂłid Ó hAllmhurĂĄin. Host: Gaelic Roots Program at Boston College. Venue: Connolly House, Boston College, 300 Hammond Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA. 6:30pm–8:30pm. All welcome; tickets are free but you need to register in advance. Details.

Thursday 14 September: Public tour of WWIreland Exhibition,exploring the Irish Experience at home and abroad. Host and Venue: National Library of Ireland, 2/3 Kildare Street (next door to main building), Dublin 2. Free. 2pm. No booking required.

Thursday 14 September: Drawn from our land: revealing maps from the collections, with Dr Glynn Kelso. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. First of the 'PRONI’s archives unlocked' Thursday lunchtime public talks. 1pm. Free. Need to book as spaces are limited. Details and registration.

Thursday 14 September: The Clogherney boys in World War 1: A mid-Tyrone story, with Robert Corbett. Hosts: Western Front Association and PRONI. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. All welcome. £4 donation requested. 6:30pm to 8:45pm. Details.

Thursday 14 September: Using the PRONI Historical Maps Viewer, a practical workshop. Host and venue: The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 2 Titanic Blvd, Titanic Quarter, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. Free. The workshop runs from 2.15pm to 3pm. Need to register.

Thursday 14 September: ‘Keeping the head down’? — the Protestant Folklore Project, a History Ireland Hedge School, with editor Tommy Graham, Deirdre Nuttall, Niall Meehan, CrĂ­ostoir MacCartaigh and Malachy Hand. Host and Venue: Cavan County Museum, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan. 7.30pm.

Friday 15 September: The Irish in Canada: History and Achievements, with Professor Michael Kenneally. Host and venue: The Princess Grace Irish Library, 9 rue Princesse Marie-de-Lorraine, Monaco. 7:30 pm. Reservations are essential due to the limited number of seats; Tel +377 93 50 12 25 or Email pglib@monaco.mc. Entry €10 per person payable at the door. Details.

Friday 1 September 2017

Ballincollig Military Men and their families, 1810-1922

Some fabulous family history research awaits discovery in this September's Archive of the Month from the RCB Library, as Church of Ireland registers unlock the stories of military men and their families based at Ballincollig in Co Cork.

Title page from the Ballincollig Garrison Church
combined register of baptisms 1810-1864;
marriages 1823-1842 and burials 1813-1882.
RCB Library P695.1.1.
The details of some 2,187 people recorded in the registers of Ballincollig Garrison Chapel (Carrigrohane parish) have been recovered using the registers of baptisms, marriages and burials between 1810 and 1922, which are now in the safe custody of the RCB Library. A variety of additional resources has further unlocked their hidden stories, and the detailed searchable list is now available for a worldwide audience through the Library’s Archive of the Month slot.

The work has been carried out by local historian Anne Donaldson, who, over the course of several years diligently extracted all of the names and details of the soldiers mentioned in the garrison chapel registers. She then fleshed out details of the individuals using other primary sources and transferred them to a spreadsheet. A pdf copy of this spreadsheet is now available via the above link.

Speaking about the online launch of her work, Anne Donaldson said: ‘As a local historian with a passionate interest to recover the past, I set myself the task of trying to counteract the sad deficiency of lost evidence. This work has been underpinned by two aspirations: firstly to compile a record of as many names as possible for research by historians, genealogists and family members, which through the Church of Ireland website is fully searchable. Secondly the project is about reconciliation, celebrating Ireland’s rich and varied multiculturalism, and cherishing different identities.’

Speaking from the RCB Library, Dr Susan Hood, Librarian and Archivist, said: ‘Anne’s work and effort demonstrate what one person with knowledge and determination can achieve to unlock information from Church of Ireland registers kept safe through the generations, now shared for a worldwide audience. It has been a delight for the Library to collaborate with her on this project’.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: end of August updates

Covering ten counties, the records uploaded in the last two weeks of August to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives are summarised below:
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/index.htm
CARLOW Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Mary's (R.C.), Part 1

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Drumlane Priory (Updated)

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Donneyloop, St Columba’s Graveyard Pts 1 & 2 (A-Ma & Mc-W)
Drumkeen, St. Patrick's Graveyard - Pt 2

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Anne's, Pt 5, Deansgrange

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Springfield; Births - Methodist Circuit 1870-1930

MONAGHAN & FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Clones Parish Registers, Burials 1808-1810 (W. Div.)
Clones Parish Registers, Burials 1811-1816 (W. Div.)

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Aughrim (CoI) Cemetery

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Hore Abbey (Additional)

WATERFORD Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Dunmore E., St Andrew's CoI - Plaques *Stained Glass added
Waterford City, St. Otterans - Part 7

WEXFORD Genealogy Archives
Headstones – Hook Church aka St. Dubhans
Newspapers – Wexford Independent, Workhouse Entries & Deaths (Additional)