Happy St. Patrick’s Day (almost)!

The following is information about two magazines devoted to Irish genealogy. One is free and both, I’ve found, present helpful insight.

Irish Roots has been published since 1992. It’s available for a 25 euro subscription (4 issues per year) at http://www.irishrootsmedia.com. “Genealogy is the main focus, but Irish history, culture and news also feature prominently.”

Irish Lives Remembered (http://www.irishlivesremembered.com) is a FREE monthly digital magazine which has been published for 10 months. There is no paper version. The current issue has 86 pages including special sections for researching Tipperary and Australia. When viewing an issue, you can save it to your computer by clicking on PDF download at the bottom of the screen.

On Wednesday March 20, 2013 at 6:30pm, I’ll be presenting my Course III – Irish Name Variations & Search Techniques at the Ogden Farmer’s Library.

On Saturday April 20, 2013, the Rochester Genealogical Society (RGS) will be hosting a full day conference: A Day of British Genealogy Research with Paul Milner. Paul is an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker who has spoken at the major genealogical conferences. Even for those of us without a British line, I expect that we’ll be exposed to valuable tidbits. (Since Ireland was under British rule for a long time, there are many relevant Irish records in British repositories!) Pre-registration is required and full details are at http://nyrgs.org/.

Hi Folks! Hope you had a great summer. The Rochester Irish Festival will be September 7- 9...I'll be there most of the weekend hosting the display for the Rochester Genealogical Society. Lots of good presentations in the afternoon on Saturday & Sunday. (The classes are free, but you have to pay to enter the festival.) I'll be presenting the following:

Saturday, Sep 8, 2012, Course I - Searching US Records for Your Irish Ancestors, 6 pm
Sunday, Sep 9, 2012, Course II - Searching Irish Records for Your Ancestors, 3 pm

There is a full day conference on Irish Family History being offered November 17, 2012 in Toronto. For info see: http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/Irish%20Workshop%202012%20prelim.html

Take Care,
Dennis

Hi Folks! Hope you have a great March and a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Here are my upcoming presentations:

March 7, 2012, Researching Your Irish Ancestors, Ontario County Genealogical Society, 7pm
March 8, 2012, How to Get Ready for 1940, RGS Computer Interest Group, 7pm
March 10, 2012, Googling for Genealogy, Central New York Genealogical Society, 1pm
March 14, 2012, Course II - Searching Irish Records for Your Irish Ancestors, Ogden Farmer's Library, 6:30pm
March 16, 2012, How to Begin Researching Your Irish Ancestry, Irish Studies Conference, St. John Fisher College, 11:15am

Also FYI, there is an Introduction to the Irish Language course being offered by Erin McMahon through the Rochester chapter of the Irish American Cultural Institute which begins March 10th. (The more we know about the history and culture of our ancestors, the “luckier” we’ll be as genealogists.)

If you’re like me and have missed some or all of the genealogy-related tv series, you can watch them online (without commercials!!!) at the following links:

Who Do You Think You Are? http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/video/
Faces of America, http://video.pbs.org/program/1397337072/
History Detectives, http://video.pbs.org/program/1138014438/
PBS Ancestors, http://www.byub.org/ancestors/

Images of the 1940 US Census will be available April 2nd for no charge at http://www.archives.com. Indexing will begin at that time and your help is needed. See http://the1940census.com for details – even a few minutes a day can make a difference.

Take Care,
Dennis

Hi Folks! Hope you had a great holiday. Looking forward to a happy 2012, there are several encouraging signs for those of us interested in Irish genealogy.

There is a growing feeling in Ireland that making it easier for its Diaspora to find their Irish roots will encourage tourism. The thinking is that if more people can identify their ancestors, they will visit their ancestral homes. With the financial trials in Ireland the last few years, enhancing tourism is an important issue. Here’s some examples of initiatives that are under way:

• Ireland Reaching Out Project (http://www.irelandxo.com)
o “The Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO) project is based on a simple idea; instead of waiting for people of Irish descent to trace their roots, we go the other way. Working through voluntary effort at a townland, village and parish level here in Ireland, we identify who left, and trace them and their descendants worldwide, proactively engaging with them and inviting them to become part of an extended “virtual” community with their place of origin.”
o “The national pilot project of Ireland XO was developed in South-East Galway from October 2010 through to July 2011 culminating in a hugely successful inaugural Week of Welcomes event held in the area in late June. The project is now expanding out of South-East Galway to a number of pilot project areas from Donegal to Kerry in preparation for a full national roll-out in 2012/2013.”

• 1926 Irish Census
o The 1901 & 1911 Irish censuses are available (free) at the National Archives site, http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie. These are wonderful resources and many born in the 1830s can be found in the 1901 Census.
o The next census in Ireland after 1911 was taken in 1926, which was the first census for the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland).
o An Irish law declares a 100 year waiting period before a census can be made public. There is effort towards passing legislation to allow the 1926 Census to be made available as soon as possible instead of waiting until 2026. The new Irish government that took over last year was backing this move, but I haven’t heard where this stands.
o Northern Ireland also did a census in 1926, but I don’t know of any initiative to move up its availability.

• Irish Army Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie)
o Historical documents from 1913-1921 will be available soon (~March 2012). This period includes the 1916 Easter Rising and the War of Independence.

• The Gathering 2013 (http://www.gatheringireland.com/ - not much at this site yet)
o “The main focus of The Gathering will be a series of flagship festivals throughout the year, both existing and new, along with special interest spin-off events, designed to showcase Irish arts, food, sports, genealogy, family heritage, learning, science and hospitality. The initiative will be officially launched with The main focus of The Gathering will be a series of flagship festivals throughout the year, both existing and new, along with special interest spin-off events, designed to showcase Irish arts, food, sports, genealogy, family heritage, learning, science and hospitality. The initiative will be officially launched with a number of special events on St. Patrick’s Day.” - http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Ireland-announces-a-global-Irish-homecoming-for-2013-131382033.html

Take Care,
Dennis

Hi folks. Next Tuesday, November 8th, 7pm I'll be giving a talk about Griffith's Valuation at the Irish American Cultural Institute at St. John Fisher College. (Details)

"Griffith's" is a major resource when researching Irish families about the time of the Famine. Irish civil registration began in 1864 (non-Catholic marriages began in 1845). Irish church records can fill the void prior to 1864, but they require knowledge of where your ancestors went to church. Griffith's can help you narrow down the location of your ancestral home.

I'll be giving background info on Sir Richard Griffith and his 40 year project. The "products" of his work will be presented along with which ones are most relevant for genealogy. How to access the major components (at no cost) will be discussed. A detailed handout will be available on my site soon after the presentation.

Resources include:
o Free site: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
o Available at http://www.irishorigins.com (fee), http://www.findmypast.ie  (fee) & ancestry.com
o Reilly, James R. Richard Griffith and His Valuations of Ireland. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000.