Let’s celebrate Irish culture! You can attend live or later.

January 27, 2024 - Irish Family History Resources in Ireland's National Folklore Collection

by Fiona Fitzsimons, professional genealogist in Ireland, author and broadcaster
10:30 AM - Noon CST (UTC-6)
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code; $20 for non-members 

Why is it bad luck to take down Christmas decorations before January 6th? This custom came from Irish ancestors. Irish folklore is more than leprechauns, banshees, and other fairies. It is more than legends and stories.

Understanding the folklore of Ireland is key for researchers to understand the lives of our ancestors. The National Folklore Collection is a record of Ireland’s oral traditions and material culture. It holds one of the largest archival collections of its kind, recognized in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register for its significance in world culture. The collection reveals the texture of daily life in Ireland during the 19th and early 20th Century that we do not find in history books. Fiona will introduce this remarkable collection and show how it will help us to interpret ancestral evidence.
 

Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3137418382506908757

The member Discount Code was sent by email and is also posted on the member-only webpage (link).

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February 24 - Mapping Ireland's Records

by John Grenham (www.johngrenham.com), a prominent resource for Irish ancestral research
10:30 AM - Noon CST (UTC-6)
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code); $20 for non-members 

Prominent scholar John Grenham returns to explore ways to visualize Irish locations in your record searching: the households of your surnames in Catholic records, Griffith's valuation, Irish census records, as well as local records of birth-marriage-deaths. How can these records help with your genealogical and local history research? Learn the answer in vivid examples of just how local some names are... and how impossibly widespread others can be. Some of the focus will be on maps of the geographic areas in Ireland used to collect the records. The talk will give some of the technical background involved in creating the maps, but focus on their use and how they shed light on Irish surnames and families.

Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2718018468185157980

The member Discount Code is posted on the member-only webpage (link).

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March 23 - The Mysterious George Hunter

by Joe Hunter, professional genealogist
10:30 AM - Noon CST (UTC-6)
$15 for IGSI members (with Discount Code; $20 for non-members  

Some ancestors can be so elusive that it seems they may have vanished intentionally. Exhaustive research might uncover indirect evidence to compensate for missing and incomplete records in your ancestor’s life. We will consider alternative methods to break down a “brick wall” using indirect evidence.

We will consider the building blocks for approaching a “brick wall” challenge: a concise research hypothesis, plan, and strategy, the value of a timeline, .and solid citations along the way. Carefully consider the standards of the Genealogy Proof Standard: a reasonably exhaustive search, analysis and correlation of relevant evidence, resolution of conflicting evidence, finally arriving at a soundly reasoned and coherently written conclusion.

Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3871474336130768219

The member Discount Code is posted on the member-only webpage (link).

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Save these dates for upcoming webinars in 2024: Registration will open roughly 90 days prior.

• April 20 - Michael Brophy, Shamrocks in Cyberspace: Irish Genealogy Databases
• May 4 -     Mary Wickersham, Migration of the Irish – This will be a hybrid event with a live audience at the Minnesota Genealogy Center
• June 22 – Lois Mackin, PhD, Researching a Mid-Nineteenth-Century Cork Family, from Wisconsin to Ireland – This will be a hybrid event with a live audience at the Minnesota Genealogy Center
• July 20 -       Michael Walsh, Townland Valuations
• August 17 - Paula Stewart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA, Railroad Records and Railroad History: Methods for Tracking
• September 28 - Tom Rice and Kathy Lund, What is a “Brick Wall”? – This will be a hybrid event with a live audience at the Minnesota Genealogy Center

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Facts get recorded. Stories get remembered.
by Lewis Schiff, cited on page 37 by ES Mills & RB Lennon, Tips & Quips for the Family Historian, 2017, Genealogical Publishing Co.

All you need to attend the live program is an internet-connected device with audio capabilities (computer, tablet, or smartphone). Unable to attend at the scheduled time? If you register in advance, we will send you a link to the recording and handout the week following the program for on-demand viewing at your convenience.

Education Team: Trish Little-Taylor & Walt Rothwell
Irish Genealogical Society International
1385 Mendota Heights Road Suite 100
Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 • USA

Visit our website at: www.irishgenealogical.org

You can reach the IGSI Education team at Education@IrishGenealogical.org

Busker photo Newfoundlandguy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons