Irish Military Seminar in Newbridge, Kildare, 8-9 June

An Irish Military Seminar is to be held at the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, County Kildare, on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th June.

Hosted by Kildare County Council and the Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee, the seminar will explore many aspects of Irish military history, drawing chiefly on events and personnel from within Ireland but also exploring some escapades in South Africa, Flanders and the USA.

Everyone is welcome, but booking is necessary. The Friday evening's activities are free to attend, while the Saturday lecture programme attracts a €5 fee and includes tea/coffee.

The programme is as follows:

Friday

5:00pm	The Glen of Imaal Disaster 1941, with Terence O’Reilly
5:50pm	Readings from the Leb, with Martin Malone
6:35pm	Reception in foyer of Riverbank Arts Centre
7:00pm	Opening of the Seminar by Mayor of Co. Kildare, Cllr. Martin Miley
7:15pm	Book Launch: Witness to War Crimes, by Colm Doyle
8:00pm	Who Fears to Speak of '22? The politics of Commemoration. Panel discussion.

Saturday

8:45am	Registration - Tea/Coffee
9:20am	Welcome
9:30am	Zulu. The Defence of Rorke’s Drift, with Dan Harvey
10:20am	The Role of Women in the Struggle for Irish Freedom 1918-1923, with Liz Gillis
11:05am	Tea/Coffee break
11:35am	The forgotten letters of Ireland’s American Civil War dead with Damian Shiels
12:25pm	Oliver Cromwell and the conquest of Ireland, with Professor Micheál Ó Siochrú
13:10pm	Lunch - at own expense
14:30pm	Granuaile – Grace O’Malley: Ireland's Pirate Queen (1530-1603), with Anne Chambers
15:20pm	The significance of Irish involvement in World War I: A review, with Neil Richardson
16:30pm	Close of seminar

Booking is essential.

Plantations in Ulster, 1600-41: new edition launched

The Ulster Historical Foundation (UHF) has published an updated and expanded edition of Planations in Ulster, R J Hunter's meticulous examination of documents relating to Ulster in the early 1600s first published in 1975.

The new edition was launched yesterday at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and is presented in the form of a bound book and includes colour prints and additional documents. It costs only one penny sterling (plus post and packing charges) and is available from the online BooksIreland store.

If the Ulster Plantation and 17th-century Ireland is of interest to your research, you should also check out the UHF's Plantation of Ulster Collection which offers some of the most influential writings on the period and provides comprehensive insights into this period in Irish history. The collection is currently on sale for the special price of £64.99 (RRP £109.08).

Ancestors from North Kerry? Check out Fr Ferris's Parish Histories

One of the unique selling points of Fr. Ferris's Parish Histories is the fact the local bishop banned the priest from publishing his book. That was back in the 1930s. If my ancestors came from the parishes under scrutiny, I would be unable to resist a peak into this first printing of his work, 85 years later.

Father Ferris spent much of his five-year curacy in the Protestant parish of BallymacElligott and the neighbouring parishes of Ballyseedy, O’Brennan and Nohoval. in North Kerry. He was an avid collector of popular history. His writings document not just the history (political, economic and social) of the area and its cultural and topographical landscape but also comprise a rich genealogical resource.

Many of his parishioners feature in the histories, so researchers may discover where their forbears lived, where they went to school, who their teachers were, who their landlord was, where they were buried, and the occupations and trades they followed. They may also learn how their ancestors were affected by the Famine, whether they were evicted or involved in the Land War, and what life was like for them during the War of Independence and the Civil War.

This is no dry academic chronicle. It is history as lived and recounted by the ordinary people of the parishes and their authentic voices come through clearly and evocatively. It is, in Fr Ferris’s own words, “a history of the people, by the people for the people”. It includes:

• a substantial genealogical archive of the families of the parish
  
• a census of householders in the four parishes in 1932
  
• gravestone inscriptions from the cemeteries of the four parishes
  
• an account of the Land War of the 1870s/80s (listing landlords and middlemen,evictions,local ‘Moonlighters’,policing,coercion,etc)
  
• an account of the War of Independence and the Civil War (Fr Ferris was closely involved in both)
  
• a social and cultural archive (e.g. Penal Days, the Famine, hedge schools, hedge schoolmasters, National Schools with lists of teachers, sports and pastimes, industry, holy wells, old cemeteries, Irish language, Protestant/Catholic relations, church history, clergy, duels, faction fights, etc)
  
• an archaeological survey of the four parishes
  
• a place name and field name inventory
  
• a topographical survey of the parishes

In addition, in the Introduction to the book, the Editor, Brendan McCarthy, provides a biographical portrait of Fr Ferris, who was a fascinating individual in his own right.

The book costs €15 and can be purchased from a dedicated website, www.ballymacelligott.com, where you'll also find a list of all the surnames appearing in the book.

ISBN: 978-1-9999070-0-6

Family History, Science & Irishness: Manchester, 9 June

On Saturday 9 June, the Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester, UK will be hosting an event exploring Family History, Science and Irishness.

It's being presented by the Irish Diaspora Foundation in collaboration with Double Helix History (University of Manchester) and the Manchester and Lancaster Family History Society. The event will look at the relationship between heritage and science and will include talks by Debbie Kennett and Jerome de Groot on DNA and family history; workshops on health issues, family history investigation, and the best ways to think about your past using DNA testing.

Although the event is free, it is necessary to register in advance, here.

The event will be held from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Irish World Heritage Centre, 1 Irish Town Way, Manchester M8 0AE.

Interment registers of two Dublin cemeteries go online

Click image for larger view of sample
Deansgrange register page(1874-75)

The Interment Registers of Deansgrange and Shanganagh Cemeteries can now be searched and viewed at DiscoverEverAfter.com. Headstone photos and mapped locations are available for some, but certainly not all, of the individual graves.

Both burial grounds are located in South Dublin and are managed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC), who say the online collection is not yet complete. If you can't find an entry in the register, you are invited to email DLRCC at cemeteries@dlrcoco.ie.

