When 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...
The 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,...
It’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. 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...
APG 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...
In 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...
“For the times they are a changing”, Bob Dylan’s immortal words can be applied to many things, not least genealogical research in the digital world. The greater availability of records online and the surge in global interest in family history over the past decade has meant that never has there...
Births and marriages are the stock in trade of genealogists. We spend our days in dusty archives, extracting information from these documents, seeking to learn more about our ancestors. On this Valentines weekend, it seems like a good time to press the pause button, and reflect on the human stories...
Do you have an ancestor with a popular name? Patrick Byrne from Thurles in county Tipperary or Mary Murphy from Macroom in county Cork. Were they born between 1864 and 1877? Let’s say you have identified their baptismal record in the parish – your Mary Murphy was baptised on the...
Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. Thomas Edison The inventor’s dictum about negative results can usefully be applied to us family historians. Working on the Genealogical Advisory Team at the National Library, I am often struck by the many callers...
Eneclann and Heirsireland, Ireland’s two leading probate genealogy firms, have combined to provide a comprehensive genealogical service to the Irish legal profession. Irish Probate Genealgy partners have over 60 years combined experience legal, title and probate research, which includes: Completing research Identify rightful heirs Preparing required documentation Providing expert testimony at kinship...
Each newsletter we offer you a research tip written by one of our expert researcher’s, in the hope that we can somehow help along your genealogy path. This week Stephen Peirce has written a research tip on…. Researching Families. When researching families we often use evidence from civil certificates to guide our searches. In particular...