Friday 31 May 2019

Forgotten Revolution - the Limerick Soviet 1919: new centenary edition published

A Centenary Edition has been published of Liam Cahill's Forgotten Revolution – the Limerick Sovient 1919. The book, first published in 1990, explored the story of the Limerick Soviet for the first time and received considerable praise for its accessible, lively telling and meticulous research. The forgotten revolution of the title refers to events that quickly escalated from a workers strike in Ireland's fourth largest city to a full scale takeover of the running of the city by the workers and their representatives.

For a short two-week period, the workers controlled every aspect of life: production and distribution of food, opening and closing of shops, prices, transport and newspaper publication and even issued their own currency. Their action was declared a Soviet and the British authorities saw it as a serious threat to their rule in Ireland.

In creating this Centenary Edition, Liam Cahill has completely revised and enlarged his original book. In his Foreward, he says he was able to make extensive use of the significant official archives that have opened up in recent years. He gives particular mention to the Bureau of Military History, Witness Statements 1913-1921 and the Military Service Pensions Collection, 1916-23, both held in the Military Archives in Dublin, as well as the British National Archives, Imperial War Museum and a dedicated Soviet archive curated by Limerick Council of Trade Unions.

With this additional material, the word count of the book has expanded by 25%, much of it has been re-organised, and some of the focus of the story has shifted.

The new 210-page edition is now available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. ISBN-13: 978-1912328413. Publisher: Orla Kelly Publishing.

If you're interested to get a flavour of Limerick's Soviet, play the short video below.






Thursday 30 May 2019

Summer edition of Irish Roots magazine published

https://www.irishrootsmedia.com/shop-product/print-issues/issue-110-summer-issue/182
Click image to find out more and download free sample
A new edition of Irish Roots – Ireland's only independent genealogy magazine – has been published and includes articles exploring the following research topics and Irish family history themes:
  • The Military Service Pensions collection
  • Researching ancestors from County Tyrone
  • Surviving 19th-century research data
  • Adventurous Colorado pioneers of Irish descent
  • The Northern Ireland Place Name project
  • How to analyse your DNA results
  • Overview of recent Irish genealogy record releases
  • Taking a virtual walk in your ancestors' footsteps
  • Irish-Australian connections: Celtic crosses
In addition, the magazine brings you genealogical comment and observations from Steven Smyrl MAGI, a Q&A of family history brickwalls from Nicola Morris MAGI, Letters to the Editor, a round up of news from some of Ireland's genealogical and historical societies, newly published books for your reference shelves, and much more.

Irish Roots is available as a quarterly printed magazine and as a digital download. Click the cover image above to download a sample from this new issue and find out about subscriptions. You might also want to check out a good value 4-edition bundle here.

MyHeritageDNA launches Health + Ancestry test kit

Last week, MyHeritageDNA launched a Health + Ancestry DNA test. It is the company's second product, and an extension from its successful Autosomal (atDNA) DNA test, which launched in 2016 and now has a dataabse of some 2.5million tested individuals around the globe.

The new product includes all of the features of the current MyHeritage DNA test (to be referred to from now on as the 'MyHeritage DNA Ancestry-Only test'), including matching to relatives based on shared DNA, ethnicity estimates, a chromosome browser, etc but comes also with dozens of personalised health reports.

MyHeritage says these results include 'reports on conditions caused by single genes, such as hereditary breast cancer, late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and late-onset Parkinson’s disease; conditions caused by multiple variants, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and female breast cancer; and carrier status reports on conditions that can be passed down from a couple to their children, such as Tay-Sachs disease and cystic fibrosis.'

They add: 'Altogether, the MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test covers one of the most extensive ranges of conditions offered by an at-home DNA test, and we are working on adding many more conditions immediately following the launch and going forward.'

I've always felt a little uneasy about these kind of tests being aimed at consumers. The tests may be extremely efficient, and I've no doubt some people learn information that has helped improve their lives, but I still don't feel comfortable about them. For that reason, other than reporting news of this development from one of the leading genealogy suppliers, I will be mentioning only the Ancestry-only test kit on this blog in future.

If you're interested to learn more about this addition to the company's DNA range, go to MyHeritage.com and select 'Health' from the menu at the top of the page.


The content above contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you buy via these links. This does not affect the price you pay as a consumer, but it does contribute to keeping IrishGenealogyNews online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

Book launch: A Bloody Dawn: The Irish at D-Day

A Bloody Dawn: The Irish at D-Day, by Dan Harvey, tells of the Irish contribution to D-Day – the most extraordinatry military operation ever attempted in the history of warfare. The epic Allied invasion of German-occupied Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, began the liberation of German-occupied France, and later Europe, from Nazi control, laying the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. It's been well chronicled.

https://irishacademicpress.ie/product/a-bloody-dawn-the-irish-at-d-day/
Published by Irish Academic Press/Merrion Press
But what is less well-known is that thousands of Irish and members of the Irish diaspora were among the Allied units that landed on the Normandy beaches. Their vital participation has been overlooked abroad and even more so in Ireland.

There were 'Irish' among the airborne and glider-borne infantry landings; they were on the beaches from dawn, in the skies above and standing off at sea on naval vessels all along the Normandy coastline. They were also prominent among the D-Day Planners and Commanders of the greatest seabourne invasion every undertaken. The story of D-Day is huge and the Irish have a rightful place among its many chapters.

The 250-page paperback has been published by Irish Academic Press under the Merrion Press imprint. ISDN 9781785372414. It is now available from the publisher (click cover image above) for €14.95, Dubray Books, Amazon USA and other good booksellers.

Dan Harvey will be talking about his book on the 75th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday 6 June at the opening reception of the third Irish Military Seminar. The event is free to attend. Venue: Newbridge Library, Athgarvan Road, Newbridge, Co Kildare. 7pm. Tel: 045 448353.

Wednesday 29 May 2019

Ancestry UK latest: new D-Day collection, and more

To mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Ancestry UK is to launch a new collection next week. It will include more than 100 record-sets/sources, including war diaries and photographs from the day (6 June 1944), sourced from 42 regiments around the UK.

British Troops landing on Jig Green beach, 6.6.1944
It will include fascinating, and sometimes harrowing, insight, such as a blow-by-blow account of the day from HMS Belfast’s log. With traditional historical records not yet available, this new collection aims to help tell the story of the start of the Normandy Landings, as well as offering family historians a chance to discover the important part that their ancestor played in D-Day.

