PRONI: Changes to hours and services in December

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has a number of changes to its opening hours and service operations during December and early January.

PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast

Preservation week
PRONI's annual Preservation Week will be held Monday 10 to Friday 14 December inclusive.

During this time, PRONI's Preservation & Collections Management staff get an opportunity to dedicate some time to the vital work that goes on behind the scenes. The knock-on effect means a reduced service to researchers.

Document ordering and production will be suspended throughout the week, but the Search Room and self-service microfilm facilities will be available as normal.

Late Night Thursdays
PRONI is usually open on Thursday evenings until 8:45pm, but for the rest of December and 3 January, the doors will close at 4:45pm. Late-night openings resume on 10 January 2019.

Christmas/New Year closures
PRONI will be closed from Monday 24 December to Wednesday 26 December inclusive and again on Tuesday 1 January 2019. Normal hours will operate on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 December and from Wednesday 2 January.

Ancestry DNA test kits - Christmas offers

While the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have passed, and with them the lowest prices of the year, some of Ancestry DNA's countdown to Christmas offers are pretty generous. The discount for Austalian and New Zealanders, for example, is only $1 more than November's 'lowest price of the year'.

The Christmas offers will run up to either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on which Ancestry 'territory' you buy. See below.

Click the flag that's most appropriate to you.

	Ancestry DNA for addresses in Ireland. Save 20%! Price reduced from €95 to €76. Plus shipping. Expires 11:59pm GMT 25 December.
	Ancestry DNA for UK addresses. Save 20%! Regular price £79. Sale price £63. Shipping free for two or more kits is free. Expires 11:59pm GMT 25 December.
	For researchers in the USA, the Christmas deal reduces the cost from US$99 to USA$99. Plus shipping. Offer expires 24 December.
	For Canadian researchers the price of an Ancestry DNA test kit is reduced to CA$89, a saving of $40. Shipping is extra. Offer expires 11:59 EST on 25 December.
	For researchers based in Australia and New Zealand, the test kit is reduced to AUS$89, a saving of $40, plus shipping. Offer expires 11:59 AEST on 25 December.

NEHGS: Latest additions to MA Catholic registers

The New England Historical Genealogical Society's database at AmericanAncestors.org has continued to expand its online collection of Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston registers, 1789-1900.

Indexed database

Click image to find out more about the project

The latest parish volumes to be fully imaged, indexed and available to search are:

• St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline) – Baptisms & Marriages, 1852-1900; Confirmations, 1855-1891; Marriages, 1857-1900. The parish index holds 76,696 names.
  
• Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (Lawrence) – Births, Marriages, and Confirmations, 1887-1900. The parish index holds more than 1,300 new names.to search.
  

To search and view the indexed database, you need to be a member (Individual-level and above) of the NEHGS.

Unindexed Image-only database
Images of the volumes for the following parishes have been uploaded to the Browse database:

• Our Lady of the Assumption (East Boston) – Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages
• St Augustine (Andover) – Baptisms, Confirmations, First Communions & Marriages
• St Paul (Cambridge) – Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages
• St Francis de Sales (Roxbury) – Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages
• St Edward the Confessor (Medfield) – Baptisms
• Sacred Heart (Middleborough) – Baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Roxbury) – Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages
• Our Lady of Czestochowa (South Boston) – Baptisms and Marriages
• Sacred Heart (Lowell) – Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths
• St. Joachim (Rockport) – Baptisms and Marriages
• St. Mary of the Annunciation (Melrose) – Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages
• St. Stephen (Framingham) – Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages
• Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (South Boston) – Baptisms and Marriages

You don't need a subscription to view these images, only a Guest Account. To find out how to navigate the collection to find the records you want, watch this short how-to video.

Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference lectures online

The remainder of the recordings of lectures presented at the 2018 Genetic Genealogy Ireland (GGI) conference have now been uploaded to the GGI video channel on YouTube. (A first instalment of videos was uploaded last month – see blogpost.)

As always, the GGI lecture programme covered a wide range of topics from beginner level subjects to presentations of the latest research and technological developments. For the first time, the 2018 conference also explored ethical issues relating to the use of dna tests in public and social applications to to privacy and data protection.

