My Top 5 favorite RootsTech Sessions on Irish Genealogy
Now that I’ve had some time to digest the fun of RootsTech, I’ve started going through my playlist and have been watching at least one session every day. I’m on an Irish research streak right now and some of you know that Irish research is something completely new to me (and makes me a little crazy, quite honestly.) RootsTech 2022 was a plethora of information on Irish ancestry, which delighted me. In no particular order, here are my Top 5 favorite RootsTech sessions on Irish research.
My Top 5 favorite RootsTech sessions
#1 – Irish Family History is Easy. Seriously! with Brian Donovan
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/irish-family-history-is-easy-seriously
I knew I would like this one based on the title alone. I like someone who has a good sense of humor about doing difficult things. What I liked about this video was that it explained why Irish research is difficult, what records were lost, and what records are available, all in a short, precise video. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it lately, but my attention span has really gone downhill since the pandemic. Videos less than 30 minutes are my sweet spot. This video is absolutely everything I need to do basic Irish research.
#2 – The Poor in Ireland: Workhouses and Poor Law with Cathie Sherwood
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/the-poor-in-ireland-workhouses-and-poor-law
What I know about Irish history has been learned in drips and drabs over my life. Discovering that I had so many Irish ancestors only recently has caused me to play catch-up on aspects of Irish history and research I don’t know a lot about.
Cathie’s presentation is sobering. Especially when she says, “At the end of the 18th century, it is estimated that over two million people were at near-starvation level in Ireland.” Her description of what life inside a workhouse was like was sad and sickening. The reality really hit home for me on a more personal level than ever before. This was heavy stuff, but an important part of Irish history to understand. She also gave some great resources on where workhouse records can be found.
#3 – Using Irish Land Valuation Records to find your ancestors with Gillian Hunt
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/using-irish-land-valuation-records-to-find-your-ancestors
Because so many of Ireland’s 19th-century census records were lost to fire, it becomes apparent quickly that when you are researching Irish ancestors, you have to find other records to compensate and perhaps give you some similar information. Land records can be a gold mine as Gillian explained. Even though they would only list the head of household, that name could be a lead you didn’t have before. Gillian’s presentation was full of good information on where to find land records and how to search them.
#4 – Making the Most of the British Newspaper Archive with Aoife O Connor
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/making-the-most-of-the-british-newspaper-archive
I love, love, love using newspapers for genealogy research. As someone who has a degree in journalism, I love stepping back in time and seeing how news was reported. So I knew I was going to love this session on the British Newspaper Archive. I’ve never accessed the BNA before, so I learned a lot about what it contained. For Ireland, there are almost 800,000 entries, which can be filtered down by county. Love it! I’m going to sign up for a free trial and see if there is any mention of my Irish ancestors.
#5 – Planning Your Irish Research Trip with David Ryan
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/planning-your-irish-research-trip
I still need to do some research on this side of the world before I take a research trip to Ireland. But it is on my mind more and more and it motivates me to solve a few puzzles so that I can go there soon. The best advice from David? Bring rain gear! Seriously, he talked a good 5 minutes about the rain there and how it can start out sunny and turn to rain quickly. But hearing all his tips, where to research, and how to get around, got me really excited to plan for my first trip.