Deansgrange's records date back to 1865. The cemetery, in Blackrock, covers an area of 65 acres and its records hold details of more than 140,000 people. Search its register here.

The first burial in Shanganagh (Shankill) took place in 1984 and there have been nearly 16,500 burials in the Cemetery. Search its register here.

Tipperary Studies's digitisation project: new releases

From the Milton-Damer rental

Tipperary Studies, the online home of Tipperary Libraries’ Local Studies department, has uploaded some newly digitised items that will be of interest to family historians with connections to the county. They are all free to download.

Among them is a rental for the Milton-Damer estate in Roscrea dating from 1787 to 1798. Click the link to download the 104Mb pdf file.

Another potential gem is a Tithe record book for Ardmayle–Ballysheehan dating from 1790 to 1801. The pdf is 29Mb.

In addition, for sports enthusiasts and those with sporting ancestors, there is now a run of 66 county hurling final programmes from 1949 to 2017 available to view.

New South Wales Government Gazette, 1853-1899: another tranche of scans released to World Archives Project for indexing

For details of this WAP, click image

Ancestry has released another tranche of the New South Wales Government Gazette, 1853-1899 for indexing to its World Archives Project (WAP). They are calling it 'Part 5', but I think someone has miscounted, as there have only been three previous WAP Parts, as far as I'm aware.

This large collection contains gazettes published weekly in New South Wales, Australia. They hold details of Acts of Parliament, land transactions, criminal notices, will and probate notices, Bankruptcies, commercial tenders, military desertions, government appointments, missing people, mining licences, professional listings and much more.

The unindexed, browse-only Gazettes can be viewed on Ancestry here.

Ancestry's World Wide Project sees volunteers create indexes from scanned records. The indexes are then added to Ancestry's database and can be accessed free of charge by all researchers.

Register images from five more RC parishes in Archdiocese of Boston join AmericanAncestors.org

Click image for larger view of sample

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has added five new browseable RC parish register collections to its online archive at American Ancestors.org.

The register images are all from the Archdiocese of Boston, Massachussetts, collection.

Some 4,400 new pages are viewable in this browse-only upload, which includes registers from the following parishes:

Most Precious Blood, Hyde Park, 1870-1900
St Joseph, Salem, 1873-1900
St Mary, Winchester, 1875-1900
St Mary Star of the Sea, Beverly, 1871-1900
St Mary Star of the Sea, E. Boston, 1866-1900

In each parish except St Mary Winchester, registers of births, marriages and confirmations are available to view. Only births and marriages are available for St Mary Winchester.

The database is fully searchable/viewable to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. If you are not a paying member, create a free guest account to browse the images.

Summer issue of Irish Roots magazine published

Click image for free sample

The Summer edition of Irish Roots – Ireland's only independent genealogy magazine – has been published.

As always, there's a great mix of genealogy, history and heritage features to entertain and inform family historians with connections to Ireland. Among this issue's goodies are the following articles and columns:

• Using Irish societies in America in your genealogy research
  
• Tracing your ancestors in County Leitrim
  
• DNA’s potential to establish the identity of the Tuam babies
  
• Discover the Irish Revenue Police, 1832 - 1857
  
• Hanna & Me - Micheline Sheehy Skeffington retraces the steps of her Suffragette grandmother
  
• Digitising your family tree - The many ways to use Google
  
• Famous Hollywood greats with Irish roots
  
• What's New? Review (My round-up of recent Irish genealogy record releases and other developments)
  
• And Another Thing: Genealogical comment and observations with Steven Smyrl.
  
• Your Genealogy Questions Answered, Letters To The Editor, and lots more!

You can discover more about this long-established and respected publication by clicking the image of the front cover, above. There's even a free sample to download!

Irish genealogy and history events, 28 May to 10 June

Monday 28 May: Public holiday in Northern Ireland and GB.

Monday 28 May: The Irish community in west London, a walking tour. Host: Irish Historical Walks in London. Meet outside Petty France entrance to St. James's Park tube station, 55 Broadway, London SW1, UK. 11:45–2:30pm. Free. Collection at end of tour. Details.

Monday 28 May: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures to facilitate redevelopment of premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, incl. Genealogy Advisory Service, operate as normal. Details.

Monday 28 May: Samuel Clayton, freemason, forger, freeman, with Margaret Smyth. Host: Clondalkin Historical Society, Áras Chrónáin Irish Cultural Centre, Watery Lane, Off Orchard Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 29 May: Practical Workshop – Using family and local history resources online. Host and venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Titanic Quarter, Belfast. 11am to 1pm. Free but you need to register.

Tuesday 29 May: The letters of Flo Clancy, Kilrush, 1900-1958, with Paul O'Brien. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co. Clare. 8pm–9pm. Free for members; €5 for non-members.

Wednesday 30 May: Book launch: Plantations in Ulster, 1600-41: A Collection of Documents, by R J Hunter. Hosts: The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Ulster Historical Foundation. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Six speakers will give short presentations. 2pm-4pm. Free, but need to register.

Wednesday 30 May: The Great Famine in East Clare, with Gerard Madden. Host: Killaloe-Ballina Local History Society. Venue: Wood & Bell Restaurant & Café, Main Street, Killaloe, Co Clare. 7pm–9pm. Free. All welcome.

Thursday 31 May: The Struggle for Ireland's Soul: Catholics under the Penal Laws, with Professor Ian McBride – the John Coffin Memorial Annual Irish Studies Lecture. Host: IES Irish Studies. Venue: The Chancellor's Hall, First Floor, Senate House, Malet St, London WC1, UK. 6pm to 8pm. The event will be followed by a wine reception hosted by the Irish Embassy. Free. Need to register. Details.

Thursday 31 May to Saturday 2 June: Southern California Jamboree. Schedule includes three Irish-themed presentations with Donna Moughty (Friday and Saturday mornings). Venue: Los Angeles Marriott, Burbank Airport Hotel, Burbank, California, USA.

