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Last year, we had a great line-up of speakers and topics for GGI2017 . The 3-day event (20-22 Oct 2017) had the largest audiences yet, but as the lecture area was in the main hall of the exhibition centre, the sound quality of the recordings of the lectures was less than optimal. Nevertheless, with a bit of technical massaging, the audio has been manipulated to be as good as it can possibly be and on some of the videos it is reasonably okay (despite the background noise). The entire collection of GGI2017 videos is now online All of the videos (15 in total) are going online en masse today (11 Oct 2018) and you can view them on the Genetic Genealogy Ireland YouTube Channel . For ease of reference, here is a list of the videos. To view a lecture, simply click on the speaker's name. Academic Topics Prof Gisli Palsson ... Icelandic Roots & Identities: genealogies, DNA, & personal names Prof Hannes Schroeder ... The Genetics of the TransAtlantic Slave Trade Prof Dan Bradley ....

Another successful conference! And our largest audiences yet - it seems that the interest in genetic genealogy just gets bigger each year. DNA has certainly revived traditional genealogy and is attracting a whole new generation to this fascinating hobby. We had much larger audiences in the DNA Lectures than attended the traditional genealogy lectures. A big thank you to the entire team at FamilyTreeDNA for yet again sponsoring the activities of the international genetic genealogy community. Without their support we would not be here. As far as genetic genealogy is concerned, FTDNA  has put the "citizen" into "citizen science". Packed audience at GGI2017 - our largest yet. Up to 150 at each talk. And another big thank you has to go to all the ISOGG volunteers on the FTDNA stand and to our wonderful array of speakers this year. Many of the talks were live-streamed on Facebook thanks to Gerard Corcoran, our technical wizard, and links to each of them are included bel...

The table below, summarising this years DNA Lecture schedule, only gives you a tantalising taste of what is to come. But have a read of the descriptions of each of the talks below and you will truly appreciate what a great line-up of speakers and topics we have for you this year! The Speaker Profiles for each of the presenters can be accessed via the Speaker Profiles page and give biographical information as well as further links & resources associated with each of the speakers and their particular topics. Bookmark this page if you are coming to the conference so you can refer to it during the day. The DNA Lecture schedule in a nutshell (click to enlarge) Friday 20 th October 11.15 - Introducing DNA for family research Ann Marie Coghlan , ISOGG, IRL Why should we add DNA to our personal genealogy toolkit? Ann Marie explains the basics of DNA testing and how we can use genetic genealogy research in understanding not only our own personal family history but also our community histo...

The theme for this year's DNA Lecture schedule at Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2017 focuses on "Connecting with our Roots", whether they be in Ireland, in Europe, or beyond. There have been several seminal pieces of work in this regard that are particularly relevant to this year's theme, including the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland's research on the Irish Traveller's and the Irish DNA Atlas project. The latter promises to raise questions about our distant Irish roots that may up-end many the theories about who we are and where we came from. Click to enlarge Connecting with our roots extends beyond Ireland to include the DNA of Ancient Europeans (Eppie Jones, Trinity College Dublin) as well as an associated presentation from Prof. Dan Bradley. And of particular interest will be the incredible work that Iceland has done on genotyping virtually the entire population of the country (Prof Gisli Palsson), the power of mitochondrial DNA for Swedish research (Peter...

Once again, Gerard Corcoran (ISOGG Ireland Representative) has organised a fantastic agenda for our traditional ISOGG Day Out on the Monday after the conference (i.e. Monday Oct 23rd). This year we are visiting the two major universities in Dublin - Trinity College & University College. The agenda includes tours of their respective DNA Laboratories as well as the Irish Folklore Commission and some Ancient Irish Manuscripts. Places are limited to only 20 people and the GGI2017 speakers and volunteers on the FTDNA stand get first pick. Any places left available after that will be available on a first-come first served basis to ISOGG members. If you would like to be considered for a place among the Lucky 20, please leave your details in the comments section below. There may be some future changes to the agenda (due to unforeseen circumstances) but such changes are not currently anticipated. Trinity College Dublin - Campus Visit 9:00 Assemble at the Front Gates (position 2, on the le...

Once again, our sponsor for this year's Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference is FamilyTreeDNA. Max & Bennett at FTDNA have sponsored our conference since its inception and have been keen supporters of citizen science since they first launched the company back in 2000. FTDNA are the only company that has created an infrastructure for the running of DNA Projects by ordinary "citizen scientists" like you and me. Without this crowd-sourcing initiative, citizen science would never have taken off in the way that it has over these past 15 years or so. Bennett Greenspan & Max Blankfeld, founders of FTDNA FamilyTreeDNA is based in Houston, where Hurricane Harvey devastated the city and surrounding areas. The clean-up after Harvey is going to take months and years. Luckily, FTDNA themselves were not too badly affected but several of their employees did suffer from the after-effects of the hurricane. Our hearts go out to them and we wish them continuing support. Max and Ben...

The logo for GGI2017 is today revealed to the universe. It is based on a map of the world by Gerard van Schagen , a Dutch engraver who lived from 1642 to 1724. His world atlas of 1689 was produced using copper engraving and consists of four views of the globe, including views of the north and south poles. Map is in public domain and sourced from WikiMedia Commons Ireland is located close to the centre of the map. Five arrows emanate from the island and travel to Iceland, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia. These locations will feature prominently in some of the talks at this year's conference:  Gisli Palsson  will discuss the Book of Icelanders; Hannes Schroeder will discuss the TransAtlantic Slave Trade; several presenters will be bringing an American perspective to proceedings ( Roberta Estes , Dave Vance), whilst others hail from Scandinavia ( Peter Sjöland , Hannes Schroeder) and Australasia ( Donna Rutherford ). The range of topics and presenters serves t...

The line-up of speakers for Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2017 were announced today. This is the fifth year of the annual genetic genealogy conference and the topics included in this year's series of DNA Lectures illustrates how this new science is continuing to evolve and develop at quite an amazing rate. There are many new speakers at this year's conference, and this in itself will keep it fresh and engaging. Each day will start off with an overview of the basics of DNA testing and how it can help your genealogical research. This year we welcome two new speakers to this slot - Ann Marie Coghlan from the Cork Genealogical Society and Donna Rutherford, who runs the Facebook group " DNA help for Genealogy ". They will join Michelle Leonard who wowed audiences last year with her wonderfully straightforward and easy to understand presentation on how DNA can help your family tree research. Now that DNA testing is becoming more commonplace, many more people need help interp...

The dates for Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2017 are 20th to 22nd October 2017 (Friday to Sunday) ... so be sure to put those dates in your diary. As always we will have a fantastic lineup of speakers and a few surprises! Another couple of dates for your diary are Friday-Saturday 16th-17th Feb 2018, because that is when Back to Our Past will be launching at The Titanic Centre in Belfast for what should hopefully become an annual event. Genetic Genealogy Ireland hopes to have a presence there also, bringing you an array of speakers with a focus on the genetic genealogy of the north of Ireland. Things just continue to get bigger and better! Maurice Gleeson March 2017 The Latest News on Back to Our Past View this email in your browser Back to Our Past returns to the RDS, Dublin and is coming to the Titanic, Belfast! Back to Our Past in the RDS  in October has grown over the years into the world's pre-emient event for showcasing Ireland's past, heritage and traditions, while also prov...