Polemical corner
01 June 2015How should we steer the future development of Genealogy/ Family History as an expert discipline? The Genealogical Society of Ireland recently reported on the change of name of one of Ireland’s genealogical groups. Under the headline ‘APGI becomes AGI’ they outlined in forensic detail the various corporate and non-incorporated...
Ireland Reaching Out launch new website
01 June 2015Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO) is a volunteer-based, non-profit initiative which builds vibrant, lasting links between the global Irish Diaspora and parishes of origin in Ireland. Here are some images from the Launch of their new website www.irelandxo.com at Iveagh House last week. Eneclann Directors Fiona Fitzsimons and Brian Donovan. Minister Jimmy...
Behind the scenes in the Genealogy Advisory Service: June 2015
01 June 2015The fun of the genealogy service in the National Library is that we never know in advance who we’ll meet, or what stories we’ll hear. Our job is to listen, to identify verifiable facts and events, and to guide enquirers in their research. The search never ends, because family history...
The search for a birth certificate online.
01 May 2015I have recently been researching a family that lived on Inishbofin, not the island off the Galway coast but a smaller one off the coast of Donegal. I had located the family in the 1901 and 1911 Census and was now interested in finding a birth certificate for one member...
Research confirms just how important the extended family network is in Irish life.
01 May 2015In a recent case I used a cluster of marriage records (church and civil). A close examination of the names of the recorded witnesses – the best man and the brides-maid – opened up the research. At first the witnesses appeared to be unrelated to the bride and groom. A...
British Institute, Salt Lake City, UTAH, 21-25 Sept. An interview with Bruce Durie
01 May 2015Dr Bruce Durie has enjoyed two successful careers in different fields. He began his professional life as a biochemist/ pharmacologist. In 1977 he was awarded the IBRO/ UNESCO Fellowship as ‘Scotland’s most promising young neuroscientist.” In the 90s, he moved into family history, and later completed a doctorate in History...
The Ned Kelly Gang
01 May 2015When news of the Australian Seminar evening in Trinity College on the 20th of May, reached one of our readers, it struck a personal note. Ronald Land is the great-grandnephew of the police officer who was in command at the time of the capture of Ned Kelly, Read his story here. “You all...
Expect the unexpected
01 April 2015The great (frustrating) thing about genealogical research is that just when you think you’ve seen it all, something new crops up. Before joining Eneclann I spent 9 months with the National Archives of Ireland correcting errors in the 1911 Census, submitted as corrections by users of the site. That’s right,...
Electoral registers.
01 March 2015It’s worth celebrating John Ballance’s birthday today. On this very date in 1839 he was born in Antrim to a tenant farmer, Samuel Ballance and Mary Ballance (formerly McNeice), a quaker. John moved to Birmingham as a young man and using the findmypast website for the 1861 Census we can locate him...
As we head towards our national holiday, we think of what makes us Irish
01 March 2015As we head towards our national holiday, we think of what makes us Irish. Central to that would be our love of storytelling. Family stories are a key component in the genealogist’s arsenal. Alas, stories are a double edged sword for us genealogists trying to unravel fact from fiction. The...
An Interview with Melissa Johnson, CG
01 March 2015APG member Melissa Johnson will be leading a track on Elements of Genealogical Writing, Editing, and Publishing, at the 15th annual British Institute in Salt Lake City this September. Fiona Fitzsimons caught up with Melissa for an interview on her life as a genealogist, and to ask her what she is most looking forward to at...
It’s a wise child know’s it’s own father.
01 February 2015In Irish research you will often find clusters of family surnames in places – Bluett in Ballina, county Mayo; Clooney in county Kilkenny; Butterly in county Louth, to name but a few. These are not the names of the Irish clans that ruled territories. Names like these represent more recent...