Saturday 2 – Monday 4 June: Echoes of the past - annual conference - includes several Irish and DNA-themed lectures. Host: New Zealand Society of Genealogists. Venue: Christchurch Boys' High School, 71 Straven Road, Christchurch, New Zealand. Programme and costs.

Monday 4 June: Public Holiday in Republic of Ireland

Tuesday 5 June: Using your DNA results in practice - focus on autosomal DNA, a 3-hour workshop with Maurice Gleeson. Hosts: New Zealand Society of Genealogists, (Post-) Annual Conference. Venue: Christchurch Boys High School, 71 Straven Rd, Christchurch, New Zealand. 9am to noon. NZ$40. Booking essential.

Thursday 7 June: Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases, and Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research, both with Maurice Gleeson. Host: New Zealand Society of Genealogists. Venue: ASB Sports Centre, Matairangi Room, 72 Kemp Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand. 1pm to 3:30pm. No booking required. All welcome. $20 on the door. Details.

Friday 8 June and Saturday 9 June: Irish Military Seminar. Host and Venue: Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co Kildare. Friday evening: reception, book launch, talks, 5pm to 9pm, free; Saturday: complementary tea/coffee, six talks, lunch at own expense, 8:45-4:30pm, €5. Booking essential via Riverbank Arts Centre Box Office - boxoffice@riverbank.ie or telephone 00353 (0)45 448327.

Saturday 9 June: Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases, and Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research, both with Maurice Gleeson. Host: New Zealand Society of Genealogists. Venue: St Andrew's Church Hall, corner of Ridge Road and Vincent Street, Howick, Auckland, New Zealand. 1pm to 3:30pm. No booking required. All welcome. $20 on the door. Details.

Saturday 9 June: Irish family history resources online, with Chris Paton. Host: Family History Discovery Day. Venue: LDS Church 35 Julian Avenue, Kelvindale, Glasgow G12 0RB. 10.20am. Free.

Saturday 9 June: Family history, science and Irishness. Host: Irish Diaspora Foundation, Double Helix History (University of Manchester) and the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society. Venue: Irish World Heritage Centre, 1 Irish Town Way, Manchester M8, UK. 10:30am to 12:30pm. Free but prior registration advised. Details.

Sunday 10 June: Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases, and Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research, both with Maurice Gleeson. Host: New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Te Awamutu DNA support group. Venue: St John Ambulance Hall, Palmer St, Te Awamutu, New Zealand.

FindMyPast.ie adds index to Our Heroes (WW1) records

FindMyPast has uploaded an index to records held on the Our Heroes website. The latter provides photos and short biographies of 1,640 Irish officers and men in the British Army who were either killed in action or mentioned in despatches for acts of bravery.

The Index on FindMyPast is called Ireland, British Army Officers 1914-1918 and may not include all the records; the blurb says it covers August 1914 – July 1916 and has 1,500+ entries.

Searches return a transcript of details including the officer's birth year, rank, regiment, death date, age at death, burial plot, whether or not they were killed in action and a link to their portrait on the sources website. Some also provide details of the individual's service and next of kin.

The Our Heroes site has been online since 2014 and is free to access. It is a project created by South Dublin Libraries and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltact with the help of the National Library of Ireland.

Clare Library adds RC Marriages for Rath-Killinaboy

Clare County Library's Local Studies department has uploaded transcriptions of the Roman Catholic Marriage Registers for Rath-Killinaboy Parish. They date from 1818 to 1844 and from 1859 to 1880. In total, these registers hold details of 1,135 marriages.

The transcriptions have been created and donated by Sheila Duddy, working from the National Library of Ireland's RC Registers collection. They have been uploaded in spreadsheet format and can be freely viewed by date of marriage, alphabetically by the groom's surname and alphabetically by the bride's maiden surname. The transcriptions include the priest's notes recording impediments to marriage and dispensations.

Additionally, Sheila has created a separate spreadsheet recording 185 Letters of Freedom dating from 1822 to 1838. These letters were issued by a parish priest to allow a male parishioner to marry a woman in another parish. They were accepted as proof the would-be groom was not already married.

The transcriptions can be freely accessed at ClareLibrary.ie.

Book launch: More Maps & Texts - Sources and the Irish Historic Towns Atlas

Published by the Royal Irish Academy

Just published by the Royal Irish Academy is More maps and texts: sources and the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, a collection of 19 essays based on a series of annual seminars run by the IHTA project from 2012 to 2014. It is edited by H.B. Clarke and Sarah Gearty.

Its predecessor, Maps and texts: Exploring the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, was published by the Royal Irish Academy in 2013.

The 344-page book is structured into three chronological parts: monastic proto-towns and Viking towns; Anglo-Norman, gaelicised and plantation towns; and Georgian and Victorian towns. An introductory essay deals with a selection of standard sources that have been used by the IHTA. Subjects range from the meaning of placenames, to the art historical perspective, to the impact of canals and railways on towns.

You'll find the full list of essays and the order form here. The book is priced at €30, £29 and US$50. ISBN: 978-1-908997-73-9.

Maurice Gleeson's DNA lecture tour of New Zealand

Maurice Gleeson, the organiser of the annual Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference and Education Ambassador for ISOGG, will be embarking on a tour of New Zealand from next weekend.

The tour begins in Christchurch, where Maurice will be presenting DNA-themed lectures at the New Zealand Society of Genealogists' annual conference, Echoes of Our past, which runs from 2-4 June. See full conference programme or Maurice's website, DNAandFamilyTreeResearch.

The post-conference tour takes in Wellington, Auckland, Te Awamutu and Papamoa.

Dates, venues and lecture topics are below.

Saturday 2 June - Christchurch
New Zealand Genealogical Society, Annual Conference
Christchurch Boys' High School, 71 Straven Road, Christchurch
12.00 - DNA: A Beginner’s Guide to the Three Main Tests
14.00 - Identifying Missing Soldiers of WWI – What Role Does DNA Play?

