National Genealogical Society 2015 Conference Reminder

Last October, I wrote about the NGS 2015 conference, which will be held later this month (13-16 May) in St. Louis, Missouri. (click here for original article and full details). This post is a reminder of the Irish genealogy lectures at the conference. 

There will be five lectures/workshops specifically related to Irish genealogy:

Immigration, Thursday (14th), 4pm

A Methodology for Irish Emigration to North America, David Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA. Lacking a location in Ireland to begin research may necessitate learning to use the sources and methodologies for solving the problem with Irish resources. **Live streaming, see link at the end of article for more details**

Immigration & Migration, Friday (15th), 8am

Navigating the Best Online Sources for Irish Research, Donna Moughty. Think you can’t do Irish research because all of the records burned? Although the 1922 fire was devastating, many surviving records are now available online.

Immigration & Migration, Friday, 9:30am

Unpuzzling Ireland’s Church Records, Donna Moughty. No records or burned records? Navigate through the various religious sources to guide you to the origins of your Irish ancestor.

Immigration & Migration, Friday, 11am

Scots-Irish Research, Robert McLaren. Learn who the Scots-Irish are and are not, how to get started, and good sources for research, both online and elsewhere.

Workshop, Saturday (16th), 8-11am

Workshop on Irish Law Libraries, David Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA S409. This workshop will outline the records available in a law library for conducting Irish research; cover the proper source citation methodologies for citing Irish legal records; outline the available web resources and discuss the major libraries in the US and Ireland, including the Smurfit Collection at St. Louis University Library in St. Louis. Two-hour workshop with additional fee of $25.00.

Some of the lectures will be live streamed, see the conference websites for more details. For a full list of lectures, click here to read the conference brochure.

National Genealogical Society Conference 2015

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) 2015 conference will be held in St. Louis, Missouri on 13-16 May. NGS was founded in 1903 and aims to serve and grow the genealogical community by providing education and training, fostering increased quality and standards, and promoting access to and preservation of genealogical records.[1] The yearly NGS conference is probably the one to attend for industry professionals and keen genealogy enthusiasts.

Among many other events and exhibitions, the conference features a large number of lecture 'tracks', with each track having talks that focus on different aspects of the same thematic area. Last week, NGS released the topics and speakers for 2015. There will be five lectures/workshops specifically related to Irish genealogy:

Immigration, Thursday, 4pm

A Methodology for Irish Emigration to North America, David Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA. Lacking a location in Ireland to begin research may necessitate learning to use the sources and methodologies for solving the problem with Irish resources. **Live streaming, see link at the end of article for more details**

Immigration & Migration, Friday, 8am

Navigating the Best Online Sources for Irish Research, Donna Moughty. Think you can’t do Irish research because all of the records burned? Although the 1922 fire was devastating, many surviving records are now available online.

Immigration & Migration, Friday, 9:30am

Unpuzzling Ireland’s Church Records, Donna Moughty. No records or burned records? Navigate through the various religious sources to guide you to the origins of your Irish ancestor.

Immigration & Migration, Friday, 11am

Scots-Irish Research, Robert McLaren. Learn who the Scots-Irish are and are not, how to get started, and good sources for research, both online and elsewhere.

Workshop, Saturday, 8-11am

Workshop on Irish Law Libraries, David Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA S409. This workshop will outline the records available in a law library for conducting Irish research; cover the proper source citation methodologies for citing Irish legal records; outline the available web resources and discuss the major libraries in the US and Ireland, including the Smurfit Collection at St. Louis University Library in St. Louis. Two-hour workshop with additional fee of $25.00.

Some of the lectures will be live streamed, see the conference websites for more details. For a full list of lectures, click here to read the conference brochure.

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[1] National Genealogical Society. About NGS. Year Unknown.
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/about_ngs: accessed 13 November 2014.

Review: Chris O'Donnell On #WDYTYA

This weeks episode of the American version of Who Do You Think You Are focused on the paternal ancestry of actor Chris O'Donnell. With a surname like that I was hopeful that the show might focus on where his ancestors came from in Ireland.

On his tree it was outlined that, along with O'Donnell, he had names such as MacCabe, McEnnis, and McNair. The episode focused on two men, his great-great-grandfather Michael McEnnis, from St. Louis, and an even older ancestor George McNair, from Baltimore. The central theme of the episode was the military service of these two ancestors; McEnnis fought in the Mexican-American War and McNair in the War of 1812.

The smart money would say that Chris O'Donnell's ancestors had links with Ulster and various Scots-Irish immigrants. In the show one document outlined that his McEnnis ancestor was the ninth generation of his family to have lived in the U.S., meaning that the original ancestor came to America sometime in the early 18th or even 17th century. These four surnames can also be linked to Ulster and its various counties; McNair as a branch of the Scottish MacNaughton clan found in Ulster[1], O'Donnell to Donegal[2], McEnnis to Down[3], and MacCabe to Cavan[4].

The 1850 U.S. federal census image for Michael McEnnis that was shown in the show didn't focus on the section that listed his wife Eliza as having been born in Ireland.[5] His mother, also Elizabeth McEnnis, listed as living in the same dwelling, had a number of probable borders born in Ireland. They could possibly be relations from the old country.

No mention was made of any place in Ireland that an ancestor was from. Of course, there could be a number of reasons for this. It might have been omitted for editorial reasons, or maybe it was not discovered. The second reason is quite plausible as finding the Irish place of origin can be difficult, especially if the various branches of O'Donnell's family came to the U.S. in the years before the American Revolutionary War.

Has anyone discovered they are related to Chris O'Donnell, or more importantly when any of your shared Irish ancestors are from?

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[1] MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. 1985. p. 232

[2] MacLysaght, Edward. 1985. p.85 / This would be a common Irish name and McLysaght further outlines that it also has strong associations with Clare and Galway

[3] MacLysaght. 1985. p. 140 / This is probably one of the many versions of the name commonly represented as MacGuinness e.g. McGennis, Magennis etc..

[4] MacLysaght. 1985. p. 32

[5] Familysearch.org, 1850 US Federal Census, St. Louis County, Missouri, population schedule, 6^th Ward, City of St. Louis, page unknown, house number 543, family number 623; McEnnis family, Michael and Eliza McEnnis and Family; digital image, Familysearch.org https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11128-45190-45?cc=1401638&wc=MMY6-7BF:n1654688373: accessed 21 August 2013; LDS microfilm number 443626