Genealogy.ie,
Ísiltír,
Slatecabin Lane,
Dublin 18, D18DF34,
Ireland

Email: info@genealogy.ie
Website: www.genealogy.ie

Areas of Research: All of Ireland, significant knowledge of Dublin and counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Clare.

Research Speciality: UK and Ireland links, Emigration to Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand, Irish Foreign Birth Registration

Jillian’s journey started in the late 1990s when she took a genealogy course. She built up her skills by working on her family history and then helping family and friends with their research. Jillian’s Hassett and Coleman family roots are predominantly in Munster, which led her to follow their trails in the UK, the USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Puzzles are Jillian’s passion, especially when they involve creative ways of unearthing hidden stories of Irish ancestors. In 2016, Jillian launched Genealogy.ie to help her clients trace their Irish ancestry. Jillian tailors her work to each client’s needs; it can be from tracing one ancestor to verifying a family legend or building a family tree. Genealogy.ie has built up its client base and has many testimonials from clients, including this recent one from a Canadian archivist: “Jillian van Turnhout works with persistency through her research, neglecting no avenue nor effort to find the information needed. She works with efficacity, heart and sensibility. Thank you for your wonderful collaboration that has been so helpful.”

Thanks to her successful career as a Senator (upper house of the Irish parliament), a children’s rights advocate, and an entrepreneur and her years volunteering in community-based organisations such as the Girl Guides, she has a fantastic network of local contacts all over Ireland. Her work has taken her to many places in Ireland and beyond, where her clients’ ancestors started new adventures.

Jillian continues her professional development by attending training courses and webinars, reading up on the latest developments, and, where possible, networking with genealogists at events such as RootsTech Salt Lake City, RootsTech London, and Back to Our Past, Dublin.

Throughout Jillian’s career, in both the private and public sector, her achievements have been recognised, including winning the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award and Politician of the Year Award. Her work has been recognised by the President of France, who awarded her the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite, the second-highest national Order of France, and she is a Fellow of the RCPI.

Jillian is a member of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, the Irish Family History Society and the Society of Genealogists.