This collection will be free to view to Irish and UK researchers. (I'm not sure if there will be a charge elsewhere... the PR isn't clear on this point.)

Later in June, another military collection – the Western Front Association's invaluable WWI Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923 – will see a big upgrade. The index cards will be refreshed with some 1,068,712 records, including 342,734 pictures of soldiers (non-officers) that died in the conflict. These are pension records, with some listing the widows, parents and children of the deceased, as well as exact death dates.

Another imminent update of potential interest to Irish family historians will see an extra 1.2million burial records from the Liverpool area joining the England and Scotland Selected Burials collection 1858-1916.

There will also be a new and extensive collection of Essex Parish Indexes adding 5.5million birth, marriage and death records to the database, plus UK divorce records from 1917 to 1918.

And if you're thinking of joining the 15million other individuals represented in the Ancestry DNA network, you'll be pleased to know a 25% discount for Father's Day will be on offer from Saturday 1 June. I'll blog about this when the offer goes live.

Tuesday 28 May 2019

American Ancestors: Latest Massachusetts RC additions

Click image to find out more about the project
In the last four weeks, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has continued to update its two databases of Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston registers, 1789-1900, which are online at AmericanAncestors.org.

The first database is unindexed and holds images of parish registers prior to indexing. You don't need a subscription to view this database, only a Guest Account. (Learn to navigate the unindexed collection to find the records you want, watch this short how-to video.)

The second offers the fully digitised and searchable records, and is accessible to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only.

Unindexed Image-only database
The most recent updates added 29 volumes and a further 4,100 pages to the unindexed database, making a new total of 765 volumes. The type and date of these registers are as follows:

St. Ann (Gloucester) Baptisms and Marriages, 1855-1900

Immaculate Conception (Lawrence) Baptisms, 1851-1887

Immaculate Conception (Lawrence) Marriages, 1852-1887
Immaculate Conception (Lawrence) Confirmations, 1876-1900

St. Lawrence O’Toole (Lawrence) Baptisms, 1875-1900
St. Lawrence O’Toole (Lawrence) Confirmations, 1882-1897
St. Lawrence O’Toole (Lawrence) First Communions, 1899
St. Lawrence O’Toole (Lawrence) Marriages, 1883-1900

St. Peter (Dorchester) Baptisms, 1872-1900
St. Peter (Dorchester) Confirmations, 1882-1900
St. Peter (Dorchester) Marriages, 1872-1900

St. Patrick (Lawrence) Baptisms, 1872-1900
St. Patrick (Lawrence) Confirmations, 1894-1900
St. Patrick (Lawrence) Marriages, 1872-1900

Indexed database
This database has also seen 29 volumes of registers added, bringing another 202,000 searchable names to the collection. The dates of the registers are:

St. Augustine (Andover) Baptisms, 1862-1900 (excl 1891)
St. Augustine (Andover) Confirmations and Marriages, 1862-1900
St. Augustine (Andover) First Communions, 1895-1900

Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Baptisms 1899-1900
Sacred Heart of Jesus (Cambridge) Marriages, 1897-1900

St. Joseph (Medford) Baptisms and Marriages, 1883-1900

St. Peter (Cambridge) Baptisms, 1842-1900
St. Peter (Cambridge) Marriages, 1843-1900

St. Thomas Aquinas (Bridgewater) Baptisms 1853-1905
St. Thomas Aquinas (Bridgewater) Marriages 1853-1856 & 1863-1908
St. Thomas Aquinas (Bridgewater) Confirmations 1885-1940

This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only.

Monday 27 May 2019

Irish genealogy and history events, 27 May to 9 June

Monday 27 May: 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 27 May: Public holiday in Northern Ireland. All archives and libraries closed, reopening to normal timetables on Tuesday. Note: The Republic of Ireland does not share this holiday and operates as normal.

Tuesday 28 May: A Bloody Dawn - The Irish at D-Day, with military historian Dan Harvey, who recently retired as Lieutenant Colonel from the Irish Defence Forces. Host and venue: Centre Culturel Irlandais, 5 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris, France. Presentation in English. 7pm to 9pm. Admission free. Reservation recommended.

Tuesday 28 May: The National Archives of Ireland, with Brian Donnelly. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Causeway Coast & Glens branch. Venue: The Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Londonderry. 8pm. All welcome. Free.

Wednesday 29 May: A Terrible Beauty Televised: The Irish Revolution in Film, with Lance Pettit. Host: ICC's 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 29 May: Lead mining at Ballycorus, with Rob Goodbody. Host: Spring Talks series, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Venue: Marlay House, Marlay Park, Grange Rd, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. 7pm. Free. Booking essential; email dlrheritageevents@dlrcoco.ie.

Thursday 30 May: RCB Library will closed all day. Re-opening Friday 9:30am, subject to usual Friday restrictions (only printed collection accessible). RCB Library, Churchtown, Dublin 14.

Thursday 30 May: The O’Haras of Crebilly, with Brian O’Hara, plus AGM. Host: NIFHS, Ballymena Branch. Venue: Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre, 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena, BT43 5EJ. 7:15pm. Free. All welcome.

Friday 31 May: A Long Farewell - Emigration of Donegal Women 1845-1950, with Caroline Carr. Host: Donegal County Museum. Venue: Twin Towns Library, The Base Enterprise Centre, Railway Rd, Stranorlar, Co. Donegal. Free. 11am. All welcome.

Monday 3 June: June bank holiday in Republic of Ireland. All archives and libraries closed, except exhibitions at the National Library of Ireland which are open 12-noon to 5pm. Note: Northern Ireland does not share this holiday and its institutions are open as per regular timetable.

Tuesday 4 June: Researching Irish Records, with Jennifer Bryan. Venue: Jackson County Genealogy Library, Jackson County Genealogy Library, 3405 S. Pacific Hwy, Medford, Oregon 97501 USA. $20/non-Members; $10/RVGS Members. 10:30am-12:30pm. To register, T541-512-2340, email reception.JCGL@gmail.com

Wednesday 5 June: International Council on Archives Workshop, a practical workshop on essential skills, online resources and a tour or the public spaces. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 11am-4pm (incl one-hour break for lunch). This is a free event however spaces are limited, so need to register.