The newly uploaded lectures are as follows:

• DNA, Privacy and Data Protection, a panel discussion
• GDPR, Privacy and Data Protection, with James Irvine 
• WATO – the latest tool for your atDNA, with Andrew Millard
• Raising the Dead, with Martin McDowell
• Finding Missing Persons with DNA, with Debbie Kennett
• Developments in O'Neill Clan genealogy, with the O'Neill Project Team
• Running successful Local DNA Projects in Ireland, a panel discussion
• The North East Galway DNA Project, with Martin Curley
• Unusual Use of 3rd-Party Tools, with Cathal McEgunn
• DNA Testing for Genealogy – the basics, with Donna Rutherford
• Y-SNP Testing: best current tools & a glimpse into the future, with John Cleary
• Untangling a Tumbleweed Branch of the Y-DNA Tree, with John Brazil

To view the full selection of available videos from the 2018 lectures, and those from each of the GGI conferences held over the previous five years, see the GGI YouTube channel. You'll find an extraordinary library of more than 100 lectures, with topics of appeal to researchers of all levels of experience.

Hurling recognised by UNESCO as Irish Living Heritage

Hurling has been recognised by UNESCO as a key element of Ireland's living heritage and has been added to the organisation's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

My grandad, from Cahir,  would have
agreed with the sentiment.

The sport of Hurling (and Camogie, a form of hurling played by women) is a field game played by two teams. It dates back 2,000 years and features strongly in Irish mythology, most notably in the epic saga of Cú Chulainn.

Announcing the inscription last week, Josepha Madigan, TD, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, said: “I am delighted that Hurling has achieved international recognition by UNESCO. Hurling is a key element of Irish culture. For centuries, hurling has been an important part of the Irish identity, with men and women passing on this living tradition to each rising generation. I am grateful to the Camogie Association and the GAA for their work with my Department to achieve this UNESCO recognition.”

Intangible cultural heritage, or living heritage, refers to customs, traditions, crafts, games, and practices that are part of people’s lives and identities both individually and as part of wider communities, and that are passed on from generation to generation.

Uachtarán CLG John Horan said: “The UNESCO award... reaffirms the fact that Hurling is more than just a sport. It is a national treasure; an ancient tradition that connects us to our Celtic past and a part of our DNA. At a time of unprecedented popularity for the Game here, we owe a debt of gratitude to the generations of people who preserved, protected and promoted the game at school, club and county levels so that it would survive and thrive for our benefit. All of us involved in the Association are charged with ensuring that the promotional work we undertake preserves Hurling for future generations.”

Find out more about Hurling in the short video below, from GAA Learning in 2014.

New Member for Accredited Genealogists Ireland

Clare Doyle of Tuam, Co Galway is the newest member of Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI). She has been an Affiliate of AGI for almost two years.

As well as being a professional genealogist, Clare is a qualified archivist and holds an MA in Local History. She runs her own practice as Wild Atlantic Family Research.

Congratulations to Clare.

New family history show launches today on Channel 4

A new family history focused show will be launching on Channel 4 today.

It's called My Family Secrets Revealed and it will be using traditional family history research and DNA testing to solve family history mysteries. According to its promotional blurb, people from across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England came to My Family Secrets Revealed’s team of genealogists in the hope of proving, disproving or finally solving mysteries, questions or rumours that have circulated through their families for years.

From learning life-changing details about evasive ancestors, and finding mysterious traces of DNA from regions never expected, to searching for family connections to George Clooney and Elton John, every story on the show taps into our human curiosity about what came before us and who our ancestors were.

The new-format show is the brain child of the Big Mountain team who brought The Genealogy Roadshow to Ireland a few years back. Ancestry is a partner and co-funder. My Family Secrets Revealed will be hosted by Sian Williams and features some of Britain’s respected historians and genealogists.

The programme will air daily at 1:05pm on Channel 4.

See Ancestry Blog for more information.

List of Church of Ireland Parish Registers revised

The colour-coded List of Church of Ireland Parish Registers has been updated and revised.

All 1,131 parish handlists are now linked to the list, allowing researchers to find out more about the history of the parish of their ancestors, the survival or otherwise of its registers, and other miscellaneous information about the local congregation.

New materials transferred to the Representative Church Body Library during 2018 is also accounted for in the revised List.

You can download the List free of charge from the RCB Library here.

A sample from the List

Irish genealogy and history events, 3-16 December

Monday 3 December: Delayed (11am) opening in all NLI sites, plus NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed all day. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Delayed opening due to staff development meeting. On-going Monday closures are facilitating extensive redevelopment of the premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operate as normal. Details.

