New book and app tells Skibbereen's Famine story

Written by the two colleagues from Skibbereen Heritage Centre, Terri Kearney and Philip O’Regan’s book, Skibbereen – The Famine Story, will be launched in the Heritage Centre this Saturday, 20 June. So, too, will an audio trail app that's narrated by Terri and Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons, who lives nearby.

Horrific reports from the Skibbereen area featured in the media of the time as it became infamous for the suffering endured by local families. The book uses these shocking reports to follow the crisis as it developed, and shows the devastating effects it had on residents of the town and the neighbouring villages and islands.

The people who feature in The Famine Story – among them Tom Guerin, the boy who was buried alive, and the Widow Greaney, who was evicted to die on the side of the road – represent millions whose stories remain untold.

The true enormity of this national tragedy is revealed through the experiences of these individual people, and the places in the Skibbereen Union where the story unfolded.

Skibbereen Heritage Centre has confirmed to Irish Genealogy News that everyone is welcome to come along to the launch reception on Saturday evening. Mick Murphy of University College Cork will formally launch the app and book at 8pm.

The Centre, which is housed in the Old Gasworks Building on Upper Bridge Street, is located on the banks of the River Ilen and overlooks a popular spot for wildlife, so if the weather plays ball, it'll be a lovely evening event. The book will be available at the launch (price €11.99).

On Monday, both the book and the app will be available to purchase via the Centre's online shop. So, too, will an e-book version

British Newspaper Archive offers 20% discount

The British Newspaper Archive, which can now boast of holding more than 11million pages of historical Irish and British newspapers in its database, is celebrating its latest milestone with a special discount.

Fancy a 20% subscription to the database? If so, click the image to the right to reach the subscription page and sign up to either a one month or a 12-month sub. Type in the promotion code – JUNE2015 – where indicated and you'll see the prices in the selection boxes quickly change.

This discount offer runs until Sunday 28 June.

Be aware that all subscriptions are offered on a continuous membership basis ie your subscription will renew automatically until you choose to cancel it. This is easy to do via the 'my account' area. See the Paying for Access section of the terms and conditions page.

June updates to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives

Below is the lists of additions so far this month to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives (IGP-web).

The funeral ledgers of J&C Nichols look fascinating; they hold 750 names, each with the age of the deceased, date of death, 'funeral from' address, place of burial, and the address to which the account was sent. They cover the end of 1919 to June 1921 (earlier ledgers can be found at the National Archives of Ireland) and create an exciting new resource.

IRELAND GENERAL Genealogy Archives – Cemetery Records
Funerals By J & C Nichols, Ltd, Dublin (circa 1920)

LEITRIM Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Drumshanbo New Cem. Headstones – Left & Right Sides
Drumshanbo, St. John's CoI (Addional Headstones)

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Aghamore Cemetery
Caldragh Cem. Headstones

SLIGO Genealogy Archives – Cemetery
Aughris Register Extracts
Ballinakill Cemetery Register Extracts
Ballygawley Register Extracts

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives – Miscellaneous
Malicious Injury & other Claims 1847–1867

WICKLOW Genealogy Archives – Church Records
Newcastle Baptisms (C.of I.) 1711-1851 – Assorted Names.

AncestryDNA offers 10% discount for Father's Day

To mark Father's Day, AncestryDNA is offering a useful 10% discount on the price of its DNA tests.

The discount is available in Ireland & the UK and the USA and brings the price down to £89/$89.

I'm not sure if it's being extended to Canada, one of the two new regions where AncestryDNA has recently landed (see blogpost) but it might be (see UPDATE below), so Canadian researchers should try clicking on the image to the right; Ancestry's geographic widget should take them to the relevant local page if the offer is available there.

It isn't available in Australia, the other new AncestryDNA region. Simple reason: Australia doesn't celebrate Father's Day until September.

Note that the offer does not include shipping costs or applicable taxes, which can bump the price significantly.