Wednesday 5 June: The French landings in Cork that never were, 1900-1905, with Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel. Cork Harbour Festival Lunchtime Lectures series. Hosts: History Department UCC and St Peter's Cork. Venue: St Peter's Church, North Main Street, Cork City. Free. 1:10pm to 2pm. Chaired by Dr John Borgonovo. Free.

Wednesday 5 June: Harry Boland's Manchester roots, with Donnacha DeLong. (Harry Boland and Michael Collins sprang Eamonn De Valera from Lincoln Prison.) Host and venue: Irish World Heritage Centre, Irish Town, Cheetham Hill, Manchester 8, UK. Free but need to book or email IWHC at office@iwhc.com. 7:15pm. All welcome.

Thursday 6 June: Book launch: A Bloody Dawn: The Irish at D-Day, by Dan Harvey. Official opening of the Irish Military Seminar 2019. Hosts: Kildare Decade of Commemorations and Newbridge Library. Venue: Newbridge Library, Athgarvan Road, Newbridge, Co. Kildare. 7pm to 8:30pm. All welcome. Free but need to book. See details.

Thursday 6 June: Like diamonds, gambling and picture-fancying, a luxury of the rich’?: Ireland’s divorcing minority, 1701-1922, with Dr Diane Urquahart. J.C. Beckett Annual Memorial Lecture. Hosts: The Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies. Venue: PRONI Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 7pm. Details and booking.

Thursday 6 June: Amphibious warfare: The Desmond Rebellion and the Munster coastline, 1579-1583, with David Edwards. Cork Harbour Festival Lunchtime Lectures series. Hosts: History Department UCC and St Peter's Cork. Venue: St Peter's Church, North Main Street, Cork City. Free. 1:10pm to 2pm. Chaired by Dr John Borgonovo.

Friday 7 and Saturday 8 June: The Genealogy Show. Venue: National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, UK. 10am to 5pm both days. £15 admission per day. £4 per talk (both with booking fee add-ons via website). Details.




Friday 24 May 2019

British Newspaper Archive passes 32m pages milestone

https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5895&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk%2FThe online British Newspaper Archive (BNA) has a new milestone to celebrate today: more than 32 million pages of historical publications are now available to search in its database.

In total, more than 1,000 titles are now online via the BNA, all uploaded since the digitisation programme was launched in 2010.  Of these, 175 are Irish newspapers, and of that total, 50 are classed as Northern Ireland publications.

The entire database is shared with sister company FindMyPast, depending on which subscription you purchase. On FindMyPast, the database is split into the British Newspapers Collection and the Irish Newspapers Collection.


FindMyPast tops up British Military Collection with 1million additional records

FindMyPast has uploaded just over a million additional records to three of its British military collections, as briefly described below:

Prisoners of War 1715-1945
This collection is by far the biggest recipient of this latest 'top-up', with more than 876,000 additional records created by the International Committee of the Red Cross during the First World War. Between 1914 and 1918, all belligerent countries involved provided lists of prisoners to the ICRC, which created an index card for each prisoner and detainee.

The records in this collection are diverse and comprise original source material provided by The National Archives, as well as transcript-only records from other sources. The records not only include military personnel but also civilians, diplomats, missionaries and merchant seamen.

British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records
More than 85,000 additional records have been added to FindMyPast's collection of First World War Soldiers' Medical Records. These include both transcripts and images of original documents, and provide details of where and when soldiers were wounded, the nature of their disease or wound, the medical facility they were sent to and the dates of their treatment as well as details pertaining to their military career.

The records include admissions and discharge records from hospitals, field ambulances, and casualty clearing stations, plus records from Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital before the First World War, dating from 1910.

British Armed Forces and Overseas Browse
A browse-only collection, and one I found difficult to navigate, this record set has been topped up with 85,000 additional records related to births, marriages, and deaths of British civilians and members of the armed forces. The records include individuals who were working or travelling abroad or who were serving their countries overseas. The details found in each record will depend on the original source.


The content above contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you buy via these links. This does not affect the price you pay as a consumer, but it does contribute to keeping IrishGenealogyNews online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

Thursday 23 May 2019

Ireland Genealogy Projects: May update to Archives

See below the latest files added to the free Ireland Genealogy Projects - Archives database. All contributions to the site are donated by Irish family historians and uploaded by volunteers.

http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/Among the contributed files are a cool 144,000 headstone photos and inscriptions, arranged by burial ground. That size of image + text library requires web server space, and that doesn't come free, so please consider a donation, no matter how small, to help maintain the site and keep it growing.

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives
Headstones – Mt Jerome Cemetery Part 220-222

KILDARE Genealogy Archives
Church Records – Carbury & Dunforth RC Parish Marriages (Kildare & Leighlin) 1850-1863

MAYO
Genealogy Archives
Headstones – Cong Abbey (Additional)
Headstones – Moyna Cemetery, Kilmeena, near Newport, Part 2

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives
Church Records – Thurles RC Parish Marriages (Cashel & Emly), 1834-1835 & 1836-1837

Wednesday 22 May 2019

Ancestry's DNA network reaches 15 million test samples

Continuing its role as the world's largest consumer DNA network, Ancestry has announced that its DNA database now holds more than 15 million completed test samples.

https://prf.hn/click/camref:1100l4pTC/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancestry.com%2Fdna%2FThe company says that each AncestryDNA customer receives an average of 50,000 total matches; this number grows by 2-5% each month as more people join the network.

“Ancestry is honored to play a role in empowering the journeys of personal discovery for 15 million people around the world,” said Cathy Ball, Chief Scientific Officer, Ancestry. “The size of this community is a true sign of how deeply important it is for people to connect and learn about their past. As the network continues to grow, we can deliver even more value to our members, including more granular insights about heritage, and provide compelling new paths to learn about ourselves using genetics.”

For more information on Ancestry’s growing DNA network and innovative research tools, click the logo above.


The content above contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you buy via these links. This does not affect the price you pay as a consumer, but it does contribute to keeping IrishGenealogyNews online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

Tuesday 21 May 2019

More Co. Wexford RC parish records join RootsIreland.ie

RootsIreland has added more than 2,600 Roman Catholic records to its County Wexford database. All are from the Adamstown Parish registers, as follows:

Adamstown Baptisms: 1837-1865 (2,591 records)
Adamstown Marriages: 1841-1845 (71 records)

They join Roman Catholic records from 15 other parishes in the county. All pre-1881 transcriptions include links to the National Library of Ireland's images of the register pages.

