Tipperary Coalmines
The Trace your Ancestors genealogy workshop had a full attendance in The Old School today.
Noreen Maher presented a thought-provoking and informative talk on the best way to go about tracing ancestors. Her practical way of approaching and progressing through the detective work that is needed to find ancestors and put together a family tree was fascinating.
She recommends meeting and talking to living relatives, know what you don’t know, and make full use of online resources many of which are free to use. Discovering ancestors is neither easy nor guaranteed but Noreen assures us you are never finished. More information is regularly being released or put online and DNA information has increased the possibilities of contacting or being contacted by other descendants of your ancestors.
The group was treated to a second expert speaker. MaryAnne Maher generously contributed to the day with an absorbing presentation on the specialised area of Military Research. She uses the same material as Noreen but when someone has been in the military there is usually another trail of records to be searched for and she showed examples including regimental records, widows’ pensions (and an image of a Widow’s Penny from her own home-place) and information about medals. MaryAnne’s research is greatly adding to the knowledge of the heritage of the Slieveardagh Hills.
And finally, Noreen suggests you start your search using family photographs. Her top tip of the day is if you have a box of photographs and a pencil do someone in the not too distant future a favour! Using a PENCIL name the people you recognise on the back of each photograph.
For anyone interested in tracing their ancestors check out the Genealogy page of the Tipperary Coalmines website https://www.tipperarycoalmines.ie/genealogy where Noreen has put together lots of information about tracing your ancestors, including a reading list and on-line resources.
Thank you Noreen and MaryAnne for this excellent workshop ‘How to Trace your Ancestors’.
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