Sunday 3 June - Christchurch
New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Annual Conference
Christchurch Boys' High School, 71 Straven Road, Christchurch
15.30 - Advanced Surname Project Management using DNA

Monday 4 June - Christchurch
New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Annual Conference
Christchurch Boys' High School, 71 Straven Road, Christchurch
09.00 - Ireland and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: from Indentured Servants to Slave Masters to Abolitionists

Tuesday 5 June - Christchurch
New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Annual Conference
Christchurch Boys' High School, 71 Straven Road, Christchurch
09.00 - Using your DNA results in practice - focus on autosomal DNA (3-hour workshop)

Thursday 7 June - Wellington
NZSG Post-Conference Tour
ASB Sports Centre – Matairangi Room, 72 Kemp Street, Kilbirnie, Wellington
13.00 - Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases
14.30 - Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research

Saturday 9 June - Auckland
NZSG Post-Conference Tour
St Andrew's Church Hall, corner of Ridge Road and Vincent Street, Howick
13.00 - Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases
14.30 - Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research

Sunday 10 June - Te Awamutu
Te Awamutu DNA support group
13.00 - Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases
14.30 - Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research

Monday 11 June - Papamoa
NZSG, Papamoa branch
10.00 - Michelle Patient talks on Researching surnames & the Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS)
12.00 - Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research (MG)

Tuesday 12 June - Papamoa
NZSG, Papamoa DNA Special Interest Group
10.00 - Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases
12.00 - General Q&A

Saturday 16 June - Auckland
NZSG, Auckland branch Genealogical Computing Group
St Andrew's Church Hall, corner of Ridge Road and Vincent Street, Howick
14.00 - What's a shrink like me doing in a place like this? (a review of the software and tools that I use in my day to day work)

Ancestry adds Victoria bmd indexes & asylum records

Ancestry.com.au has added indexes to the Victoria Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The landing page for each of the links below provides a detailed overview of the records and what information they hold.

Victoria Births Index, 1837-1917 – 3,714,952 records.

Victoria, Death Index, 1836-1988 – 4,996,943 records.

Victoria Marriage Index, 1837-1950 – 2,090,239 records

Another recent addition for the state of Victoria is the Victoria Asylum Records, 1853-1940. This collection comes from the Public Record Office Victoria and holds 49,040 records.

Irish genealogy and history events, 21 May - 4 June

Monday 21 May: 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 21 May: Larne Main Street circa 1950, with Liam Kelly. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. 730pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 22 May: Belfast’s original poorhouse, with Louise Canavan. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Belfast Branch. Venue: C. S. Lewis Room, Holywood Arches Library, 4-12 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT, 730pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 22 May: Using Valuation records to knock down brick walls, with Anne Johnston. Host: NIFHS, Causeway Coast and Glens branch. Venue: Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Londonderry. 8pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 23 May: Irish research assistance and consultations. Host and venue: Genealogical Society of Victoria, Level 6, 85 Queen St., Melbourne 3000, Australia. 10am to 4pm. Free for members / $20 non-members. Details.

Thursday 24 May: The Penal Times: The Catholic Church in 18th-century Ireland, with Professor Ian McBride; the J.C. Beckett Memorial lecture. Host: Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 7–8pm. Free, but you need to register.

Thursday 24 May: Rebel women of the 20th century - Maud Gonne MacBride, with Donal Fallon. Host and venue: GPO Witness Visitor Centre, O'Connell Street, Dublin 1. 5:30pm. All welcome. Free, but need to book ticket. 

Saturday 26 May: Exploring the Great War, exhibition, research facility and talks, with the Cork Branch of the Western Front Association. Venue: Mallow Library, Thomas Davis St, Mallow, Co. Cork. 10am to 4:30pm. Talks: Slaughter at the Somme (12:15pm), The US Army in the Great War (2pm), and The uniform and equipment of a British 'Tommy' (3:15pm). Admission free. All welcome.

Sunday 27 May: The Irish and Jewish communities of London's East End, a walking tour. Host: Wolfe Tone Society London. Meeting venue: Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1, UK. 11:45 to 2pm. Free; collection at end of tour. Details.

Sunday 27 May: Free genealogy help session. Host and venue: Library of the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N Knox Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630, USA. From 1pm to 4pm. Free. All welcome.

Monday 28 May: Public holiday in Northern Ireland and GB.

Monday 28 May: The Irish community in west London, a walking tour. Host: Irish Historical Walks in London. Meet outside Petty France entrance to St. James's Park tube station, 55 Broadway, London SW1, UK. 11:45–2:30pm. Free. Collection at end of tour. Details.

Monday 28 May: 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, operate as normal. Details.

Monday 28 May: Samuel Clayton, freemason, forger, freeman, with Margaret Smyth. Host: Clondalkin Historical Society, Áras Chrónáin Irish Cultural Centre, Watery Lane, Off Orchard Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 29 May: Practical Workshop – Using family and local history resources online. Host and venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Titanic Quarter, Belfast. 11am to 1pm. Free but you need to register.

Tuesday 29 May: The letters of Flo Clancy, Kilrush, 1900-1958, with Paul O'Brien. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co. Clare. 8pm–9pm. Free for members; €5 for non-members.

Wednesday 30 May: Book launch: Plantations in Ulster, 1600-41: A Collection of Documents, by R J Hunter. Hosts: The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Ulster Historical Foundation. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Six speakers will give short presentations. 2pm-4pm. Free, but need to register.

Wednesday 30 May: The Great Famine in East Clare, with Gerard Madden. Host: Killaloe-Ballina Local History Society. Venue: Wood & Bell Restaurant & Café, Main Street, Killaloe, Co Clare. 7pm–9pm. Free. All welcome.

Thursday 31 May: The Struggle for Ireland's Soul: Catholics under the Penal Laws, with Professor Ian McBride – the John Coffin Memorial Annual Irish Studies Lecture. Host: IES Irish Studies. Venue: The Chancellor's Hall, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1, UK. 6pm to 8pm. The event will be followed by a wine reception hosted by the Irish Embassy. Free. Need to register. Details.