UPDATE 17 June: Ancestry has confirmed to me that the discount is not available in Canada.

British Newspaper Archives hits 11million pages

The British Newspaper Archive (BNA) raced through the 11million pages milestone over the weekend and now has 423 publications in its database.

While there haven't been any new Irish titles added to the site for awhile (the last one was the (London)Derry Journal in early April, bringing the total number of Irish titles to 72), many more editions have been added.

The most significant recipients of additional editional coverage in the last two or three months are Saunder's News-Letter, which now has 21,411 editions online; Southern Reporter & Cork Commercial Courier, which has 8,504; Tipperary Free Press, with 4,544; Waterford Mail, with 5,038; and Dublin Morning Register, now with 5,523 editions to search and browse through.

In total, the BNA database now holds 195,223 editions of Irish newspapers dating from 1719 to 1950. Some 52,286 editions are from Northern Ireland titles. The remainder – 142,937 editions – are from historical newspapers published either as national (all-island) titles or as regional publications in what became the Republic of Ireland.

A regular month's subscription to the British Newspaper Archives costs £9.95.

UPDATE, 16 June: To celebrate the milestone, the BNA has a special 20% discount, valid until 28 June.

Depending on where you are with your Irish family history research, you might find that a FindMyPast Ireland/World subscription is better value as it includes access to the BNA's Irish/British&Irish collection in addition to FindMyPast's genealogy records. Better still, if you act before the end of June you can take advantage of a special discount: a one month's subscription to FindMyPast for just €1/£1/$1.

Irish genealogy, history & heritage events, 15–27 June

Monday 15 June: Family history and genealogy sessions. Find out how to trace your family tree, with Margaret Bonar and Betty Craven. Venue: Raheny Library, Howth Road, Dublin 5. Free advice sessions. From 10:15am to Noon. Book your slot by telephone: 085 1444883 or contact the library by email: rahenylibrary@dublincity.ie.

Monday 15 June: Years of revolt, 1912-22, with Dr Dr Eamon Phoenix. Host: Adult Learners' Week. Venue: Belfast Central Library, Royal Avenue, Belfast BT1 1EA. 6:30pm - 7:30pm. Admission free. Booking esssential: 028 9050 9150.

Wednesday 17 June: Explore the Archives – Practical Workshop, aimed at those who have just started their Irish family history. Two segments. 2pm: Explore Archives Online; 3pm: Using the Documents (searching for, ordering and viewing original documents). Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Free but booking essential. Reserve your place by email to proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone 028 90534800.

Wednesday 17 June: The First World War in Derry and Donegal, with Richard Doherty. Host: Adult Learners Week. Venue: Limavady Library, 5 Connell Street, Limavady, Co Derry BT49 0EA 6:30pm. Admission is free but booking is advised: T: 028 7776 2540; E: limavady.library@librariesni.org.uk.

Wednesday 17 June: Rhyming Weavers of Ulster, iwth Laura Spence. Part of the Ulster Scots Connections; People, Place and Practice series. Hosts: PRONI, MAG-Ulster Scots Academy, Ulster Scots Community Network and Ulster Scots Agency. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulveard, Belfast. 1pm. Free.

Wednesday 17 to Sunday 21 June: Strokestown Irish Famine Summer School & Conference. Venue: Strokestown Park House, Co Roscommon. Lectures, workshops, field trips, Hedge School, music and drama performances. Programme.

Thursday 18 June: The Battle of Waterloo: Ireland and Europe in 1815, a half-day conference. Host & Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. The conference will focus on the part played by Irishmen as soldiers and statesmen in the conflict and on the British army’s presence in Ireland during the 18th century. Lectures: The Army Barracks of Ireland, 1690-1822, with Dr Ivar McGrath; The British Army, Ireland and the Battle of Waterloo, with Dr Tim Bowman; Irish Gentry Officers at Waterloo: Embedding a Tradition, with Nicholas Perry; and ‘Entertaining to a degree and perhaps a little dangerous’: Lord Castlereagh, Lady Londonderry, Vienna and the Peace of Europe, with Brett Irwin. Starts 2pm. Free, but booking essential.

