Sorry for the unannounced summer break in events listings. I was overwhelmed with other matters and had to set priorities for how to best use my desk time. My weekly events listing is easily the most time-consuming regular post on IrishGenealogyNews; contrary to most people's assumptions, fewer than 5% of the entries in my listings are actually notified to me by the hosts. With Irish genealogy's quiestest period of the year coinciding with a personally fraught time, it made sense to temporarily drop the weekly listing. Fingers crossed, the regular schedule can now return. Here we go:
Monday 12 September: Olympic and Aquitania: Eyeing Up the Competition – Cunard’s "White Star Liner, an in-person lecture with Mark Chirnside. Hosts: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Belfast Titanic Society. Venue: PRONI Lecture Theatre, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Titanic Quarter, Belfast BT3 9HQ. 7pm to 8pm. All welcome. Free but need to register. Details.
Tuesday 13 September: Stories from Old Blaris Burying Ground, an in-person event with Elizabeth Scott. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Bridge Community Centre 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, County Down BT28 1XP. 7:30pm–9pm BST. All welcome.
Tuesday 13 September: Lorrha in the Great War, an online talk by Gerard O’Meara. Hosted by the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). 8pm. All welcome. Non-members can obtain zoom links by emailing Membership@Familyhistory.ie
Tuesday 13 September: George McElroy: Irelands Forgotten First World War Fighter Ace, an online talk by Philip Lecane. Host: Foxrock Local history club. 8pm. Free. All welcome. Non-members can email info@foxrocklocalhistory.ie for zoom details.
Wednesday 14 September: Book Launch: The Prisons Memory Archive: a Case Study in Filmed Memory of Conflict, (Vernon Press 2022). Speakers will include contributors to the book, which contains the memories of those who experienced the prisons of Armagh Gaol and the Maze and Long Kesh during the conflict known as the ‘Troubles’. 2pm to 3pm. In-person venue: PRONI, Belfast. Light refreshments will be provided after the event and attendees can purchase copies of the publication on the day. Online event: The presentations will be live streamed via the PRONI Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/publicrecordofficeni. Details
Wednesday 14 September: Petticoat Pilots: an in-person talk by Michael Traynor about Irish women who were at the cutting edge of the aeronautical revolution in the 1920s an 1930s. Free. All welcome. 6:30pm. Venue: Walkinstown Library, Percy French Road, Dublin 12. Need to book: Tel 01 222 8890 | Email walkinstownlibrary@dublincity.ie.
Wednesday 14 September: The English and Irish domestic football leagues during the Great War, an online lecture with Dr Alexander Jackson, curator at the English National Football Museum. Hosts: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Antrim and Down branch of the Western Front Association. 7pm to 8pm. All welcome. Free but need to register in advance. Details.
Wednesday 14 September: The architcture, art and history of Collins Barracks, an in-person talk with Gerry White. Host: CorkDFAS and Cork City Libraries. Venue: Cork City Library, Grand Parade, Cork. 7pm to 8pm. Non-members are welcome. No need to book.
Saturday 17 September: Left in the lurch: Irish WW1 ex-Service men and women in post-war Ireland, a seminar to be held at Pearse Street Library, Dublin 2. Host: National Library of Ireland. The in-person event will mark the centenary of the disbandment of Irish regiments of British Army in 1922. Speakers: Dr Patrick McCarthy, Arthur Cagney, Dr Emmanuel Destenay, Tom Burke MBE, and Dr Fionnuala Walsh. 11am – 4.50pm. All welcome. Details Fully Booked.
Wednesday 18 September: Kate O'Brien and her sisters: Archives, Fictions and families, with Dr Gerardine Meaney MRIA. In-person lecture at Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin. Part of the Sisters series of lectures which celebrates sisterhood by exploring the lives and achievements of four families of sisters who made their mark on Irish life. 1pm. Free. All welcome. Booking recommended.
Monday 19 September: Bank Holiday in Northern Ireland to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Monday 19 September: Derry’s Wonderful Opera House, with Ken McCormack. An online and in-person event hosted by North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. 7pm to 8:30pm. All welcome. In-person venue: Lecture Room of Derry City’s Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Londonderry BT48 6AL. Online: Those wishing to attend on zoom should e-mail the branch secretary at causeway@nifhs.org and they will be sent the link.
Monday 19 September: How to do your family research in stages, a presentation by Branch Committee Members. An online and in-person event hosted by the North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. 7:15pm - 8:45pm BST. Venue: Larne Museum and Arts Centre, 2 Victoria Road, Larne, BT40 1RN. Those wishing to attend, either on-site or on zoom, should e-mail the branch secretary at Larne@nifhs.org and they will be sent the link. Emails need to be received by 12pm on Saturday prior to each meeting.
Tuesday 20 September: Executions and reprisals: the atrocities of the Civil War, an online lecture with Myles Dungan. Part of the Decade of Centenaries programme of South Dublin County. Hosted by Lucan Library. Free. All welcome. Registration required.
Tuesday 20 September: The Big Houses in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown as Religious Institutions, an in-person lecture with Deirdre Rafferty. Host: Foxrock Local History Club. Venue: Parish Pastoral Centre, Foxrock. 8pm. All welcome. Non-members €5 on the door.
Wednesday 21 September: The history and traditions of Brotherhoods and Friendly Societies in Ireland, an online seminar hosted by Armagh Robinson Library during Northern Ireland Good Relations Week. The event will include talks on the Apprentice Boys of Derry, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Foresters, Freemasonry and the Orange Order. Among those taking part will be Robert Bamford, Provincial Grand Librarian for the Province of Antrim (Freemasonry), Billy Moore, BEM (General Secretary of the Apprentice Boys of Derry and Chairman of The Siege Museum), David Scott (the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland’s Outreach and Services Manager) and Dr Robert Whan, Director of Armagh Robinson Library. 10.30am to 3pm. All welcome. Details. Booking essential. Tickets: £6.
Wednesday 21 September: Celebrate the Registry of Deeds Index Project's milestone as the database races past a half a million entries (all free to search). Online event is free. All welcome. Need to register at eventbrite. Times: Ireland and UK: 9pm on 21st | USA, New York: 4pm on 21st | USA, Salt Lake City: 2pm on 21st | Eastern Australia: 6am on 22 September).
Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 September: National Archives of Ireland's Reading Room and Genealogy Advice Service closed to the public to facilitate an IT upgrade. Reopening Monday 26 September. See NAI home page for any updates/changes.
Friday 23 September: Culture Night. Organised by the Arts Council, in partnership with local authorities and cultural organisations, this is the island's annual cultural feast of late openings and tours, performances, etc. They are delivered nationwide in cities, towns, villages and rural locations, and some are online. Dig in at culturenight.ie.
Friday 23 and Saturday 24 September: Military aspects of the Civil war, a two-day conference hosted by MilitaryArchives.ie in collaboration with the Military History Society of Ireland and supported by the Department of Culture. The event will be live streamed (free, no registration required) with a limited number of in-person €17 tickets also available here (price includes lunch and refreshments. Live stream link, programme and details.
Saturday 24 September: Exploring Christianity through Denominations, a full-day in-person workshop during Northern Ireland Good Relations Week. Host and venue: Armagh Robinson Library, 43 Abbey St, Armagh BT61 7DY. The workshop will consider a range of topics including the history of the denominations found in Ireland, their doctrinal positions, worship and liturgy, leadership and governance, and places of worship. The day includes a guided tour of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, which is situated beside the Library. 10am to 5pm. Tickets £12. (Lunch 1pm–2pm not included.) All welcome.Details and booking.