To search the new records, go to http://wexford.rootsireland.ie and select Adamstown from the ‘Parish / District’ drop down list. Login and Subscribe if required.

You can view a full list of the Co. Wexford records on RootsIreland

Registry of Deeds Index Project: May update

The latest update to the Registry of Deeds Index Project shows there are now 313,514 entries in the online database. These index records have been noted from 34,157 memorials of deeds.

In addition, the Townlands and Grantor indexes have been updated with more entries, as you can see from the image, right.

All of these indexed entries are now available for free searching on the Project website, while images of the original documents can usually be found in FamilySearch's free image-only collection of RoD records.

The Index Project is managed entirely by volunteers. If you would like to help other researchers (and yourself!) to explore the vast and rich Registry of Deeds collection, consider becoming a contributor. You'll find step by step details on the Project site.



Monday 20 May 2019

Irish genealogy and heritage events: 20 May to 3 June

Monday 20 May: : 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 20 May: Court records at PRONI, with Wesley Geddis. Also AGM. Host: NIFHS, Larne branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Monday 20 May: Warrior Queens – Four women who defied the authorities to publicly mark the first anniversary of James Connolly's execution. With Liz Gillis, Brigid Davis, James Curry and Jennie Shanahan. Introduction by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Nial Ring. Host: Dublin City Council. Venue: City Hall, Dame Street, Dublin 2. 12:45pm to 2pm. Admission free. All welcome. First come first served.

Monday 20 May: Irish Family History Research Assistance. Experienced helpers in the library to offer advice on your Irish research. 10am to 4pm. Host: Genealogical Society of Victoria. Venue: GSV, Level 6, 85 Queen St, Melbourne 3000, Australia. Free for members/$20 non-members. To book a one-hour appointment with a research consultant, or for more information, see GSV.

Tuesday 21 May: Family History Day, with the North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch; Ballyclare District Historical Society; Eddie's Extracts; Ballyclare Library; and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland: all celebrating the 262nd anniversary of the Ballyclare May Fair. Venue: Ballyclare Town Hall, The Square, Ballyclare, Co Antrim. Free. All welcome. 10am to 5pm. Details.

Wednesday 22 May: "Men lived as if they dreaded each other”: Hugh Dorian (1834–1914) and the Grey Zone of the Great Famine, with Breandán Mac Suibhne, who will tell the story of the Great Famine and its consequences from the perspective of Hugh Dorian’s extraordinary first-hand account of his experiences. Host & venue: National Library of Ireland, 7-8 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free admission. 7pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Wednesday 22 May: Historic Irish maps, and how Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown is depicted on them, with Tom Conlon. Host: Spring Talks series, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Venue: Marlay House, Grange Rd, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. 7pm. Free. Booking essential; email dlrheritageevents@dlrcoco.ie.

Wednesday 22 May: The start of the Irish Revolution, with Jim O'Hara. 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 22 May: Main Reading Room of National Library of Ireland to close early. Due to a State Visit the following morning, the NLI's Main Reading Room in Kildare Street, Dublin 2 will close at 5pm (normal time is 7:45pm).

Thursday 23 May: National Library of Ireland's main Kildare Street building closed until 2pm to facilitate State Visit.

Saturday 25 May: Using WikiTree, a workshop with Anne Johnston. Host: NIFHS. Venue: Honneyman Room, NIFHS Research Centre, Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 7LS. Workshop fee £8. 11am to 1pm. Open to members and non-members. To book, e-mail Education@NIFHS.org. Details.

Saturday 25 May: Missing Boyles of Drumcrew, with Michael Carragher. How DNA matches and genetic genealogy can provide clues to solve family history riddles. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Ave, Bethpage, New York, USA. Details. Starts 10am.

Saturday 25 May: Historical Irish connections to West London, a walking tour. Meet at St. James park tube station (Piccadilly line, Petty France entrance, London SW1) at 11.45am. Walk includes Constance Marchievicz (Gore-Booth) birthplace; Eaton Square; locations where the 1921 Treaty negotiation talks held; Marble Arch/Tyburn Tree; and other places long associated with the Irish in Britain. Event is free. Hat passed around at end for guide. Details.

Saturday 25 May: Behind the Wire: Oldcastle, Internment & The Empire, a half-day seminar and exhibition. Host and venue: Oldcastle Library, Millbrook Rd, Knockmacoony, Oldcastle, Co. Meath. 2pm–5:30pm. All welcome.

Sunday 26 May The Irish and other immigrants in C17th-C19th London's East End, a walking tour. Meet outside Whitechapel Gallery, beside Aldgate East tube station, London E1 at 11:45am. Event is free. Collection for tour guide at end. Details.

Monday 27 May: 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 27 May: Public holiday in Northern Ireland. All archives and libraries closed, reopening to normal timetables on Tuesday. Note: The Republic of Ireland does not share this holiday and operates as normal.

Tuesday 28 May: A Bloody Dawn - The Irish at D-Day, with military historian Dan Harvey, who recently retired as Lieutenant Colonel from the Irish Defence Forces. Host and venue: Centre Culturel Irlandais, 5 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris, France. Presentation in English. 7pm to 9pm. Admission free. Reservation recommended.

Tuesday 28 May: The National Archives of Ireland, with Brian Donnelly. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Causeway Coast & Glens branch. Venue: The Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Londonderry. 8pm. All welcome. Free.

Wednesday 29 May: A Terrible Beauty Televised: The Irish Revolution in Film, with Lance Pettit. Host: ICC's 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 29 May: Lead mining at Ballycorus, with Rob Goodbody. Host: Spring Talks series, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Venue: Marlay House, Marlay Park, Grange Rd, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. 7pm. Free. Booking essential; email dlrheritageevents@dlrcoco.ie.

Thursday 30 May: RCB Library will closed all day. Re-opening Friday 9:30am, subject to usual Friday restrictions (only printed collection accessible). RCB Library, Churchtown, Dublin 14.

Thursday 31 May: The O’Haras of Crebilly, with Brian O’Hara, plus AGM. Host: NIFHS, Ballymena Branch. Venue: Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre, 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena, BT43 5EJ. 7:15pm. Free. All welcome.