Thursday 18 June: Military Archives as a family history resource, with Capt. Claire Mortimer. Host: Clondalkin Genealogy and Family History Group. Venue: Clondalkin Library, Monastery Road, Clondalkin Dublin 22. All welcome. No booking required.

Thursday 18 June:  Convict prisons in Ireland, with Dr Ciara Breathnach. Host: Laois Heritage Society. Venue: Heritage Hotel, Jessop Street, Portlaoise. 8-9pm. No booking required. All welcome.

Saturday 20 June: Family History Help session, with Kathleen McGee at 10am, followed by New York City: State vital records and their substitutes, with Jane Wilcox at 11am. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Avenue, Bethpage, NY, 11714 USA. Details.

Saturday 20 June: The North Began? Ulster and the Irish Revolution, 1900-25, a Decade of Centenaries Symposium. Hosts: Trinity College Dublin and St Patrick’s College Drumcondra. Venue: J.M. Synge Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin. €20 (Students/Unemployed €10). Programme (pdf). Need to book.

Sunday 21 June: The Irish at Waterloo, with Lt-Col Dan Harvey. Venue: National Museum of Ireland – Museum of Decorative Arts and History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7. 3pm. Free. No need to book but arrive early to ensure you get a place.

Wednesday 24 June: Ulster Scots Literature, with Frank Ferguson and Kathryn White. Last of the Ulster Scots Connections; People, Place and Practice series. Hosts: PRONI, MAG-Ulster Scots Academy, Ulster Scots Community Network and Ulster Scots Agency. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulveard, Belfast. 1pm. Free.

Friday 27 June to Sunday 29 June: Glorious Forever? Regional Perspectives on the 1916 Rising. Host: Byrne Perry Summer School. Venue: Gorey Library & Adult Learning Centre at the Civic Square, The Avenue, Gorey, Co Wexford. Lectures, panel discussions, field trip and a Hedge School. Costs: €130 includes all lectures, dinner, entertainment and field trip. Students and Seniors €80. Programme.

Saturday 27 June: Life and Death in 1915, a one-day conference at Trinity College Dublin. Host: Universities Ireland. Lectures: Death in Ireland 1915, with Prof Eunan O'Halpin, and Life in Ireland 1915, with Dr Caitriona Clear. Hedge School, discussion and presentations of current on-theme research. Venue: Thomas Davis Theatre, TCD, Dublin 2. Need to book by 19 June. €5 to cover refreshments provided. 9am to 4:30pm.

Life and Death in 1915: Conference, 27 June

Universities Ireland is sponsoring the fourth in a series of conferences to commemorate the centenary of key events in the history of modern Ireland ranging from the Ulster Covenant, through the First World War and the 1916 Rising, to the foundation of the Irish and Northern Irish States.

The theme for this years conference is Reflecting on a decade of War and Revolution in Ireland 1912-1923: Life and Death in 1915.

The conference will take place in Thomas Davis Theatre, Trinity College Dublin from 9.00am to 4.30pm on Saturday 27 June. It includes lectures, panel discussions, a HistoryIreland Hedge School and the presentation of recent and current research relating to 1915. There's a €5 charge to cover refreshments provided.

Download the programme (pdf 266kb)

AncestryDNA launches in Canada and Australia

See links below for Canada & Australian orders

AncestryDNA has been officially launched in both Canada and Australia during the last week.

Not only is this good news for researchers in those countries, it's also good news for those who have already tested in the USA, Ireland and the UK because as the numbers of people being tested increases, so the number of potential matches increases for everyone in the database.

The official press release issued in Toronto yesterday says more than 850,000 people have had their dna tested. From this, my well-honed mathematical skills can calculate that some 150,000 have tested since the end of January when the AncestryDNA service arrived in Ireland/UK.

