Claire Bradley is a Dublin-based genealogist specialising in Irish ancestry
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…
This month sees a personal milestone. I’ve been blogging about genealogy for 10 years! I’ve been taking commissioned work for a little longer but the blog is really what helped to build my online presence (along with Twitter). Here’s a word cloud of the most common words on my blog. The blog started out with just…
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…
I’ve launched a YouTube channel. The plan is to have videos on Irish genealogy and DNA testing. I have a few taster videos up already but more will come over the weeks and months. If you have any ideas for content, please do leave a comment. If you enjoy, please do like, share and subscribe!
Back to Our Past returns to the RDS in Ballsbridge, Dublin this weekend. It will feature trade stands from some of the big genealogical organisations – both commercial and state repositories as well as family history societies. I’ll be delivering two talks – my first in-person events for over two years! Saturday 12 noon: Tracing…
Many of you will be aware that I gave a workshop at the recent RootsTech. It was attended by people from all over the world. Unfortunately, it was beset with technical issues. The recording is now online here, but I didn’t get time to answer all the questions during the session. Fortunately, we were able…
A new initiative born from Twitter sees family historians talking about their genealogy origin story using the hashtag #MyGenealogyStory. Here’s mine. I was a child who was interested in the past. I loved history at school. I researched some of my recent ancestors named when choosing my confirmation name. At 12, we were given a…
We’ve only just finished the last term on Monday but Malahide Community School Adult Education is quick off the mark to advertise the next term. My 10-week in-person beginners Irish Genealogy class would make a lovely Christmas gift. It’s a steal at just €110. We start back on 31st January 2022. Details & booking here.…
Despite climate change’s best efforts, the evenings are beginning to draw in.Many people will not be aware that Hallowe’en has its origins in Ireland. It’s changed quite a bit since I was a child in the 1980s but some facets still remain the same. Back then, we dressed up and went to our neighbours’ doors…
It is that time of year. The weather is a teeny bit colder. Conkers are forming on the trees. Kids are going back to school. Adults think about taking an evening course. Well, I just happen to have one. This is my traditional in-person beginner Irish genealogy course in Malahide Community School in beautiful north…