Monday 3 June: June bank holiday in Republic of Ireland. All archives and libraries closed, except exhibitions at the National Library of Ireland which are open 12-noon to 5pm. Note: Northern Ireland does not share this holiday and operates as normal.


National Famine Commemoration held in Sligo

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD officiated at the National Famine Commemoration in Sligo, yesterday. He will be accompanied by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan T.D.

The formal State ceremony, which is held annually in one of Ireland's four provinces on a rotating basis, included military honours and a wreath laying ceremony by Ambassadors to Ireland in remembrance of all those who suffered or perished during the Famine.

The community programme included performances by local musicians and the sixty-voice Sligo Famine Choir, which was formed specially for the national event.

The Commemoration also saw the re-launch of a booklet produced by the County Sligo Famine Commemoration Committee in 1997 to mark the 150th Anniversary of the Famine. It has been reprinted and copies will be distributed to local schools.

Following the formal ceremony, the Model Arts Centre hosted a preview of the trailer for Lost Children of The Carricks, written and directed by Professor Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin.

Speaking at the event An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD said:

“The Famine was the single most traumatic event in Irish history. Every county has its own famine story, and the story in Sligo was terrible and tragic. There were 162 sailings from the Port of Sligo, between 1847 and 1851, the majority of them to Canada and the United States. Some 13,000 people left in Black ‘47 alone. 440 people set off from here in the ‘Bark Larch’ to Quebec. Many of these died without ever setting foot on shore. The few who did land on Grosse Ile received comfort from Fr. Bernard McGauran, himself from Sligo.

“I believe the best way we can honour those who suffered and died during the Great Famine is by showing empathy with those who are experiencing similar problems today, whether through natural disaster or oppression. Our country has a longstanding commitment to working for the eradication of poverty and hunger in the world. We were refugees once and we recall the great compassion and the open doors shown around the world. It is seared on our collective memories as we work to assist today’s refugees.”

Friday 17 May 2019

IGRS Genealogy Open Day, Dublin on Saturday 18 May

The Irish Genealogical Research Society's Ireland branch will be hosting its Open Day tomorrow, Saturday 18 May, and has a great programme of lectures lined up.

As always, the annual Dublin Open Day is open to everyone, members and non-members alike, and the Society looks forward to welcoming family historians of all levels. Whether professional or amateur, beginner or highly experienced, you're sure to learn something new and get into friendly chat with other researchers.

You might even win yourself some genealogical goodies in the Society's popular Silent Raffle.

As usual, this popular annual event will be held in the conference room at Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. It is free to attend and you don't need to book.

The Open Day starts with registration at 10am. After a brief Welcome from the Chairperson, the following lectures will be presented:
  • A pile of stones, a living memory, a family member: Bowen’s Court, Elizabeth Bowen, and imagining the Irish gentry, with Ian d'Alton
  • Some families of interest in the Raheny area, with Joan Sharkey
  • Banished beyond the seas: NAI records of convict transportation to Australia, 1788-1868, with Joan Kavanagh
  • Publishing research in The Irish Genealogist, with Dr David Butler
There's a break for lunch after the first two lectures; this isn't provided by the Society but you'll be able to grab yourself a drink and something to eat in one of the local venues or The Cafe on the first floor of the building (it's open 10am to 3pm). The afternoon session gets underway at 1:45pm, and ends at 4:30pm.

Wednesday 15 May 2019

UHF's Irish genealogy conferences & courses, 2019-20

Assisted research at the Public Record Office of NI
The Ulster Historical Foundation (UHF) has advised that its 5-day Assisted Research Conference in October is now full. However, there are still spaces available in the June and September programmes, both of which allow the researcher a choice of researching in the archives with the UHF team of genealogists or spending time touring famous historic sites.

Now also open for booking are two winter Irish Genealogy Essentials courses.


Irish Family History Experience:  10–15 June 2019

Budding researchers begin this programme in the classroom, learning how to get to grips with research techniques, archives and genealogical sources in Ireland. They will also acquire the knowlegdge and skills to help them further explore their family history during the course and after.

The first three mornings are classroom-based, followed by afternoons of assisted research at PRONI. In the second half of the week, delegates can either continue their assisted research in the archives or choose guided excursions to places of  historic interest, including Bru na Boinne, Derry/Londonderry, Kilmainham Gaol and the Giant's Causeway.
Details.


Tracing your Irish Ancestors: 4-11 September 2019

This is the UHF's classic eight-day programme. It includes a mix of research in the archives in Belfast and Dublin, lectures, and tours to famous historic sites and cultural attractions.

Each day of the conference presents delegates with a choice of assisted research in the archives with the UHF's team of experienced genealogists or an excursion to an historic site or cultural attraction, including Kilmainham Gaol, Giant’s Causeway and the Knowth passage tomb at Brú na Bóinne and the picturesque town of Enniskillen situated in Co. Fermanagh's beautiful lakelands.

Details.


Irish Genealogy Essentials: 4-8 November 2019 and 10-14 February 2020

In addition to the full conference experiences above, the UHF runs 5-day family history courses – Irish Genealogy Essentials – aimed at the beginner or rusty genealogist. As well as lectures, the course includes an orientation tour and assisted research at PRONI and a one-to-one consultation with an experienced genealogist to guide your research.

Details.

RootsIreland.ie adds Armagh CoI Confirmation records

Records of some 9,100 Church of Ireland Confirmations have been added to RootsIreland.ie's Armagh database. They are transcribed from Confirmation Lists, and can be useful for researchers trying to locate an ancestors, especially in those parishes where other church records have been lost or destroyed.

Most of these Confirmation lists start in the 1820s but they vary quite considerably in the information they hold. Some record only the individual's name, the year and the name of the church where the confirmation was held. Others record name, age and address and some have additional comments.

Some churches held Confirmations every three or four years while others held them intermittently over a span of many years.

The transcriptions have been made by Armagh Ancestry, the local heritage team in the Irish Family History Foundation's network of island-wide genealogy centres, who report that this bundle of records is the first of an ongoing computerisation project that will take some time to complete. Confirmation lists from additional Church of Ireland parishes in Armagh will be added to the online database in due course.

In the meantime, you can view details of the parishes and years of coverage or these new online sources in RootsIreland's menu of genealogical records for County Armagh here. Scroll down to Census Substitutes and then to Confirmation.