Announcing the news in Toronto, Christopher Labrecque, Country Manager for Ancestry Canada said: “Historical records on Ancestry.ca provide an insight into one’s recent past, but usually go around 200-300 years, so it’s incredibly exciting to be able to offer DNA testing that takes your family history experience back many hundreds and even thousands of years. AncestryDNA enables users to learn more than ever about where they came from and discover new family lines and relatives. It really is the ultimate family history experience.”

The AncestryDNA test uses microarray-based autosomal DNA testing to look at more than 700,000 locations across an individual’s entire genome through a simple saliva sample. The company says that its approach provides a much more detailed look at one’s family history than other existing Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA tests that only look at specific branches of a person’s family tree.

In a recent survey, more than three-quarters of Canadians stated they would consider having their DNA tested to discover more about where their ancestors came from. Many said they know very little about their own family history, with 42 per cent indicating that they do not know where their grandparents were born, and 30 per cent stating they do not know where their ancestors lived before coming to Canada.

AncestryDNA kits are now available for purchase from dna.ancestry.ca for CAD$149 plus shipping and from dna.ancestry.com.au for AUS$149 plus shipping.


NOTE, 14 June: AncestryDNA has a 10% discount for Father's Day, 21 June (not Australia). Click below.

Book launch: Beneath a Turkish Sky; The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Assault on Gallipoli

A new book – Beneath a Turkish Sky; The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and The Assault On Gallipoli, by Philip Lecane – has been published by The History Press (formal launch details below).

The 336-page paperback tells the story of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who, having been recruited in Ireland, were ordered to spearhead the invasion of Gallipoli in Turkey. It was to be the First World War’s largest seaborne invasion and the British High Command, deadlocked in trench warfare on the Western Front, had high hopes the assault would force Germany’s ally out of the war.

Using letters and photographs, Philip Lecane's book recalls the ‘Dubs’ officers and men who had been recalled from an idyllic posting in India to be billeted on the civilian population in England. They then set off on what was presented as a great adventure to win glory and capture Constantinople.

Beneath a Turkish Sky also gives the story of the Turkish defenders and the locality being invaded. Accompanied by the Royal Munster Fusiliers and packed aboard the SS River Clyde, the ‘Dubs’ landed from ships boats on the fiercely defended beach at Sedd-el-Bahr. The song The Foggy Dew says “It were better to die beneath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sedd-el-Bahr.” This book tells the story of the forgotten Irishmen who died beneath a Turkish sky in what was Ireland’s D-Day.

ISBN: 9781845888657 - See more at: http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/index.php/beneath-a-turkish-sky-pb.html#sthash.Wqnr4p42.dpuf
Publisher's website.

The book's formal launch will be by Tom Burke Chairman of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association on Wednesday 17 June. If you wish to attend, the invitation instructions advise you to 'Assemble' at Hodges Figgis, 56 Dawson Street, Dublin 2 at 6:30pm.

PRONI's Irish family history lectures now on YouTube

Between March and May, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland ran a ten-week lecture series entitled Your Family Tree. These lectures explored some of the key archival sources available to family historians and were presented by specialists from a number of Northern Ireland repositories including PRONI. If you weren't able to attend them in person, you'll be pleased to know they have now been uploaded to PRONI's You-Tube channel.

Just click on the link for each lecture. Most run for around 40–50minutes. The main exception is  Tracing WW1 Ancestors, which is 1hr 40mins long, and includes three lectures from a separate conference exploring the stories of Irish women during the First World War.

 Getting Started, with Janet Hancock

 Using Street Directories, with Des McCabe

 Using Church Records, with Valerie Adams

 Tracing World War One Ancestors, with Ian Montgomery

 Using Education Records, with Valerie Adams

 Using Workhouse Records, with Janet Hancock

 Using Valuation Records, with William MacAfee

 Using Landed Estate Records, with Stephen Scarth

 Using Court, Prison and Coroners Records, with Wesley Geddis

 Using the General Register Office, with Emma Elliott.