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Irish and Scot-Irish Family Research Seminar

When
23 Mar 2013
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Location
Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio street, Indianapolis, IN

Irish and Scots-Irish Family Research Seminar

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Frank and Katrina Basile Theater

Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center

450 West Ohio St. Indianapolis

Fintan Mullan has been Executive Director of Ulster Historical Foundation since 2001. He is a non-executive director of the Irish Family History Foundation; a board member of the Northern Ireland Publications Resource (NIPR), a member of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Readers Forum, and a former non-executive director of the International Society for British Genealogy & Family History. He has spoken widely in the

USA

Canada

, the

Australia

and

New Zealand

Brian Trainor is retired as Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation. He has been with the

Institute of Historical Research in London and lectured for several years at Queen's University, Belfast , before becoming an archivist in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. He was Director of the Public Record Office from 1970 to 1987 when he became Director and then Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the National University of Ireland.

Researching Your Irish

and Scots-Irish Ancestors

8.30-9.00am	Registration and welcome The program starts with a broad overview of Scots-Irish and Irish research. Benefiting beginners and seasoned genealogists alike, it is practical, wide ranging, factual and informative. Using attractive visual aids, it will explore issues such as land divisions, the major collections of records and how to access them. This primer will set the programme up for the day with the sessions coming afterwards looking at some these important sources in greater detail.
9.00-9.40am	Introduction to Irish and Scots-Irish Family History Research (part 1) (includes background to Ulster Historical Foundation, advice before beginning your research, the destruction of records in 1922, the importance of place and administrative divisions in Ireland).
9.50-10.30am	Introduction to Irish and Scots-Irish Family History Research (part 2) (includes an illustrated overview of the major Irish sources, highlighting how such collections can be accessed in Irelandand North America).
10.30-10.45am	Coffee break
10.45-11.35am	Emigration from Irelandto America and the Sources for Its Study The story of the Scots-Irish and their experiences in Irelandand the New Worldare discussed in this presentation. Using a range of documentary evidence, this presentation will touch upon, the causes for migration, push and pull factors, the patterns of migration, the estimated size of the exodus and its implications for the development of American colonial society.
11.40-12.30pm	Records Relating to the Different Churches in Ireland This session explains in some detail the church records available for the main Christian denominations in Ireland: Church of Ireland(Anglican), Presbyterian and Roman Catholic, as well providing an understanding of the differences between the different Protestant denominations. It will also look at the value of annotations found in Catholic Church records which can be of great benefit the family historian.
12.30-1.30pm	Lunch
1.30-2.20pm	Understanding Irish Townlands: The importance of place, identity, and administrative divisions For Americans the vastness of their own country may often make it difficult to comprehend the very local and tightly-knit nature of Irish society and the world of their ancestors. The sense of place in rural Ireland(irrespective of where one lives) is paramount, and gaining an understanding of this uniquely Irish sense of place and location is crucial to being successful in Irish genealogical research. This presentation explores in some detail the different administrative divisions: eg townland, barony, civil and ecclesiastical parish, county, Poor Law Union, District Electoral Division, where they originated, how they relate to each other, and their importance in using the historical records. It reinforces the need for researchers to understand Irish administrative divisions and to become familiar with the locality of one’s ancestors, if one is to be ultimately successful. Thus this subject is not merely of value as a study in its own right, but fundamental in being really successful in Irish family history research research. This presentation can be very useful as part of the introductory sessions.
2.20-2.35pm	Coffee break
2.35-3.20pm	Researching the Farming Community in 18th & 19th Century The documents generated by the management of landed estates are among the most valuable of records for the local and family historian. Until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Ulsterwas a province of landed estates. This talk will identify those estates records of most use to genealogists, such as leases, rentals and maps, as well as considering the significance of landed estates in Ulster.
3.20-4.00pm	Irish and Scots-Irish Research: Not always at the bottom of the pile This presentation looks at the lesser known and more fragmentary sources available for the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as the large though often un-mined resources such as estate records, the Registry of Deeds, wills, and other materials. It draws attention to some quite uniquely and very rich Irish sources, that are not available elsewhere in the British Isles, indeed Europe, and therefore the theme of the lecture is a counterpoint to the rather disparaging remark that some researchers used to use to make: that they had Irish ancestors ‘but I leave that to the bottom of the pile’, based on the erroneous notion that all Irish records were destroyed in 1922, and as such there are few records at which to look. This lecture is the antidote to that attitude, and demonstrates that in some instances Irelandhas quite exceptional and unique sources.
4.00-4.30pm	Question and Answer Session hosted by both speakers

Seminar Fee (Includes free parking, and same-day admission to the Indiana Experience.)

$28 for GSMC and IHS members and $35 for nonmembers.

Optional Lunch: $12 for Potato Bar with all the toppings, including cheese (sauce and shredded), steamed vegetables, onions, sour cream and chili, dessert and beverage.

Registration is online via IHS. or - Call IHS at (317) 232-1882 for more information.

Not a member? Join GSMC now and enjoy the Member rate as well as all of the other
benefits throughout the year.

For information on GSMC, go to www.GenealogyIndy.org

"Preserving The Past, Serving The Present, Promoting The Future"

Wabash Valley Genealogy Society

Based in Vigo County, Terre Haute, Indiana. Serving Clark, Crawford and Edgar Counties in Illinois.

Clay, Greene, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo in Indiana

P.O. Box 7012

Terre Haute, Indiana 47802-7012

Society Email Address: wvgs@inwvgs.org

President: James Kane Email: jjpkane@frontier.com

For other WVGS officers and their contact information click on "Contact" above left.