If you've ever wondered about attending a research conference in Ireland sponsored by the Ulster Historical Foundation (UHF), you'll want to read this guest blog posting by IGSI member Rita McNabb:

I recently participated in the above-mentioned conference (Sep 1 thru Sep 5) in Belfast. 

The week started with an informal social hour the night before the conference started. There were 19 attendees: 17 from US and 2 from England. 

Monday morning started with an intro to the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) by a PRONI administrator, followed by a tour.  A series of workshops were held on the different records available as well as on how to access the records. While PRONI has a public online presence, there are a lot of items only available online at the facility as well as original documents that have not been digitized. We also had a lunchtime workshop each day. 

The Research Conference was held at PRONI with optional side trips to the Ulster Historical Foundation library (I went on this trip), Presbyterian Repository, Newspaper Archives, and the Orange Society repository. While the vast majority of records deal with the nine counties of Ulster, they do have a multitude of records from other parts of Ireland. Apparently when PRONI was set up, they took records from any repositories that offered them. 

As part of the conference, I had submitted family information and what my goals were as a pre-assessment. About a week before the conference was held, I was given a series of suggestions to research before the conference as well as suggested sources of information available at PRONI.  Once we were let loose in the research area, I was able to take a deep dive into my family history. PRONI is the repository for a multitude of private family records - think plantation estates.  Not that any of my ancestors were plantation owners but rather poor Catholic tenant farmers, there were still records to review such as rent books etc. I was able to read documents pertaining to the Lord of Castlesaunderson where my grandfather grew up as a tenant farmer. I got a flavor for the life that the estate owners had -- think yacht trips on the nearby lake and rivers, picnics, parties, etc. So while my ancestors obviously did not enjoy that lifestyle, they were certainly exposed to it -- maybe that is why my grandfather left at the age of 20? 

Workshop was set up so that everybody in the session got individual attention and guidance from the Ulster Historical Foundation researchers. In addition to the three main researchers/ instructors, an additional 5-6 researchers were available each day. My finds included new family lines, various documents related to my family lines (my paternal grandparents both emigrated in the early 1900’s), various land records, and information that gave substance to the time periods I was researching. I had an opportunity to review a contract (late 1700’s) that was substantial in size (think 4 feet by 4 feet); the document was handwritten in perfect script with remnants of wax seals still present. 

There was a fee for the program but as a happy side note, I found out that it also included lunch for five days, three dinners in nice restaurants during the week, and transportation to and from restaurants and hotel as well as the initial social hour.

Overall, I really enjoyed the week, learned a lot, met many fellow genealogy nerds, and was totally exhausted at the end. 

Thanks for sharing your experience, Rita!

Click here to read more about UHF's "Researching Your Irish Ancestors: Assisted Research Programme."