Close

Rootstech 2024

I am delighted to announce that I’ll be speaking at Rootstech 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m giving 2 lectures: one is on Irish civil records & the second is dissecting an Ancestry hint. Rootstech is largest genealogy convention in the world. Think ComicCon for genies, professional and hobbyists alike. It takes place on…

DNA & me in the press

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a talk during Heritage Week at Fingal Local Studies and Archives. An Irish Times journalist came along and I did a small interview with him beforehand. He stayed to hear all the questions and spoke to some people in the audience about their use of genetic genealogy to…

Heritage Week

Heritage Week runs across the country from 12 – 20 August. Yes, I know that’s more than a week: I didn’t pick the name! I will be doing a DNA talk in Fingal Archives in Swords, Co. Dublin on Thursday 17 August. Space is limited at the venue so booking is essential.

Upcoming Workshops

I’m delighted to announce 2 genealogy workshops during March in conjunction with Fingal Libraries. Many people don’t know where to start with researching their family history. Fingal Libraries has an array of available subscription sites that you can use in all their branches and the local archives. This series of workshops (the same in each…

New Horizons

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been appointed Director of Irish Studies at the International Institute for Genealogical Studies. The Institute has an enormous array of courses for genealogy enthusiasts. I’ll be working to update their Irish content and also help tutor students with Irish ancestry. Their new website is coming at the beginning of…

Podcast

A few weeks ago, I recorded a podcast with Andrew Martin of the Family Histories show. It’s been released today and you can listen to it below or wherever you get your podcasts. Let me know you what you think! I had Covid whilst recording hence the croaky voice – fully recovered now, thank goodness.…

1926 Census release date announced!

It was an ordinary November day. Then came an announcement from Minister Catherine Martin that she was making €5m available to digitise the 1926 census and it will be available online, for free, in April 2026. You can read the full press release here! I’m really hoping they’ll redesign the whole census/genealogy site, which are…

Twitter vs Mastodon

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ll be aware that poor Twitter is in chaos right now. I’ve always loved the medium and it’s been my much-favoured social medium of choice for many years now. It’s where I put most content and first. However, we have to move with the times, and while I’m still…

Quaker Ancestors

I’m giving a talk next Saturday, 9th July for the Irish Genealogical Research Society on Irish Quakers. It’s free and online. You can register here. Some of you will know that I wrote my MA dissertation on Irish Quakers, who are a fascinating and quite distinct community. I’ll sharing some historical insights, talking about their…