NLI Genealogy Lectures

rhapsody

The National Library are holding a set of lectures again this year, details here:
http://www.nli.ie/en/list/current-events.aspx

I've found them useful in the past, though I see they're only 20 minutes this time followed by Q & A of unknown duration. Maybe it'll be better this way i.e. dealing with people's queries for most of the session. On the other hand, I saw speakers get bogged down with one person's question at other lectures and it was not useful for the rest of us! I'll still head along to a few this year if I can.

Jellybaby1

I'll be there at a few of them.

pinkypinky

The one I did last year was talk for 30 mins, questions for about 15. They're all designed to fit into a lunch break, so they'll probably still be 40/45 mins total. It's a challenge to make sure everyone gets their chance to ask a question!

convert

I've been to a few of them in the past and they've been quite good, especially if you're new to research or need to know where to find something. Worth going to if you've a free lunch hour.

Coolnabacky1873

Anyone gone to the lunchtime lectures so far? Learn something new that you would like to share with the rest of us?

VicWynne

I've managed to get to a few so far...
Lorna Moloney,Merriman Research, The Genealogy of Gaelic clans: sources records and evidence-11th to 17th century
Interesting for the sake of it rancher than helpful for my own research.

Aoife O’Connor, Author, Yesterday’s Children: Discover your ancestor’s childhood.
Some fascinating insights into how little is recorded about children as children - it's mainly poor law and institutional records which paint a dim picture... Remember if someone when into a reformatory they had to spend 14 days in prison first so check the prison registers.

Else Churchill, Society of Genealogists, The exile of Erin, researching the poor Irish in Victorian London
Lots of really useful tips in this one - people were over and back to England a lot more than you might think so looking in the Poor Law union returns and the UK census' might help.

Jacinta Prunty, N.U.I Maynooth, Did you come from Dublin dear? Understanding Dublin city through maps
She spoke about how useful maps are to see where people came form & how they lived. Also spoke about slum clearances in Dublin

Rhona Murray, Ancestry.com, using Ancestry.com to trace your family History.
Some hints and tips about using the advanced search to narrow down the collections to the ones you want. Also using the 'card catalogue'

John Mc Tierney, Eachtra Archaeological Projects, Reading Headstones primary sources carved in stone
The main tip I got from this was to bring a powerful lamp/torch. Also to cut ivy at the roots and come back two weeks later to peel it off. Use historicgraves.com It's got the graves that they've processed/recorded and some guides on doing it yourself.

Ian Tester, British Newspaper Archive, Digitising Irish newspapers: how we bring Ireland’s past stories back to life.
Lots of good news about how they're digitising Irish titles and they'll be up in the next 6-9 months. They're trying to get a publication per county. Also a reminder that local news travelled far and that an interesting/scandalous story could be reported in London or elsewhere, not just the area it happened in.

I'm hoping to get to some next week, though they'll probably be packed due to it being heritage week.

Hope this helps.
Vic

conorh91

Thanks for the heads-up on this.

What a great idea by the NLI. Would love an ongoing lunchtime lecture series, on anything at all.

Jellybaby1

Do you think they should have more than one per day? I met an elderly gentleman at one of the lectures and he had to travel a fair distance to get to the NLI and he was having to keep coming in day after day. Just wondered if they could maybe hold two each day instead of one. Might not work for folk nipping in during their lunch hour though. Hard to please us all I suppose.

pinkypinky

Well, I don't work in the city centre, so none of them suit me!
Last year they just did Tuesdays and Thursdays over 2 months, which possibly worked better.

CeannRua

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Do you think they should have more than one per day? I met an elderly gentleman at one of the lectures and he had to travel a fair distance to get to the NLI and he was having to keep coming in day after day. Just wondered if they could maybe hold two each day instead of one. Might not work for folk nipping in during their lunch hour though. Hard to please us all I suppose.

Or they could record them for Youtube. PRONI does this. I haven't seen it noted that the NLI does the same?

Jellybaby1

CeannRua wrote: »

Or they could record them for Youtube. PRONI does this. I haven't seen it noted that the NLI does the same?

Brilliant idea! NLI take note! On the other hand, they usually have so much technical problems during those lectures I wonder if they could get a video right.

CeannRua

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Brilliant idea! NLI take note! On the other hand, they usually have so much technical problems during those lectures I wonder if they could get a video right.

What kind of technical issues? Projector problems?

Jellybaby1

Yep, always the powerpoint gives up the ghost and they have to send out for someone who is on friendly terms with the equipment. Someone goes out to get someone to fix the problem, they eventually arrive, fix the problem, leave the room, ten minutes later it happens again, someone goes out to get someone to fix the problem.........etc. It happened a few times during the one lecture I got to this year, it happened last year too. Maybe I was just unlucky to be at those lectures. A tad irritating.

Coolnabacky1873

I went to the Irish DNA Atlas talk today at the NLI. Though I would post a few notes. They are from memory so bear with me!

The Irish DNA Atlas project is a collaboration between the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). They have recruited--and want to continue doing so--people whose eight great-grandparents were all born within a 30km radius. The aim of this study is to show where in Ireland genetic signatures are more likely to be found based on these localised peoples.

To date, 177 people fit the criteria and have been tested. The project is ongoing for as long as they can get funding from Science Foundation Ireland. Some areas of the country are not covered at all yet, parts of: county Limerick, Galway/Mayo, Cavan. The average year of birth of the great-grandparents that have formed part of the study is 1848.

There was also a very interesting section on Travellers. They have tested the DNA of 40 Travellers and there does seem to be a genetic difference between them and non-travellers; it arose in the 1300s. However, at this stage they are unsure if this is primarily due to true genetic difference or consanguinity.

90% of all Irish men are descended from one man who lived between 4.5 and 5.5 thousands years ago.

pinkypinky

Fascinating.

I have 6/8 from Dublin. Grr.

montgo

They are still looking for volunteers for the Irish Atlas DNA project. The 30klm limit has been extended to 50klms.

Has anyone here joined the project?

pinkypinky

I mildly condemn my one non-Dublin grandmother's parents for not coming to Dublin to have her!

pedroeibar1

pinkypinky wrote: »

I mildly condemn my one non-Dublin grandmother's parents for not coming to Dublin to have her!

Initially I too was disappointed that there was not one for everyone in the audience. However, a brief moment of reflection and I was delighted….. Imagine what the gene pool would be like if all eight of my greatgrandparents hailed from within an ass's roar of each other! I might have ended up sitting on a porch and playing the banjo to visiting canoeists! Condemn them not!

tabbey

Most of us Dubliners are mongrels, there are those of us who know that, and those who have yet to discover it. Before taking up family history, I assumed that I was half Dublin, but my Dublin ancestors are actually from other counties.
However, I have also discovered that some of my provincial ancestors had been in Dublin two centuries ago, before settling in rural Ireland.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of people from the country whose ancestors habitually stayed in much the same area, many marrying fourth and fifth cousins much of the time. These latter people are the ones needed for the GSI / RCSI DNA Atlas project.
Therefore if you have country cousins, especially in Limerick, please encourage them to participate. You would be doing us all a favour, indeed serving your country, by doing so.

montgo

tabbey wrote: »

Therefore if you have country cousins, especially in Limerick, please encourage them to participate. You would be doing us all a favour, indeed serving your country, by doing so.

Lots of cousins down in the Limerick area!
:)