Tuesday 14 May 2019

AncestryIreland.com: access disruption possible

The Ulster Historical Foundation in Belfast has advised that its website – AncestryIreland.com – is in the process of being updated, which may cause some temporary problems with access to some of the site's features.

It seems to be working okay for me, right now, but if you're finding it difficult to connect to some pages, try again a bit later.

New Central Library and cultural quarter for Dublin

The development of a new cultural quarter has been approved for Dublin's Parnell Square, the oldest of the capital's Georgian squares, previously known as Rutland Square.

The re-imagined Parnell Square North and new plaza
Costing €100 million, the scheme involves the relocation of the city's Central Library, the creation of a south-facing plaza, and the restoration of one of Dublin's finest terraces of Georgian houses.

The new complex will be linked to the houses on either side of the existing Hugh Lane Gallery, but will be hidden from plaza level view. At the back of the terrace, the new Central Library building – three times larger than its existing home on the third floor of the Ilac shopping centre – will feature a dramatic great hall (see below). It is scheduled, perhaps rather optimistically, to open in 2023.

Other new-build and refurbishment elements of the project will see the creation of a 200-seat conference centre, a music centre, education facilities, a cafe and exhibition space.

In the immediate vicinity of the square is an existing cluster of cultural venues, including the Irish Writer's Centre, Dublin Writers' Museum, the Gate Theatre, Poetry Ireland and the Garden of Remembrance. 

Dublin City Council will fund €45 million of the new quarter's development, with the balance being sought from philanthropic donations.

For more details and images of the planned development, see http://www.parnellsquare.ie.

Design of the new Dublin Central Library, Parnell Square.

UPDATE: 25 July 2019. See DCC's 'most disappointing and unwelcome' news

Monday 13 May 2019

Irish genealogy, history & heritage events, 13-26 May

Monday 13 May: NLI closures: All services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, will be closed until 11am to facilitate a staff meeting. Main Reading Room and Manuscript Room remain closed all day to facilitate the Library's continuing redevelopment of the premises. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Monday 13 May: Artefacts evening and AGM. Host: NIFHS, Newtownabbey branch. Venue: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 5HP. Free. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 14 May: The Mills around Lisburn, with Sebastian Graham. Host: NIFHS, Lisburn branch. Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT 28 1XP. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 15 May: Show and Tell, with branch members, plus AGM. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh Branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 7AS. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 15 May: Finding the Source: A survey of Irish genealogical websites and databases, a genealogy workshop for intermediate researchers, with Miles Davenport. Host and venue: McClelland Library (Norton Room), Irish Cultural Centre, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Costs: $15 for Library/ICC members / $20 for non-members. 11am to 1:30pm. Details and registration.

Wednesday 15 May: Researching Cemeteries, with Tom Hartley. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Need to book. All welcome. Free.

Wednesday 15 May: Ireland in a Revolutionary World 1918-1923, with Maurice Walsh. 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 15 May: We are the survivors: Boyle workhouse and emigration in Famine times, with Barry Feely. Host: Carrick on Shannon & District Historical Society. Venue: Bush Hotel, Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim. €5. Members free. All welcome. 8:30pm.

Thursday 16 May: Symposium on the Pursuit and Practice of Local History. with Professor Raymond Gillespie and Dr Olwen Purdue. Hosts: The Irish Committee of Historical Sciences and the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 6pm-8:30pm. Free. Details.

Thursday 16 May: History Scoops. Three short talks: The experience of women furing the Irish War of Independence, with Prof Linda Connolly; Political elections during the War of Independence, with Dr Martin O'Donaghue; Heroes and villains - Commemorating the War, with Kieran Doyle. Host: Michael Collins House. Venue: De Barras, 55 Pearse St, Scartagh, Clonakilty, Co Cork. 8pm. Free. No booking required but seats available on a first come first served basis.

Thursday 16 May: Creative Rebellion: Art, Literature and Politics in the Revolutionary Years, with Angus Mitchell & Caoilfhionn Ní Bheacháin. Host: Fethard Historical Society. Venue: Fethard Abymill Theatre, Abbeyville, Moneypark, Co. Tipperary. 8pm. Admission: Members €3/Non-members €6.

Friday 17 May: 2019 IHTA seminar: Seascapes and Townscapes – Ports and the nineteenth-century city. Hosts: RIA and Dublin Port Company. Venue: Academy House, RIA, Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 10am to 6pm. Free to attend. Need to book. Registration and details.

Friday 17 to Sunday 19 May: Emigration - voluntary or forced – a genealogy conference. Host: Armagh Ancestry. Venue: Navan Centre & Fort, 81 Killylea Road, Armagh, BT60 4LD. Speakers include Feargal O'Donnell of Armagh Ancestry, Brian Mitchell, Dr William Roulston, Dr Brendan Scott, plus many more. Friday 6-9pm. Saturday 9am-6pm, Sunday 9:30am–6pm. Two days £20/Three days £30. Details.

Saturday 18 May: IGRS Ireland Branch – Open Day. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 9:30am - 5:00pm. Lectures include: A pile of stones, a living memory, a family member: Bowen's Court, Elizabeth Bowen, and imagining the Irish gentry, with Dr Ian D'Alton at 10:30am; Some families of interest in the Raheny area, with Joan Sharkey; Banished Beyond the Seas: NAI records of convict transportation to Australia, 1788-1868, with Joan Kavanagh; and Publishing research in The Irish Genealogist, with David Butler. Free. All welcome to attend. Details.

Saturday 18 May: AGM followed by visit to Drumragh Old Graveyard. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Tyrone Branch. Venue: Committee Room, Omagh Library, 1 Spillars Place, Omagh, Co Tyrone. 10am. Free. All welcome.

Saturday 18 May: A tour of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas of Drogheda, with its author, Ned McHugh. Host: Louth County Council. Venue: Highlanes Gallery, 36 St Laurence St, Lagavooren, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Free. 3pm. Booking advised. Details.

Sunday 19 May: Emigration - voluntary or forced – a genealogy conference, final day. Host: Armagh Ancestry. Venue: Navan Centre & Fort, 81 Killylea Road, Armagh, BT60 4LD. 9:30am to 6pm. Details

Sunday 19 May: Guided tour of Bully's Acre, Dublin's oldest cemetery, with Paul O'Brien. 2pm. Free, but numbers limited, so booking essential. Email Paul at OPW.ie.

