Since 2017, I’ve developed a course in Irish Family and Social History in Trinity College, Dublin.
The course gives students a good grounding in sources, research methods and a historical framework to interpret what is being said/ done/ transacted in the source-evidence.
One of the recurring themes in class is ‘what is evidence in family history?’ And how can we collect, organize, analyse, interpret and present it in our research.
Some of the ways the students have devised to showcase their work are simply ingenious.
Here is one such example: a research blog on the Valuation Office records, prepared by Fintan McCarthy, after a recent class in November.
Fintan has used the evidence in the sources to explore how his ancestor, Owen Charles McCarthy, lived. The McCarthy’s lived at 12 Main Street, Market Square in Dunmanway, County Cork.
Fintan has made the blog as visual as possible, and uses photos from the Lawrence Collection, his own drawings done to scale, and other documents.
This is a fine example of how to present your research, so that it’s accessible and interesting to other people.
The course in Irish Family & Social History, at Trinity College, resumes on 29th January 2019.
Telephone inquiries to Tel: 01 896 8589,
http://www.histories-humanities.tcd.ie/shortcourses/
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Fintan McCarthy has a background in design, and works full-time as a Multimedia and Instructional Designer at Trinity Online Services.
In his spare time he researches the genealogy of both parents – McCarthy and Bradbury.
He is Co-Administrator for McCarthy Surname DNA Study. (https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/mccarthy-surname-study/about/background)
Ongoing areas of interest are: from late 17th to 19th century Ireland/England. The social aspects found in the records. McCarthy Clan and clan lands, with a focus on the west Cork branches.
Current area of interest: The Great Irish Famine 1845-1851
By Fiona Fitzsimons
