Level One Genealogy Research Course (co-sponsored by MGS and IGSI) (Other Programs of Interest)
Online at GoToMeeting
Are you relatively new to researching your family? Or maybe your efforts have been on and off for years and you need help focusing and sorting through all the records and websites. Level One is designed for you. Participants complete assignments as they work on their own family with instructor feedback and research guidance.
Level One is a series of four progressive classes designed to teach important genealogy skills, with three optional "office hours" coaching sessions in between classes to assist students as they progress through the course.
Participants will learn best practices, basic tools and methods, including commonly used record types, helpful forms, record keeping, navigating beneficial websites, research tools and planning. By the end of the course, they will have produced identity profiles, timelines, locality guides, research plans and research results for their chosen projects.
Class dates and times
Four 2 ½ hour online class sessions
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CST (UTC-6)
Instructor: Maria Flynn Conway
Free for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
Maria Flynn Conway, a native of Waterford, Ireland, is a St. Paul, MN based tour operator specializing in Ireland. She will answer basic traveler questions such as when should you go to Ireland, planning an itinerary, transportation, where to stay, what to do before you leave, what to pack, where to eat, and all the other questions you have whether you are planning your own trip or going with a group.
IGSI members can obtain the required Discount code by contacting the IGSI Education Team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org prior to registration.
Saturday, February 5
Focusing Your Genealogy Research (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CST (UTC-6)
Instructors: Shirleen Hoffman and Lois Abromitis Mackin, Ph.D.
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
This webinar will help you develop a solid foundation for your research. First you will learn simple tools, including identity profiles and timelines, to organize what you know and provide a springboard for future investigation. Then Shirleen and Lois will teach you how to use those tools to develop detailed, focused questions that will target your research and make it more efficient and productive.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, February 12
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, March 12
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, March 19
Combining DNA and Traditional Genealogy Techniques for Irish Family Tree Research (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: Maurice Gleeson
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
DNA is a great additional tool for researching your Irish ancestral lines. Join internationally known expert Maurice Gleeson as he explores various ways in which DNA and documentary evidence can work hand in hand to break through your Irish Brick Walls. Topics to be explored include: characterizing each Irish Brick Wall; Irish Naming Convention; ways to grab the low hanging fruit; working with Clusters; Triangulated Segments; triangulating with Y-DNA and mtDNA; and Ancestor Reconstruction.
Various tools will be mentioned along the way including: Shared cM Tool, WATO, autoclusters, etc. And, in addition, we will discuss how to build a simple but dffective Descendancy Chart and Shared DNA Matrix that allows you to see all key matches for a given cluster, from all companies, on a single page.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, April 9
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, May 7
Innovation in Ireland: Creative Resources for Your Irish Research (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: Jen Baldwin
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
Irish genealogy is notoriously difficult, so researchers must apply creative tools and techniques - as well as use creative records - to obtain positive results. Explore a variety of routes through Irish family history and learn more about the collections available on Findmypast and elsewhere.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program. IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, May 14
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, June 4
The Power of Names in Irish Family History (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: David Ouimette
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
Names are the most powerful means of identifying ancestors. In this presentation, we illustrate three name-based techniques for tracing Irish ancestors: name-variant research, cluster genealogy, and surname heat maps. Name-variant research uncovers the numerous ways your Irish ancestral surnames and given names appear in original documents and indexes, thus helping you discover more family records.
Cluster genealogy focuses on researching extended family and Irish neighbors who may have the same origins as your illusive immigrant ancestors. Surname heat maps leverage the idea that your Irish ancestors and their surnames were likely tied to specific parishes over several generations; creating heat maps for multiple surnames reveals where the family names were collocated in Ireland. All three of these techniques capitalize on the power of names in Irish family history.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, June 11
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, July 9
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, July 16
An Overview of Irish History (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: Paul MacCotter
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
Historians estimate that Ireland was first settled by humans about 10,000 years ago. To our knowledge no one has traced their ancestors back that far but…wouldn’t you like to know what was happening in Ireland when your ancestors did live there? Join us as Dr. MacCotter takes us on an overview journey through Irish history. He touches briefly on all the key issues, challenging the many myths and legends and replacing them with the true picture of who are the Irish and what is their history.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, August 6
An Irish Farm History (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: Chris Paton
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
Genealogist Chris Paton will draw together many potential land and vital records resources to tell the story of an Irish family and their farm in County Kilkenny across the 19th and 20th centuries. Using an array of resources (vital records, newspapers, land records, census and military records) he will show how the genealogical narrative of the family was established from the 1820s to the mid-20th century. Along the way he will take the family's and property's story from its humblest of agricultural beginnings, to a dramatic episode of the Irish Civil War, and beyond.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Wednesday, September 14
Turning Dry Facts into Exciting Details (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
7:00 - 8:30 PM CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: Carol Baxter
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
The ancestral facts that seem to us as precious as gold when we discover them, yet can seem dry when incorporated into a family history. How can we make our family histories interesting to our broader family? Some genealogists resort to fictionalizing their histories. However, the broader family usually has little interested in “recreated” scenes or “reimagined” dialogue. They want to know what really happened. So the author’s efforts may have an audience of only one: themselves.
