Claire Bradley is a Dublin-based genetic genealogist specialising in ancestry from Ireland
I’ve been looking at Christmas traditions in Ireland, both old and new. One of my favourite places to look at old stories is the Schools Collection hosted by Duchas. Did you know that animals have the power of speech on Christmas night? It was news to me but is mentioned in several stories in the…
A second season of the BBC radio programme/podcast The Gift has just come out. Presented and researched by journalist Jenny Kleeman, it’s a show about at home DNA testing and the stories it uncovers. I hoovered up the first season last year and no doubt will do the same with the second. It was well-researched,…
I’m really thrilled to announce that I’ll be back at Rootstech in March 2025 to deliver three in-person talks on Irish subjects including the Virtual Treasury and Obituaries & Death notices. More details in due course! Registration opens on 25th September. Hopefully I’ll get some time at the FamilySearch library too.
Friday 20th September is Culture Night! Culture Night started in 2006 in Dublin but has since grown to a nationwide and international event. The idea is that museums, galleries and other buildings open for the evening and let people visit, often for free. There’s always a great buzz in the city on the evening. Check…
Delighted to see that MyHeritage is increasing its Irish record databases. They’ve uploaded the civil birth registers (1864-1921 for the whole island, and up to 1958 for what is now the Republic of Ireland). Yes, these indexes are already on Ancestry, Findmypast & Irishgenealogy.ie but it’s good to see MH adding to the Irish collection,…
As I write this, I’m still in a snowy Salt Lake City. It’s the day after Rootstech 2024. This was my first visit to the world’s largest genealogy conference, but definitely not the last. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Rootstech is part trade show (a full Expo Hall of stands…
Genealogy social media has been awash in the past couple of weeks about Ancestry.com’s newly launched Pro Tools. Initially, it seemed only to be available in the USA but I was able to buy it a couple of days ago. It was a few different prices but now seems to be fixed. Here’s my review.…
And so we reach the end of another great year in genealogy. Prompted by a recent discussion, I’ve been looking at the Old Age Pension search forms. This collection is held by the National Archives of Ireland. If you’re not familiar with this small record set, let me enlighten you. In 1908, Ireland was still…
I have some upcoming talks both online and in-person. 18th November: Really Useful Family History Show – a workshop webinar dispelling the myth that Irish genealogy is difficult! Observer tickets are still available from the website. All recordings will be available for a short period afterward. 25th November: in-person talk on Irish Family History Society‘s…
We’re well into autumn now in Dublin, the leaves are falling, the evenings are getting darker and we’re anticipating Halloween. Decorated houses are popping up all over my town. According to John Grenham, the surname Death features in Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow. In the 1901 census, 31 unfortunate Deaths lived in a variety of counties,…