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.