Monday 20 May: : 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 20 May: Court records at PRONI, with Wesley Geddis. Also AGM. Host: NIFHS, Larne branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Monday 20 May: Warrior Queens – Four women who defied the authorities to publicly mark the first anniversary of James Connolly's execution. With Liz Gillis, Brigid Davis, James Curry and Jennie Shanahan. Introduction by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Nial Ring. Host: Dublin City Council. Venue: City Hall, Dame Street, Dublin 2. 12:45pm to 2pm. Admission free. All welcome. First come first served.

Monday 20 May: Irish Family History Research Assistance. Experienced helpers in the library to offer advice on your Irish research. 10am to 4pm. Host: Genealogical Society of Victoria. Venue: GSV, Level 6, 85 Queen St, Melbourne 3000, Australia. Free for members/$20 non-members. To book a one-hour appointment with a research consultant, or for more information, see GSV.

Wednesday 22 May: "Men lived as if they dreaded each other”: Hugh Dorian (1834–1914) and the Grey Zone of the Great Famine, with Breandán Mac Suibhne, who will tell the story of the Great Famine and its consequences from the perspective of Hugh Dorian’s extraordinary first-hand account of his experiences. Host & venue: National Library of Ireland, 7-8 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free admission. 7pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Wednesday 22 May: The start of the Irish Revolution, with Jim O'Hara. 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.

Saturday 25 May: Using WikiTree, a workshop with Anne Johnston. Host: NIFHS. Venue: Honneyman Room, NIFHS Research Centre, Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 7LS. Workshop fee £8. 11am to 1pm. Open to members and non-members. To book, e-mail Education@NIFHS.org. Details.

Saturday 25 May: Missing Boyles of Drumcrew, with Michael Carragher. How DNA matches and genetic genealogy can provide clues to solve family history riddles. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Ave, Bethpage, New York, USA. Details. Starts 10am.

Saturday 25 May: Historical Irish connections to West London, a walking tour. Meet at St. James park tube station (Piccadilly line, Petty France entrance, London SW1) at 11.45am. Walk includes Constance Marchievicz (Gore-Booth) birthplace; Eaton Square; locations where the 1921 Treaty negotiation talks held; Marble Arch/Tyburn Tree; and other places long associated with the Irish in Britain. Event is free. Hat passed around at end for guide. Details.

Sunday 26 May The Irish and other immigrants in C17th-C19th London's East End, a walking tour. Meet outside Whitechapel Gallery, beside Aldgate East tube station, London E1 at 11:45am. Event is free. Collection for tour guide at end. Details.

Friday 10 May 2019

County Monaghan's War of Independence files released

A launch reception last night in Monaghan County Museum saw the release of a free online archive of War of Independence files, many including personal recollections of former members of the Old IRA who were active in County Monaghan during the War of Independence.

The statements in the files were collected to produce a book published in 1966 for the County's commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the state. They were gathered from veterans by members of the clergy and include handwritten and typewritten documents, letters and copy books.

View the Monaghan War of Independence Files
Many of the statements are in the person's own handwriting, accompanied by a covering letter.

The files contain personal names (often in lists of the writer's comrades in arms), place names and business names making them an excellent resource for local or family history research.

This unique archive of more than 500 pages provides a clear insight into what it was like to live in Monaghan one hundred years ago during the War of Independence.

To view the files, click the image to reach the Monaghan County Museum website. You'll find two short videos that are worth watching. One provides an introduction to the archive, the other shows you how to search the online database. I'd recommend the latter, even though I was unable to find acommpanying audio.

IGRS London Open Day, Saturday 11 May

Tomorrow, Saturday 11 May, the Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) will be hosting its Open Day & AGM in London.

The event will follow its popular format of two talks in the morning, followed by a finger buffet lunch and a chance to chat to other Irish family historians, followed by the AGM in the afternoon. I've attended several IGRS Open Days and can guarantee you a relaxed, informal but informative event where everyone is welcomed, whether members or not.

Just a small handful of places remain as of this morning, so be sure to book quickly if you want to attend.

Here's the programme:

10:15   Registration, coffee and biscuits

10.45   Mining for Treasure in the IGRS Collections, with Jill Williams, FIGRS

11.45   Freed felons, Land Hungry Migrants and Imperial Infantry: The Biographical Database of Australia as a Source for Genealogists, with Michael Flynn

13:00   Lunch

14:15   IGRS AGM (All welcome, but only members may vote)

15:30   Close

Venue: The Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BU. Close to St James's Park and Westminster tube stations.

Cost: The charge for attending the morning lectures, which includes lunch, is £25 members/ £30 for non-members. The AGM is free.

Details and booking.

Thursday 9 May 2019

New edition of Sean Murphy's Primer in Irish Genealogy

Genealogist and tutor Sean Murphy has published a 2019 edition of his Primer in Irish Genealogy. The free e-book can be downloaded here (last item on page).

2019 edition published
Sean says his Primer continues to serve as a textbook for his ongoing lectures in the National Library of Ireland and elsewhere, as well as being of assistance to those in Ireland and abroad who wish to trace their Irish ancestors.

The e-book commences with an outline of genealogy, research methods, computers and the Internet, provides a lesson on placenames, forenames and surnames, goes on to introduce census, vital, valuation, church and other core records, and provides a case study of Sean's ancestors, the Murphys of Ballylusky, Co. Kerry. The work concludes with sample copy pedigrees and documents, select lists of publications and online resources.

There's even a quiz! You can test your knowledge in a 10-question test on page 56 of the Primer (the answers are on the following page).

Wednesday 8 May 2019

Drogheda gets the Irish Historic Towns Atlas treatment

The first addition in three years to the Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA) series – No 29 - Drogheda, by Ned McHugh – will be published this month.

https://www.ria.ie/drogheda-0
Published by Royal Irish Academy
Drogheda has a rich and varied history that has been carefully compiled by McHugh, a retired secondary school teacher with a long association with the County Louth town and port. He completed a Masters in Local History and published Drogheda before the Famine: urban poverty in the shadow of privilege 1826–45 (Dublin, 1998) as part of the Maynooth Local History Series. He has also written articles on various aspects of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Drogheda.