Most genealogists write their family histories in the “encyclopaedia style” because this is the easiest nonfiction writing style for unskilled and skilled writers alike. However, while the dry facts we’ve found are the foundations of our family histories, they should only be used as stepping stones to more interesting information. They should never be the destination in themselves. This webinar provides different strategies for turning these dry facts into exciting narrative.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Monday, September 26 through Saturday, October 8
Ireland Trip (Out & About)
We are scheduled to fly into and out of the DublinAirport, conveniently located approximately 10 km north of Dublin city centre. From the airport we’ll take a motorcoach north to the city of Belfast to check-in to our hotel. Enroute there will be a stop at Monasterboice a fascinating monastic site with a round tower and two high crosses. The site was founded in the 600s by Saint Buite. This is just the beginning of our tour of ‘not so familiar Irish gems’ that are off the path of the tourist trail. We will be traveling counterclockwise around the island, ending up in Dublin 10 days later. We will be staying in Dublin for over a day and a half.
Built into the itinerary are opportunities to spend time researching your Irish ancestors at various libraries and records offices in Belfast and Dublin. The first requirement in doing research, in Ireland, is to get there. If you join us for this trip, you will have made the first step in getting there, the flight over the pond. After reviewing the IGSI webinar from January 15th with Fiona Fitzsimons, Researching Ireland – Searching High and Low, you will be ready to extend your trip for that important ‘in country’ research. You’ll be able to add time before or after the tour to site see or spend quality time doing your research, with the original source documents.
IGSI members: see Ireland Trip web page under Activities for a brochure with details and registration form (you must be logged in to view it).
Saturday, October 8
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, October 15
Irish Property Records: An Overview (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: John Grenham
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
Property leaves traces long after people vanish. This talk looks at historic Irish institutions that recorded property transactions (The Registry of Deeds) and that created property tax records (The Valuation Office).They are two of the oldest intact record-holding institutions in Ireland and both provide (relatively) unbroken chains of evidence reaching back into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The talk outlines their history, the key records they hold and how to interpret them and, most importantly, how to get at them, especially online. Forthcoming developments in both will also be described.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, November 5
Understanding Irish Place Names (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CDT (UTC-5)
Instructor: James Ryan
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
This talk outlines the origins and structure of the names of Irish places and explains the historical reasons for the variations in place names encountered in Irish records, caused by a process of anglicization of Irish or Gaelic place names over a long period. We will also outline the land divisions and places that required naming, and the practices that applied in this process.
It will also show key sources that are available to help in finding currently accepted placenames; and the books and websites available to provide the details of the locations of places; the name variations that applied; and maps of different scales and vintages. For each source the type of information contain ed will be shown, and how these reference sources can be found.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, November 12
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
Saturday, December 3
Searching for the Immigration Records of our Irish Ancestors (Webinars)
GoToWebinar - from the comfort and safety of your own home
10:30 AM - Noon CST (UTC-6)
Instructor: Mary Wickersham
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code sent in member email); $20 for non-members
Millions of U.S. passenger arrival records are available online; even more are not yet indexed from ships’ passenger manifests stored on microfilm at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. How can you tell when your ancestor came to the North America? Searching ship’s manifests and other historical records may provide you with clues about an ancestor’s date and ship of arrival in the U.S. Major resources for finding U.S. (and some Canadian) immigration information will be discussed and listed in the class handout with links to online repositories and helpful online how-to reading materials.
All you need to attend is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, iPad, smartphone, etc.)
Registration will open approximately 90 days before the program.
IGSI members will receive a Discount code via email.
You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org
Saturday, December 10
Irish Saturday ("Irish Saturday")
Hoffman Research Library, MN Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Ste 100
Stop by the library for Irish research help.
Check www.mngs.org on the day you plan to visit, to make sure the library is open. Short-notice closures will be highlighted on their main page.
