Upcoming New York Talks - Manhattan & Long Island

On Saturday, September 20th, I will be visiting the Irish Family History Forum to give two talks: Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City and Advanced Irish Genealogy: Delving Further into Irish Sources.

When I first moved to the U.S. in 2010, I was delighted to find such a large and active Irish genealogy group near New York City. Before relocating, I always tried to make it out to their monthly meetings to hear their expert speaker, share some Irish genealogy news, and learn some piece of info about the Irish in America.

If you can't make that date, I'll be back in the New York area in October. On Saturday the 18th, I'll be speaking at the Genealogy Event. This is on at the National Archives and Records Administration, Bowling Green, Manhattan. It's a three day event, beginning on the Friday. My talk is one of the advanced sessions and is on in Meeting Room 1, from 11:00am to 12:30pm.

Advanced Irish Genealogy: Delving Further into Irish Sources

Irish genealogy has a reputation for being difficult. When a researcher begins to grapple with sources in Ireland, they focus on census, vital (birth, marriage, death), parish register, tax, and criminal/legal records. But what is available when these sources have been exhausted? Are there other records to conducted research in or did the infamous Civil War explosion and fire in 1922 take care of all that?

This advance Irish genealogy talk will outline what other records are available and where you can find them, both online and in an archive. If you have not heard about the Reproductive Loan Funds, Canceled Land Books, Chief Secretary's Office Registered Papers, or George Bassett's county directories, then this talk is for you. 

Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City

The millions of Irish who came to New York in the 19^th century did not make it easy for their descendants to find where they came from in Ireland. If you have already combed through federal and state census records, searched the birth, marriage and death certificates, written away for Church records, and scrutinized the city directories, then this talk is for you.  The talk will firstly cover a number of strategies for tracing Irish ancestors in and around the city. The importance of having a knowledge of social and economic conditions in Ireland before an emigrant left will be discussed. Underutilized record sets that could yield a relevant name, location in Ireland, or pertinent genealogical information will also be outlined. The last section of the talk will be given over to something crucial to all those with Irish ancestors: the numerous record sets and publications that definitively give an Irish place of origin. 

Saturday, 20 September: Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City AND Advanced Irish Genealogy: Delving Further into Irish Sources. Hosted by Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Library, 47 Powell Ave., Bethpage, NY 11714, USA. 10:00am - 12:30pm. Free, no booking required. 

Saturday, 18 October: Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City. The Genealogy Event. Venue: NARA, Alexander Hamilton US Custom House, 1 Bowling Green, New York, NY 10004, USA. 11:00am - 12:30pm. Ticket Purchase required.