Post Archive by Year

IMAGE OF THE MONTH – DECEMBER 2018 Five stay, five go. Ninety years later, cousins say “Hello”. Anne-Marie Smith, M.A.G.I. The photograph above was taken circa 1924 and shows my father Seamus (little boy in front) and his parents/siblings of Abbeyfield, Killester, Dublin. This was the last photograph taken of the family all together as five of them left Ireland for America shortly after. My grandfather had fought in WW1 and was in the British Army. Their daughter Maggie married a man who was a member of the IRA, which made for an interesting conversation at meal times!! Mary, Paddy, … Read More

  On Friday, 7th December, at AGI’s 31st Annual General Meeting in Dublin the election was announced of David McElroy as a Fellow of the Association, recognising his decades’ long contribution to the pursuit and study of Irish genealogy. It was in 2004 that Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) established the status of Fellow of the Association to mark significant contributions by members to the world of Irish genealogy. Since then there have only been five elected, with David now being the sixth. Such contributions come in all shapes and sizes: some are very public, while others can be regarded as … Read More

At last week’s Annual General Meeting Máire Mac Conghail completed three years as President of Accredited Genealogists Ireland. In the accompanying photograph she can be seen congratulating her successor, Joan Sharkey (left), as she begins her first term. The meeting also elected the following officers and other members of Council to serve for the coming year: Nicola Morris was elected to be the new Vice-President; Anne Rodda succeeds Sandra Doble as Hon. Treasurer, whose term of office has ended; and Georgina Scally was re-elected Hon. Secretary. In addition to the four officers, six ordinary members were also elected: Rob Davison, … Read More

Congratulations and welcome to our newest Member, Clare Doyle. Clare is no stranger to the AGI ‘family’ as she has been one of our Affiliates for almost two years. As well as being a genealogist, she is a qualified archivist and she holds an MA in local history. Before becoming an AGI Affiliate, Clare worked as Galway City Council Archivist and as genealogy manager for Ireland Reaching Out. She also contributed in a voluntary capacity to gravestone transcription and the parish history publication in Killererin, Co. Galway. Based near Tuam, Co. Galway, Clare runs her own practice as Wild Atlantic … Read More

Lest we forget Tony Hennessy, M.A.G.I.  Tom Burnell’s book The Waterford War Dead, from his important ‘War Dead’ series, lists some 1138 Waterford men and women who died in WW1.  Probably most well known of those listed is John Condon, the Boy Soldier.  His gravestone at Poelcappele, Belgium, among the most visited of all WWI graves, records his age as just 14 years old when he fell in 1915, making him the youngest British soldier of the Great War to die in battle.  We now know however from the record of his birth at Jenkins Lane in October 1896 and … Read More

A Bridge, a Derailment and a Journey through Time Rosaleen Underwood, M.A.G.I. Because my family moved around quite a bit when I was a child, some of my early memories are quite confused.  My father had a Wanderlust which he probably got from his mother’s family.  Her father was a Scottish sailor who was supposed to have sailed all around the world but didn’t, and all her brothers were sailors too.  My father went to sea a few times and lived in Africa, New Zealand and different parts of England at different stages as well as having lived in several … Read More

The second of the AGI and National Archives of Ireland Autumn lectures took place on Wednesday September 19 and saw Nicola Morris MAGI (standing in for Georgina Scally) deliver a scintillating, amusing and very informative talk on newspapers as a genealogical resource.  A large attendance gave her a rousing reception.

The first episode of the new RTÉ series of Who Do You Think You Are? will be broadcast this Sunday (9 September). The series follows six well-known Irish people exploring their family history. The series had a large input from Accredited Genealogists Ireland, with Nicola Morris, MAGI, directing and co-ordinating all the genealogical research. Nicola also has been involved in several Irish-related episodes of the UK and US versions of WDYTYA? Nicola Morris was responsible for conducting most of the research on this new RTE series, along with the team from her company, Timeline Research. There were additional research contributions … Read More

There was a great turn-out for the first of the AGI and National Archives of Ireland Autumn Lecture series, which kicked off with Sandra Doble MAGI speaking about Church of Ireland records in the NAI at 6pm this evening.  The next lecture will take place in the NAI at 6pm on 19th September with Georgina Scally speaking about newspapers as a source for genealogical research.

Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) present two genealogy lectures in association with the National Archives of Ireland at 6pm on Wednesday 5th September and 6pm on Wednesday 19th September 2018. The lectures are free and will take place in the National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 2. 5th September – Sandra Doble MAGI: Researching your Church of Ireland Ancestors. Sandra takes an in depth look at Church of Ireland records, not just parish registers, revealing the more obscure but equally useful genealogical resources for this denomination.   19th September – Georgina Scally MAGI: Newspapers as a Source for Genealogical Research. … Read More