Thursday 31 May to Saturday 2 June: Southern California Jamboree. Schedule includes three Irish-themed presentations with Donna Moughty (Friday and Saturday mornings). Venue: Los Angeles Marriott, Burbank Airport Hotel, Burbank, California, USA.

Saturday 2 – Monday 4 June: Echoes of the past - annual conference - includes several Irish and DNA-themed lectures. Host: New Zealand Society of Genealogists. Venue: Christchurch Boys' High School, 71 Straven Road, Christchurch, New Zealand. Programme and costs.

Monday 4 June: Public Holiday in Republic of Ireland

20% off Ancestry DNA for researchers in IE, UK & CA

Ancestry DNA is offering a 20% discount on its DNA tests to researchers in Ireland, the UK and Canada. (There may also be offers in the US and Australia, but I've not been able to confirm them.)

The offer runs until Monday, 21 May, so it's a quickie. Act quickly if you want to take advanatage of the offer.

Click the flag buttons below to choose the offer for your region. Note that all offers include taxes but not shipping:

	Regular price €95. Sale price €76, a saving of €19. Offer ends at 23:59 BST on Monday 21 May
	Regular price £79. Sale price £63, a saving of £16. Offer ends at 23:59 BST on Monday 21 May.
	Regular price CA$129. Sale price CA%99, a saving of CA$30. Offer ends at 23:59 BST on Monday 21 May.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: mid-May update

Headstone memorial in Abbey Graveyard, Ferrybank,
to Frederick Christian, Comptroller of Waterford's
Custom House, who died May 1687, and his son, Minard,
who died August 1714. Photo courtesy of
Steve Rogers and Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives.

The team of volunteers at Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives has donated and uploaded the files below in the first two weeks of May.

In total, the number of headstone photos added to the site during the fortnight came to more than 1,030. They, like all material held on IGP-Archives, are free to view, along with text files of inscriptions for each batch of photos.

Here are the new files:

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Paul's (CoI) Graveyard, Ballymachugh

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Deansgrange Cemetery, St. Peter's, Pt. 2
Deansgrange Cemetery, St. Brigid's, Pt. 14

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Islandeady Graveyard, Part 1 & 2

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Burrishoole Abbey, Part 5 (Completed)

MONAGHAN & FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Clones Parish Registers, E. Div., Baptisms 1811-1815

WATERFORD Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Abbey Graveyard (CoI), Ferrybank, Part 1

Burrishoole Abbey, County Mayo.
Photo courtesy Bernie McCafferty and Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives.

IGRS Genealogy Open Day, Dublin, Saturday 19 May

The Irish Genealogical Research Society Ireland Branch will be holding its Genealogy Open Day on Saturday 19 May.

As usual, this popular annual event will be held at Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2, and everyone is welcome to attend. The day is free, and there is no need to book.

Three main lectures will be presented, followed by two 'lightning' (short) talks, as follows:

10am	Registration
10:20	Chairman's Welcome
10:30	300th anniversary of 1718 migration from Ulster to New England, with Linde Lunney
11:20	Where Historical Geography meets Genealogy, with Brian Hollinshead
Noon	Lunch (at own expense)
13:45	Glasnevin Cemetery resources for the family historian, with Lynn Brady
14:45	Two 'Lightening' talks:
	Genealogy novels: Are they any good / Should you be reading them? with Claire Bradley
	Organising Genealogy: How do you do it? with Aileen Wynne
16:00	Close

See the programme and other details of the IGRS Ireland Branch at IrishAncestors.ie.

AmericanAncestors adds more RC Boston registers

AmericanAncestors.org

AmericanAncestors.org, the online database of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), has added a further ten volumes to its database of Roman Catholic records from the Archdiocese of  Boston, Massachusetts.

The new records are from St Mary's in Lynn and they date from 1789 to 1900. The upload adds more than 39,000 records to the collection and 148,000 names.

The new volumes are as follows:

St. Mary (Lynn) Baptisms 1872-1893, Part 1
St. Mary (Lynn) Baptisms 1872-1893, Part 2
St. Mary (Lynn) Baptisms 1893-1897
St. Mary (Lynn) Baptisms 1897-1900
St. Mary (Lynn) Baptisms and Marriages 1837-1841
St. Mary (Lynn) Baptisms and Marriages 1851-1861
St. Mary (Lynn) Baptisms and Marriages 1862-1872
St. Mary (Lynn) First Communions and Confirmations 1881-1900
St. Mary (Lynn) Marriages 1872-1893
St. Mary (Lynn) Marriages 1893-1900

The database is fully searchable/viewable to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only.

If you are not a paying member, create a free guest account to browse the images. Then search the index, note the register and page numbers of the entries you want to search and then browse. I've just done this for an entry that interested me. It's a little laborious, but it works.

Irish lectures at QFHS Roots 2018 conference, Montreal

There are three Irish themed lectures taking place in Montreal this weekend as part of the Quebec Family History Society's Roots 2018 conference.

Two of the lectures will be presented by Tom Quinlan, Keeper, National Archives of Ireland (NAI): What's new at the NAI? (Saturday 19 May) and Researching convict ancestors at the NAI (Sunday 20 May). The third is with historian Steven L Cameron: Pre-Famine Irish in rural Quebec (Saturday 19 May).

Roots 2018 will be held at McGill University in Montreal and you need to register. You can find the full lecture programme plus details of Ancestry Friday, the Gala Dinner, costs and accommodation from that link, or download the brochure here.

Missing elements of FMP's civil indexes identified

There are also SRDs missing from the marriages Index

Readers of Irish Genealogy News will remember that in early March, while broadly welcoming FindMyPast's newly uploaded civil registers indexes, I was critical of the inadequate descriptions provided by FindMyPast Ireland for what appeared to be incomplete record sets.

