North of Ireland FHS: New season of genealogy classes

The North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS) has announced its autumn series of genealogy classes, which starts this Saturday 5 October. As with previous 'terms', researchers can find a mixture of daytime, evening and weekend classes. Some are single session classes, some run over two sessions on a single day or two days, and some run for three sessions held on a set day of the week. So there's plenty of choice, whether you're local or have some distance to travel. All sessions last two hours.

Saturday 5 October sees the first class of the series. It's a two-session beginners' class held on one day and it will be presented by Rosemary Sibbett, a former president of the Society.

This is followed on Tuesday 15 October with the first in a series of classes for people who have received their DNA results and would like help in taking the next steps. The Family Finder classes are open to anyone who can upload their autosomal results to FamilyTreeDNA where the society has a DNA project. There is a follow-up, one-day, DNA class in November.

New topics for this season include Tracing Relatives of the Belfast Shipyards; the lecturer is Maureen McKinney, Vice-Chair of Belfast Titanic Society, who will share her knowledge of maritime research to help those researching relatives who worked in the Harland & Wolff and Workman Clark shipyards.

The full list of courses is below and you'll find more details about each of them, who they are aimed at, and how to book you place at NIFHS.org.

• Starting your Genealogy - Beginner’s Course
• DNA: Family Finder (1)
• Life in Ulster in the 1830s
• Making the Most of Your Autosomal DNA Results
• Understanding Heraldry
• Using Land Records
• DNA: Family Finder (2)
• Using WikiTree
• School Records
• Tracing Relatives of the Belfast Shipyards
• Finding Family History Stories

All classes are held at the Society’s Library and Research Centre: Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 7LS. It’s a convenient location about 15 minutes drive from Belfast City Centre and it has free parking. The Library and Research Centre has it's own kitchen but the Business Centre also has a café that is usually open until mid-afternoon.

Class places must be booked in advance but fees can be paid at the first session. The cost is £8 for one session, £14 for 2-session classes or £18 for 3-session classes.