In preparing the Drogheda Atlas, he has trawled hundreds of sources to generate histories of thousands of topographic sites in the town. The publication (ISBN: 9781908997746; €35) will be available in large format with many historical and modern maps and illustrations in loose sheets to accompany the detailed text section.

A launch event will take place on Saturday 18 May at 3pm at the Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda, where the author will present a talk about the work. Sponsored by Louth County Council, the event is free to attend but you need to book a place via Eventbrite.

The IHTA series, a project of the Royal Irish Academy, was established in 1981. It's aim is to record the topographical development of a selection of Irish towns both large and small, and each town is published individually and includes a number of maps and detailed text. It is part of a wider European scheme, with towns atlases containing broadly similar information available for a number of countries. This allows Irish towns to be studied in their European context. You can find out more about the IHTA here.

Forthcoming titles for the series are Ballyshannon, Cahir, Carlow, Cashel, Cavan, Clonmel, Cork, Dungarvan, Loughrea, Naas, Newry, Roscommon, Tralee, Tullamore, Waterford and Westport.

Monday 6 May 2019

Irish genealogy, history and heritage events, 6 - 19 May

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.

Monday 6 May: Great Famine Voices Roadshow 2019. Host: National Famine Museum at Strokestown, in partnership with Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, the University of Toronto, and Parks Canada. Venue: Irish Day on the Hill, Wellington Street, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada. 6pm. All welcome. Details.

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.

Thursday 9 May: Great Famine Voices Roadshow 2019. Host: National Famine Museum at Strokestown, in partnership with Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, the University of Toronto, and Parks Canada. Venue: Fort Henry National Historic Site, 1 Fort Henry Drive, Kingston, Canada. 3pm to 6pm. 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: Great Famine Voice Roadshow 2019. Host: National Famine Museum at Strokestown, in partnership with Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University, the University of Toronto, and Parks Canada. Venue: McMahon Hall, 1145 Avenue de Salaberry, Quebec City, Canada. 1pm – 4pm. Details.

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.

Monday 13 May: NLI closures: All services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, will be closed until 11am to facilitate a staff meeting. Main Reading Room and Manuscript Room remain closed all day to facilitate the Library's continuing redevelopment of the premises. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Monday 13 May: Artefacts evening and AGM. Host: NIFHS, Newtownabbey branch. Venue: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 5HP. Free. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 14 May: The Mills around Lisburn, with Sebastian Graham. Host: NIFHS, Lisburn branch. Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT 28 1XP. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 15 May: Show and Tell, with branch members, plus AGM. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh Branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 7AS. Free. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 15 May: Finding the Source: A survey of Irish genealogical websites and databases, a genealogy workshop for intermediate researchers, with Miles Davenport. Host and venue: McClelland Library (Norton Room), Irish Cultural Centre, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Costs: $15 for Library/ICC members / $20 for non-members. 11am to 1:30pm. Details and registration.

Wednesday 15 May: Researching Cemeteries, with Tom Hartley. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Need to book. All welcome. Free.

Wednesday 15 May: Ireland in a Revolutionary World 1918-1923, with Maurice Walsh. 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.

Thursday 16 May: Symposium on the Pursuit and Practice of Local History. with Professor Raymond Gillespie and Dr Olwen Purdue. Hosts: The Irish Committee of Historical Sciences and the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 6pm-8:30pm. Free. Details.

Friday 17 May: 2019 IHTA seminar: Seascapes and Townscapes – Ports and the nineteenth-century city. Hosts: RIA and Dublin Port Company. Venue: Academy House, RIA, Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 10am to 6pm. Free to attend. Need to book. Registration and details.

Saturday 18 May: IGRS Ireland Branch – Open Day. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 9:30am - 5:00pm. Lectures include: A pile of stones, a living memory, a family member: Bowen's Court, Elizabeth Bowen, and imagining the Irish gentry, with Dr Ian D'Alton at 10:30am; Some families of interest in the Raheny area, with Joan Sharkey; Banished Beyond the Seas: NAI records of convict transportation to Australia, 1788-1868, with Joan Kavanagh; and Publishing research in The Irish Genealogist, with David Butler. Free. All welcome to attend. Details.

Saturday 18 May: A tour of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas of Drogheda, with its author, Ned McHugh. Host: Louth County Council. Venue: Highlanes Gallery, 36 St Laurence St, Lagavooren, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Free. 3pm. Booking advised. Details.


Friday 3 May 2019

RootsIreland adds 34,000 Waterford baptisms (C of I)

A lovely chunk of records has been uploaded to the RootsIreland's Waterford Genealogy database. It makes available transcripts of more than 38,000 Church of Ireland baptisms from across Waterford and for parishes that straddle the county boundary.

The earliest registers in the collection are for the City of Waterford (the transcripts run 1656–1900), followed by the parishes of Youghal, which starts in 1665, and Kil St Nicholas, which starts in 1679.

In all but seven of the 35 parishes featured in this upload, the transcripts run into the 20th century. In the majority of parishes, the baptism transcripts join existing marriage transcripts.

You can view the parish-by-parish details of this upload, and a full menu of records in the Waterford database, here.

NAI's CSORP collection: 1831 and 1833 now catalogued

Archivists at the National Archives of Ireland have catalogued two more years of files from the Chief Secretary of Ireland Office Registered Papers (CSORP) collection. The additions cover 1831 and 1833.

http://csorp.nationalarchives.ie/With these uploads, catalogues for 1818-1833 are now available on the dedicated CSORP website, along with an overview of the collection and its value to historians and genealogists.

This important resource is one of the most valuable 19th-century collections. The Chief Secretary's Office, located in Dublin Castle, was a key political office for the British administration at the time.

As well as the official records, the archives include unofficial correspondence from private individuals and bodies on a wide variety of topics; some topics of national importance but there are also many personal stories and plights concerning employment, health, unfair incarceration/punishment, religious intolerance, neighbour disputes, and so on.

The cataloguing of the collection has been undertaken by archivists at the National Archives funded largely by a bequest from the late Professor Francis J Crowley, a professor at the University of California and son of Irish-born parents. Work started in September 2008 and is on-going.

The online catalogue is available at www.csorp.nationalarchives.ie and the original documents are freely available for public consultation at the Reading Room of the National Archives in Bishop Street, Dublin 8, subject to the normal rules of the National Archives.