Two months on, the descriptions have not been improved (and the supposedly pre-1845 marriages  have not been corrected, either), so genealogist John Grenham has taken the time and trouble to identify what is missing from both the FindMyPast birth and marriage indexes. He found that no entries are included in the birth index for a whopping 26% of Ireland's Superintendent Registrar Districts (SRDs), and no entries are included in the marriage index for four SRDs.

By any standards, these are seriously incomplete indexes and should be highlighted as such. Let's hope FindMyPast action this without delay.

See John's blogpost – FindMyPast's unmarked elephant traps – for the full list of the missing SRDs.

Irish genealogy and history events, 14-27 May

Monday 14 May: Famine and migration, with Dr Paddy Fitzgerald. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 5HP. Free. 7pm. All welcome.

Monday 14 May: 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, operate as normal. Details.

Monday 14 May: History of Watt’s Distillery, with Roy McCullough. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Lecture Room of Derry City’s Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Derry, BT48 6AL. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 15 May: A guide to tracing your Limerick ancestors, with John Grenham MAGI. Host and venue: Granary Library, The Granary, Michael St, Limerick. Free. All welcome. 8pm. Details.

Wednesday 16 May: A Letter from America , with Dr Ian Hunter. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 7AS. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 16 May: 1918 tenements and Compo Claims, with Donal Fallon and Cathy Scuffil. Part of the Dublin in 1918 lecture series.  Hosts: Dublin City Public Libraries, Dublin Historians and Near fm 90.3. Venue: Raheny Library, Howth Rd, Raheny, Dublin 5. 6:30pm. Free.

Thursday 17 May: Printed in Bray. The history of the printing industry in Bray & County Wicklow. Hosts: Bray Cualann Historical Society. Venue: Royal Hotel, Main Street, Bray, Co Wicklow. 8pm. Admission €5, members free. All welcome.

Thursday 17 May: Urban modernity and the historic city c1700 to c1840, with Professor Roey Sweet. Hosts: Royal Irish Academy and British Embassy Dublin. Venue: The Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 6pm. Free. All welcome. Need to register. Details.

Friday 18 May: Irish Historic Towns Atlas Seminar 2018: Modernising Townscapes. Host and venue: The Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. Free. All welcome. Need to register. Details.

Saturday 19 May: Irish records – Now is the time, a workshop with Jill Williams of the Irish Genealogical Research Society. Host: Aberdeen and NES Family History Society. Venue: Unitarian Church Centre, 43A Skene Terrace, Aberdeen, UK, AB10 1RN. 2:30pm–4:30pm. All welcome. Free.

Saturday 19 May: IGRS Genealogy Open Day. Three lectures and two 'lightning talks'. Host: Irish Genealogical Research Society. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 10am to 4pm. Three lectures and two 'lightning talks'. Free. All welcome. No need to register. Details.

Saturday 19 May: 20th Medieval Dublin Symposium. Host: The Friends of Medieval Dublin. Venue: J.M. Synge Theatre (Room 2039), Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin. Details. Free. All welcome.

Saturday 19 May: Managing your matches - a step-by-step approach to interpreting your DNA matches, with Maurice Gleeson (at 9am) and Marrying DNA and Irish Family Tree Research, with Maurice Gleeson (at 11am). Host: Queensland Family History Society. Venue: Queensland Baptist Centre, 53 Prospect Road, Gaythorne, Queensland, Australia. Cost: $25.00 members (QFHS and GSQ) and $40.00 non-members (includes morning tea). Booking essential.

Monday 21 May: 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 21 May: Larne Main Street circa 1950, with Liam Kelly. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. 730pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 22 May: Belfast’s original poorhouse, with Louise Canavan. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Belfast Branch. Venue: C. S. Lewis Room, Holywood Arches Library, 4-12 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT, 730pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 22 May: Using Valuation records to knock down brick walls, with Anne Johnston. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Causeway Coast and Glens branch. Venue: Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Londonderry. 8pm. All welcome.

Thursday 24 May: The Penal Times: The Catholic Church in 18th-century Ireland, with Professor Ian McBride; the J.C. Beckett Memorial lecture. Host: Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 7–8pm. Free, but you need to register.

Thursday 24 May: Rebel women of the 20th century - Maud Gonne MacBride, with Donal Fallon. Host and venue: GPO Witness Visitor Centre, O'Connell Street, Dublin 1. 5:30pm. All welcome. Free, but need to book ticket. 

Saturday 26 May: Exploring the Great War, exhibition, research facility and talks, with the Cork Branch of the Western Front Association. Venue: Mallow Library, Thomas Davis St, Mallow, Co. Cork. 10am to 4:30pm. Talks: Slaughter at the Somme (12:15pm), The US Army in the Great War (2pm), and The uniform and equipment of a British 'Tommy' (3:15pm). Admission free. All welcome.

Sunday 27 May: The Irish and Jewish communities of London's East End, a walking tour. Host: Wolfe Tone Society London. Meeting venue: Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1, UK. 11:45 to 2pm. Free; collection at end of tour. Details.

Sunday 27 May: Free genealogy help session. Host and venue: Library of the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N Knox Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630, USA. From 1pm to 4pm. Free. All welcome.

UCC launches The Great Irish Famine Online

As part of today's National Famine Commemoration at University College Cork, The Great Irish Famine Online has been launched.

This ground-breaking project allows users to access interactive maps containing detailed information on the impact of the Famine on each of 3,000 civil parishes and 1,600 towns across the island. You can analyse statistics that chart changes in the social, political and economic landscape of Ireland pre- and post-Famine. The statistics are taken from the 1841 and 1851 census.

Screenshot of the 1841 map of families employed in agriculture.
The civil parish of Kilkerranmore in County Cork is highlighted

I've just been playing with it. I'm finding it a bit slow, which I'm accustomed to with a rural broadband connection but this was particularly sluggish, and, rather more irritatingly, the site doesn't allow me any scroll control ie I can't get down to the bottom of the page on some pages. I'm using a PC. I suspect the site has been designed for responsive devices. That aside, the information is well presented, with a slider over the maps so you can slide between the 1841 data and the 1851 data.

