At the EGM on Monday 19 June 2023, the President of AGI, Nicola Morris, announced the election of John Grenham as a Fellow of AGI.
John entered the world of genealogy in 1981 as one of the panel of Genealogical Office researchers. He is a genealogist, writer, journalist, programmer, consultant, speaker and teacher. John was instrumental in setting up the GO Consultation Service, the forerunner of the current Advisory Services in the National Library and National Archives.
John established a genealogy course with the Irish Times and later developed a course with City Colleges, which is now under the AGI banner and operated by AGI members.
Nicola Morris and John Grenham
John Grenham has worked on a multitude of Irish genealogy projects, as project manager and consultant, alongside his own work. John developed and marketed his own genealogical software, “Grenham’s Irish Recordfinder” and ran the Irish Times website from 1998 to 2016. This was the longest-established Irish genealogy web-site and is now part of John’s own website Irish Ancestors.
John Grenham’s work as a programmer fundamentally changed the way Irish genealogists approached their work. John is perhaps best known for his publications, particularly Tracing your Irish Ancestors which was first published in 1992 and now in its 5th edition. Well thumbed copies of this book can be found on the shelves of genealogists in Ireland and around the world.
John’s ‘Irish Roots’ blog , initially on the Irish Times website, but which continues on his own site, has amused and informed followers of Irish genealogy since 2009.
The first genealogist in residence at the Dublin City Library, John was made a fellow of the IGRS in 2007 and the Genealogical Society of Ireland in 2010. John Grenham joined APGI (AGI) in 1988 and served on the Council of AGI from 2007 until 2018, where he was always the voice of reason and calm. He is rightly regarded as the doyen of Irish genealogy.
His work has changed the landscape of Irish genealogy and this election is a well-deserved honour.