Monday, 29 April 2019

Irish genealogy and history events, 29 April to 12 May

Monday 29 April:: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed all day to facilitate the Library's continuing redevelopment of the premises. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operate as normal.

Monday 29 April: Huguenots in Beara, with Penny Durell. Host: Beara Historical Society. Venue: Twomey’s Lounge, Bank Place, Castletownbere, Co Cork. 8:30pm.

Tuesday 30 April Henry Joy and Mary Ann McCracken – A Belfast tragedy, with Dr David Hume. Host: NIFHS, Belfast Branch. Venue: C S Lewis Room, Holywood Arches Library, 4-12 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 30 April: The Caldwell Family of Harmony Hill, with Keith Beattie. Host: NIFHS, Causeway Branch. Venue: The Sandel Centre, Knocklynn Road, Coleraine, BT52 1WT. Follows AGM. 7pm. All welcome. Note changed time and venue!

Tuesday 30 April Saying ‘No’ to Irish Nationalism - Reflections of a Revisionist, with Eoghan Harris. Host: Waterford Treasures. Venue: Garden Room, Medieval Museum, Waterford City. 7:30pm. Tickets €5. Booking is highly recommended. Details.

Wednesday 1 May: Revolution within the Revolution? 1919 and the generation of 1916, with Professor Roy Foster. Host: The Decade of Centenaries: Ireland in 1919 - Spring lecture series. Venue: Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Black's Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9DT. 7–9pm. All welcome. Tickets £5.92, via Eventbrite.

Wednesday 1 May: AGM, Tyrone Branch of the North of Ireland Family History Society. Venue: Local History Section, Omagh Library, 1 Spillars Place, Omagh, BT78 1HL. Free. 7:30pm. Details. POSTPONED.

Thursday 2 May to Saturday 4 May: Invasion 1169, a national conference marking the 850th anniversary of the Anglo-Norman Invasion of Ireland. Featuring an international panel of experts discussing recent research on the impact and significance of this event in late C12th-Ireland. Host: TCD. Venue: Edmund Burke Theatre (Arts Building), Trinity College Dublin. Admission free. All welcome. Registration and details.

Thursday 2 May to Sunday 5 May: Cloughjordan Honours Thomas McDonagh, a weekend of lectures, screenings, dance and music, guided walks, language sessions. Host and venue: Thomas McDonagh Museum, Lower Main Street, Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary. Details and programme.

Friday 3 May: 850 Years of Oppression? a History Ireland Hedge School. Part of the Invasion 1169 conference (see above for details and booking). Venue: TCD, Dublin 2. Attendance is free but booking is recommended.

Saturday 4 May: Making the Most of Your Autosomal DNA Results, with Anne Johnston. First of two 2-hour Saturday classes (second one on 11 May). Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Venue: Honneyman Room, NIFHS Research Centre, Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 7LS. 2-4pm, on both dates. Cost: £14 for the 2 sessions, payable at the first class. These courses are open to members and non-members. Further details.

Sunday 5 May: In Pursuit of the Heiress, a day programme of lectures at Dromana House and Gardens. Julian Walton: “The drawbacks and dangers of heiress hunting, with Julian Walton; The decorative life of Marie Antoinette – the glittering road to the guillotine, with Judy Brittain; The Abduction of Mary Pike and that fateful night in Vernon Mount, Cork, with Dr Kieran Groeger; and The Irish ‘Wild Geese: In search of fortune in the Habsburg Empire, with Dr Dagmar O'Riain-Raedel. Host: Dromana House, Lismore, Co Waterford. 10:30am to 4pm. Refreshments, lunch and afternoon tea included. Tickets €70pp or €125 for 2 persons. Enquiries and booking email: info@dromanahouse.com or tel (086)8186305.

Monday 6 May: May Day bank holiday, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. All repositories closed, except for most exhibitions at National Library of Ireland in Dublin, which are open 12 noon to 5pm. The exception is the Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again exhibition, which is closed.

Tuesday 7 May Irish Seminar, with John Grenham, David E Rencher and Beth Stahr. An all-day pre-conference starting at 8:15am, with five lectures and lunch. Host: National Geneological Society 2019 Family History Conference. Venue: St. Charles Convention Center, One Conference Plaza Center, 63303 St Charles, Missouri, USA. Details and brochure.

Wednesday 8 May: Irish and Peterloo, with Martin Gittins and Michala Hulme. Host & venue: Irish World Heritage Centre, Irish Town Way, Manchester M8, UK. 7–9pm. Free, but need to register.

Wednesday 8 May to Saturday 11 May: Journey of discovery – National Geneological Society 2019 Family History Conference, includes several Irish lectures. Host: NGS and St Louis Genealogical Society. Venue: St. Charles Convention Center, One Conference Plaza Center, 63303 St Charles, Missouri, USA. Programme.

Thursday 9 May: Consequences of War, an afternoon conference with the Western Front Association, Antrim and Down Branch. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. 2pm to 5pm. All welcome. Details.

Saturday 11 May: The National Library's History & Heritage, a guided tour exploring the National Library's rich architectural history and heritage on this free tour which includes a visit to its Victorian reading room. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, 7-8 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 1pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Saturday 11 May: Irish Genealogical Research Society's Library closed at the Society of Genealogists, London, to facilitate volunteers' and members' attendance at the Open Day.

Saturday 11 May: IGRS Open Day and AGM. Host: Irish Genealogical Research Society. Venue: The Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BU, UK. 10:15am - 3:30pm. After registration and refreshments, two lectures: Mining for Treasure in the IGRS Collections, with Jill Williams FIGRS, and Freed Felons, Land Hungry Migrants and Imperial Infantry: The Biographical Database of Australia as a Source for Genealogists, with Michael Flynn. Finger buffet lunch included. Cost: £25 members/£30 non-members. All welcome. The AGM (free) follows lunch; all welcome, but only members may vote. Details.