I checked out my father's parish of Kilkerranmore in County Cork, to see just how agricultural the area was in the first half of the 19th century. The 1841 map showed that 391 (87%) of the 452 families in the parish were employed in agriculture. In 1851, the percentage was slightly lower – 84% – but the population had fallen dramatically: there were only 274 families still living there, a loss of 39% over the decade.

The Great Irish Famine Online is a collaboration between staff at UCC’s Geography Department and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. It is free to access. It can be found via the National Famine Commemoration website at http://www.irishfamine.ie/irish-famine-map. On the landing page, click on The Great Irish Famine Map Online link.

Alternatively, go straight to this link.

The famine online project was born out of the 728-page Atlas of The Great Irish Famine, which was published by Cork University Press in 2012. Edited by John Crowley, William J Smyth and Mike Murphy, this huge tome is beautifully presented, with hundreds of illustrations, charts and maps to aid understanding and deep research.

Living DNA Mother's Day offers: CA, US, Australia & NZ

It's Mother's Day on Sunday 13 May in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, and Living DNA is offering a 20% discount to researchers based in these countries. (It is not available elsewhere.)

The offers will expire on Monday 14 May at noon (BST).

Take a look at what the offer means in your currency below. The prices do not include shipping/postage, which is extra.

Click the Buy Now button (right) to find out more.

	Regular price $99. Mother's Day offer $79.20 - save $19.80
	Regular price C$169. Mother's Day offer C$135.20 - save C$33.80
	Regular price AUS$169. Mother's Day offer AUS$135.20 - save AUS$33.80
	Regular price NZ$169. Mother's Day offer NZ$135.20 - save NZ$33.80

Free access: Ancestry releases 1939 National Register

Click for larger view of sample

The 1939 National Register of England and Wales is now available on Ancestry. To launch the collection, it can be searched and viewed free of charge until Sunday, 13 May.

The National Register was compiled on 29 September 1939, just after war had been declared, and is the only complete online record of the population of England and Wales after 1911. It contains the names of more than 45 million people, arranged by address, along with their date of birth and their occupation. Any official voluntary war work is also noted. Some images have been redacted to protect the privacy of those who may still be alive.

It was previously online only via FindMyPast, but Ancestry has now created a fresh index to the images. Unlike Findmypast's version, this index includes information from Column 5 of the original form, which identifies those who were resident in hospitals, asylums or prisons with the letters O, V, S, P and I, standing for Officer, Visitor, Servant, Patient or Inmate.

You can learn more about the 1939 Register, and find out about the off-line 1939 Register for Northern Ireland (and Scotland), at my website, Irish-Genealogy-News.com

Recreated Famine mud hut opens to the public in Cork

An Bothán, the recreated Famine mud hut, is
open to visit in UCC's main quadrangle from 12 May

University College Cork (UCC), the venue for tomorrow's National Famine Commemoration ceremony, has created An Bothán, a replica mud cabin home typical of the early 1800s.

Such a structure would have been identified in the 1841 census as a '4th class dwelling', 'a single room cabin built of organic material', and reflects the dreadful and common conditions in which as many as two million people were living prior to the Famine. Most of the misery of the Famine occurred in mud cabins like this.

In 1841 the proportion of 4th-class houses across Ireland averaged 17% (in some small towns the proportion was nearly 30%). By 1851, the figure was below 5% (8.4% in small towns); the houses, along with their previous occupants, had all but disappeared during the Famine.

Located on the north side of the clock tower of the main quadrangle, An Bothán will be open to the public from tomorrow and during the summer.

Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions: 2018 release

Click the image to download a list names/addresses
of individuals included in the latest release (1.2Mb)

This year's release of records from the Military Service Pensions Collection (MSPC) is now available to explore on MilitaryArchives.ie.

The released files relate to claims lodged by 1,442 individuals or their dependants. They include 603 female participants; 262 individuals who served in the National Forces during the Civil War; 82 individuals who died in the period 1919-1921; 3 members of the National Forces who died in the Civil War; and files relating to veterans of both the War of Independence and Civil War.

You can search the collection and view/download an individual's service history and claim file here. Do bear in mind that some of the files contain multiple documents.

The MSPC is one of the largest collections relating to the Revolutionary period, providing an unparalleled picture of activities of the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army, National Army and anti-Treaty groups from the Easter Rising of 1916 to the end of hostilities in 1923. It holds between 270,000 and 300,000 application files and supporting documentation.

There's a detailed guide to the MSPC here (13Mb pdf)

More County Clare RC baptism registers transcribed

New transcriptions of baptisms recorded in the Doora/Kilraghtis parish registers can now be viewed, free of charge, in the genealogy section of Clare County Library's website.

This Roman Catholic parish comprised three civil parishes: Doora, Kilragthis and Templemaley, and the baptism register holds 4,956 records dating from 1821 to 1881. They have been transcribed and donated by Sheila Duddy who notes that only the records in the first half or so of the register state the residence (usually the townland) and parish of the parents.

The records have been arranged in chronological order, in alphabetical order of the father's surname, and in alphabetical order of the mother's maiden surname. In each case, there are two files: 1821-1862 and 1862-1881.

IrishGenealogy.ie appears to have been hacked

The state-managed IrishGenealogy.ie appears to have been hacked. If you try to reach the site, you'll receive a message saying you've been reported, and blocked, for suspicious activity.

As it's a public holiday in Ireland today, it may not be until Tuesday that the techies start to correct the problem.

UPDATE, 21:45: I was out of wifi contact for most of yesterday and today, so I wasn't able to do much more than confirm the problem earlier. Having returned to base camp, John Grenham has come to the rescue to advise that it's only the home pages that seem to be playing up. If you use this link: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp, you'll find you can get access to the records with no problem. Many thanks, John.

