Post Archive by Month

PALACE OF DREAMS  Georgina Scally MAGI In my houseless years during the closing decades of the 20th century, I harboured dreams of owning a thatch cottage.  I was not in the market however for some mock-Tudor replica the likes of which were beginning to appear in forced clusters in dubious locations around the country.  What I wanted was the ‘real deal’, an authentic cottage in the middle of nowhere with a huge fireplace that you could sit in and cook on, and a roof of thatch that I would learn over time to repair myself.  I even had a friend … Read More

Steven Smyrl, a former President of Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI), has been elected a Fellow of the prestigious Society of Genealogists (SoG).  The SoG, founded in 1911, is one of the world’s oldest genealogical organisations.  It has over 11,000 members and its headquarters in London holds what is believed to be the largest specialist genealogical library in Europe.  The honour is a fitting tribute to Steven’s long years of distinguished service to the field of genealogy. His most significant contribution to the wider genealogical community, and to society at large, relates to civil registration in Ireland. He was the driving … Read More

At our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday we were pleased to welcome Gillian Johnson as the newest Affiliate of Accredited Genealogists Ireland.  Gill has been working in genealogy for the past four years, as a researcher for Timeline.  She holds a degree in Local Studies from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and she has a keen interest in social history. Gill is the 16th person to be admitted as an AGI Affiliate since the Affiliate Programme was introduced seven years ago.  Eight of her predecessors have already successfully progressed to gaining credentials as Members of Accredited Genealogists Ireland.  We … Read More

Paul MacCotter MAGI has contributed a paper entitled ‘The origins of the parish in Ireland’ to the latest edition of the  Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. It comprises a history of pastoral care and the parish in Ireland from the seventh century until circa 1300 AD, showing how pastoral care evolved into a parish system against a background of reform movements and the Anglo-Norman invasion and should be of interest to all genealogists, since the medieval parish is the ancestor of the later civil parish, an areal unit of fundamental importance for Irish research.