Monday 3 to Friday 7 December, inclusive: Annual Media Preview of archives of Government Departments. The Reading Room of the National Archives of Ireland will be closed to the public. Only members of the press will be given access. Bishops Street, Dublin 8.

Monday 3 December: Christmas Social. Host: Irish Genealogical Research Society, Ireland Branch. Venue: Café en Seine, 40 Dawson St, Dublin 2. All welcome to drop in for some genealogy chat. From 6pm.

Tuesday 4 December: Art, artifacts and old buildings in Dublin and Wicklow, with Peter Pearson. Host: Kilmacanogue History Society. Venue: Glenview Hotel, Glen of the Downs, Co Wicklow. 8pm. Members €3 / Non-members €4. All welcome.

Tuesday 4 December: A demon in human shape – Murder in Famine Ireland, with Dr Ciaran Reilly. Host: South East Galway Archaeological and Historical Society. Venue: Irish Workhouse Centre, St Brigids Rd, Portumna, Co Galway. 8pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 4 December: From ballots to bullets — Ireland 1918-1919, a History Ireland Hedge School. Host: History Ireland magazine and NLI, in conjunction with exhibition in the National Photgraphic Archive, Temple Bar. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Editor Tommy Graham talks to Liz Gillis, Brian Hanley and Niamh Puirséil. 7pm. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 5 December: Reflections on 1798: Battlefields, Graves and Books, with Dr Gavin Hughes. Host and venue: Linen Hall Library, 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast BT1 5GB. 6pm. £5. Tickets and details.

Friday 7 December: National Library's Main Reading Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Closure to facilitate the annual final of the Poetry Aloud competition. All other National Library services, including the Manuscripts Reading Room, will be open as normal.

Friday 7 December: ‘Home for Christmas’: John Francis O’Reilly and John Kenny, the last German agents to ‘drop in’, with Anthony Kinsella. Host: Military History Society of Ireland. Venue: Griffith College, South Circular Road, Dublin 8. Non-members very welcome. 8pm.

Monday 10 December: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed all day. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are facilitating extensive redevelopment of the premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operate as normal. Details.

Monday 10 December: The Widow's Tale, with Dawn Klos. Host: More Tales of Medieval Dublin lecture series. Venue: Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council, Wood Quay, Dublin 8. Admission free. All welcome. 1:05 - 1:50pm.

Tuesday 11 December: Genealogy as a contribution to Local History, with Billy Saunderson. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: Dun Laoghaire Further Education Institute, Cumberland Street, Dun Laoghaire. 8.00pm. All welcome. €3.

Wednesday 12 December: A taste of Galway's past, a celebration of the county's rich food heritage. Lectures, short films, food demonstrations, vintage farm machinery, craft making and more. Free. Host: Galway County Council Heritage Office, Irish Workhouse Centre and other local groups. Venue: Claregalway Castle, Claregalway, Co Galway. 11am to 4pm.

Thursday 13 December: Using Family and Local History Resources Online, a practical workshop that starts with an orientation tour of PRONI and is followed by an introduction to searching resources online. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 11am to 1pm. Free, but space is limited so booking is essential. Details

Thursday 13 December: The history of Capard House in Slieve Bloom, with Ciarán Reilly. Host. Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Offaly History Centre, Bury Quay, Tullamore, Co Offaly. Lecture followed by Christmas refreshments. 8pm.

Friday 14 December: Early closing at the Representative Church Body Library (RCBL) in Churchtown, Dublin.  Library and Archive will close at Noon.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: end Nov. update

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives has been updated with the latest volunteer donations, as below:

CLARE Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kilmacreehy (Old) Cemetery (near Liscannor)
The Hill Graveyard, Ogonnelloe

CORK Genealogy Archives - Census
Kingwilliamstown Crown Estate Census, 24 Sep 1834

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Ardara, Church of the Holy Family (R.C.) Graveyard (Additional)

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Mary's Cathedral, Limerick City - Plaques

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Aughaval Part 5, Westport

MONAGHAN & FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Clones Parish Registers, Burials in Magheraveely, 1822-1829
Clones Parish Registers, Clones Burials 1851-1900

OFFALY/KINGS Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Baptisms from Parish of Balliboy & Killoughy (R.C.) 1821

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Fethard Parish Baptisms - 1810

WATERFORD Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Butlerstown Cemetery R.C. (A-C) & (D-G)