UPDATE, 8 May, 11:05: The site seems to be functioning normally again.

Irish genealogy and history events, 7 - 20 May, 2018

Monday 7 May: Public Holiday in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Tuesday 8 May: Five Dynasties of Montalto, with Horace Reid. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: The Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT28 1XP. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 8 May: DNA and Irish genealogy: Where to now? with Maurice Gleeson. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: DFEi, Cumberland St, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. All welcome. €3.

Tuesday 8 May: Sheela-na Gigs – Medieval Exhibitionist figures, with Gary Dempsey. Host: Co Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Percy French Hotel, Strokestown, Co Roscommon. 8pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 8 May:  Famine in Cork City, with Pat Gunne. A National Famine Commemoration Event. Host: Cork Libraries. Venue: City  Library, 61 Grand Parade, Cork City. 7pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 8 May: The history of Dungarvan, and the Grattan Square Heritage Plaques, with Willie Whelan. Host: SGC Cinema Dungarvan. Venue: SGC Dungarvan, High Street, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. 5pm–7pm. All welcome. Details.

Tuesday 8 May: Glendalough: the ancient church, with Frank Tracy. Host: Tallaght Historical Society. Venue: County Library, The Square, Tallaght, Dublin 24. 7pm. Free. 

Thursday 10 May: Women in WW1, with Sarah Jane Paterson and the Tonagh Ladies. Host: Western Front Association, Antrim and Down branch. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast BT3 9HQ. 6:30pm. All welcome. Free.

Thursday 10 May: 100 years of Irish women’s history, with Dr. Emma Bidwell. Host and venue: Skibbereen Library, 10 North St, Marsh, Skibbereen, Co. Cork. Free. 11am. All welcome. Booking essential: tel 028 22400 to reserve your place.

Thursday 10 May: Famine sites in Skibbereen Town, a guided walk with Philip O'Regan. A National Famine Commemoration event. Host: Skibbereen Heritage Centre. Meet at the Courthouse in North Street, Skibbereen, Co Cork, at 6:30pm. Walk finishes at Skibbereen Heritage Centre c.8pm. Free. All welcome. Booking essential: tel 028 40900.

Friday 11 May: Mapping the Great Irish Famine, with Mike Murphy. The National Famine Commemoration 2018 Public Lecture. Introduction by Professor WJ Smyth. Venue: Where: Aula Maxima, University College Cork, Cork. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome. Details.

Friday 11 - Sunday 13 May: Historic Settlement: Dungarvan and West Waterford, annual conference. Host: Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement. Venue: Lawlors Hotel, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. For full details and to register see irishsettlement.ie/

Saturday 12 May: National Famine Commemoration 2018. Official ceremony at University College Cork. Organisers University College Cork in collaboration with Cork City Council.

Saturday 12 May: Genealogy workshop, with Lynn Brady. (Extra date to meet demand) Host and venue: Glasnevin cemetery, Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11. 2pm. Tickets €10 each; includes the workshop and a genealogy pack which contains research rules, an explanation of the Glasnevin Records, and a €10 genealogy voucher to start your search of the Glasnevin database. Booking essential.

Monday 14 May: Famine and Migration, with Dr Paddy Fitzgerald. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 5HP. Free. 7pm. All welcome.

Monday 14 May: 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 14 May: Famine and Migration, with Paddy Fitzgerald. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Lecture Room of Derry City’s Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Derry, BT48 6AL. 7pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 15 May: A guide to tracing your Limerick ancestors, with John Grenham MAGI. Host and venue: Granary Library, The Granary, Michael St, Limerick. Free. All welcome. 8pm. Details.

Wednesday 16 May: To the White House and back with a President Alive and Dead, with Dr Ian Hunter. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 7AS. 7:30pm. All welcome. Free.

Wednesday 16 May: 1918 tenements and Compo Claims, with Donal Fallon and Cathy Scuffil. Part of the Dublin in 1918 lecture series.  Hosts: Dublin City Public Libraries, Dublin Historians and Near fm 90.3. Venue: Raheny Library, Howth Rd, Raheny, Dublin 5. 6:30pm. Free.

Thursday 17 May: Printed in Bray. The history of the printing industry in Bray & County Wicklow. Hosts: Bray Cualann Historical Society. Venue: Royal Hotel, Main Street, Bray, Co Wicklow. 8pm. Admission €5, members free. All welcome.

Thursday 17 May: Urban modernity and the historic city c1700 to c1840, with Professor Roey Sweet. Hosts: Royal Irish Academy and British Embassy Dublin. Venue: The Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 6pm. Free. All welcome. Need to register. Details.

Friday 18 May: Irish Historic Towns Atlas Seminar 2018: Modernising Townscapes. Host and venue: Venue: The Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. Free. All welcome. Need to register. Details.

Saturday 19 May: Irish records – Now is the time, a workshop with Jill Williams of the Irish Genealogical Research Society. Host: Aberdeen and NES Family History Society. Venue: Unitarian Church Centre, 43A Skene Terrace, Aberdeen, UK, AB10 1RN. 2:30pm–4:30pm. All welcome. Free.

Saturday 19 May: IGRS Genealogy Open Day. Three lectures and two 'lightning talks'. Host: Irish Genealogical Research Society. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 10am to 4pm. Three lectures and two 'lightning talks'. Free. All welcome. No need to register.

Saturday 19 May: 20th Medieval Dublin Symposium. Host: The Friends of Medieval Dublin. Venue: J.M. Synge Theatre (Room 2039), Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin. Details. Free. All welcome.

Saturday 19 May: Managing your Matches - a step-by-step approach to interpreting your DNA matches, with Maurice Gleeson (at 9am) and Marrying DNA and Irish Family Tree Research, with Maurice Gleeson (at 11am). Host: Queensland Family History Society. Venue: Queensland Baptist Centre, 53 Prospect Road, Gaythorne, Queensland, Australia. Cost: $25.00 members (QFHS and GSQ) and $40.00 non-members (includes morning tea). Booking essential.