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Martin Curley is organising a 1-day conference on genetic genealogy on May 5th in Mountbellew, Co. Galway (9.30-15.30). The admission fee of 10 euro includes a light lunch. A local tour is available after the conference. The agenda for the conference is below, and includes introductory talks as well as a presentation on DNA options in relation to the Tuam Mothers & Babies Home. Venue : The conference will be held in Holy Rosary College, on the Caltra side of Mountbellew, just a short walk from the square. Coordinates: 53.4695915, -8.4974634. Or simply click on this map here . Parking is available onsite and also close by. Holy Rosary College, Mountbellew There has been good deal of interest generated over the past few weeks and the Heritage Office in Galway County has helped promote the conference. On the day there will be AV and breakout rooms with IT facilities for the workshops. For more information, or for bookings (10 euro admission fee), please contact Martin Curley ...

Last year a group of us within the ISOGG Ireland group wrote a 27-page commentary on the proposed Adoption Bill (Information & Tracing) 2016. The Irish government is in the process of passing this legislation into law and our ISOGG Ireland group provided feedback and comments on the proposed legislation in June 2017. The entire document can be downloaded for free from the ISOGG Ireland wiki page here ... Media:Adoption_Bill_2016_-_ISOGG_submission.pdf The commentary was sent to Minister Katherine Zappone at the Department of Children & Youth Affairs and to a variety of TDs (Teachta Dála, members of the Irish Parliament) who had previously expressed an interest in adoption policy. I subsequently attended a very constructive one-on-one meeting with officials from the Department, explaining the key points of the commentary and addressing the various questions they had. The Adoption Bill is currently undergoing review and as yet there is no definite date for its enactment. Ka...

Over the course of the next few weeks, the presentations from the DNA Lecture schedule at GGI2018 Belfast will be going up on our YouTube channel . Sound quality is good as we had a dedicated room for the presentations, away from the noise of the main exhibition area. The first of these is the excellent talk by Debbie Kennett on "Mysteries of the Titanic solved by DNA". This was a very poignant presentation given the historic setting of the conference in the Titanic Centre. You can also view this video on YouTube here . These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy). The video presentations from GGI2017 Dublin will be uploaded AFTER the Belfast videos (as the sound needs to be optimised given the background noise in the auditorium which was unfortunately beyond our control). Maurice Gleeson Mar 2018

Our first GGI Conference in Belfast was a great success. There were no technical hitches, the lectures ran smoothly, and the team of ISOGG & NIFHS volunteers attracted over 100 DNA testers during the 2 days of the conference. And more than anything else, it was great fun. We had a lovely bunch of people visiting from Ireland, the UK and the US. One of them was Linda Horton and below she gives an account of how the trip helped her break down a few Brick Walls in her own family tree. Here is Linda's account of her adventures. Maurice Gleeson Feb 2018 Two Weeks in Ireland for Genealogy by Linda Horton I have just returned from two weeks in Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland focused on genealogy. I participated in the wonderful Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference organized by Maurice Gleeson and held alongside the Back to Our Past genealogy conference in the magnificent Titanic Belfast Centre, February 16-17.  It has been announced that BTOP will return to Dublin October 19-20, ...

Title of Presentation: Raising the Dead Qualifications: 2:1 BA Hons Degree in Modern and Ancient History Further & Adult Education Teaching Certificate Background: A lifelong interest in local history and family history was re-ignited after Martin got his first DNA test in 2012. As the education and development officer of the North of Ireland Family History Society, Martin is never more enthusiastic than when he is talking about the benefits of DNA testing. As one of the administrators of the North of Ireland DNA Project, Martin is keen to promote DNA testing across Ulster and has delivered a series of talks across the province to family history and local history societies as well as educational and religious groups. These talks aim to make DNA research understandable to the average person and to encourage more people to embrace the rewards of DNA testing. How did you get into genealogy? After learning about family trees at primary school I spoke to both my surviving grandparents (...

The Titanic Centre in Belfast sees the first Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference outside of Dublin. Running over Friday & Saturday 16-17 February 2018 , the event forms part of Back to Our Past and includes top speakers from the world of genetic genealogy as well as leading academics. Below is the final lecture schedule for GGI2018 Belfast. For ease of reference the topics are colour-coded into various categories, including Beginners (yellow), Y-DNA (blue), mitochondrial DNA (pink), autosomal DNA (orange), and ancient DNA (green). Thus the 12 lectures cover a wide range of different subjects. As well as beginner sessions from ISOGG stalwarts Katherine Borges and Linda Magellan , Martin McDowell will discuss the role of the North of Ireland Family History Society in educating its membership about the value of DNA testing and how their 1600-member  DNA Project has made such a huge impact in advancing people's individual genealogical research.   John Cleary and James ...

Genetic Genealogy Ireland has proved so popular that we are now holding it in Belfast as well as in Dublin. And this first time in Belfast will prove to be an event to remember. The Titanic Centre with the Harland & Woolf shipyard in the background (photo courtesy of Christopher Heaney) The DNA Lectures are once again kindly sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and form part of the Back to Our Past genealogy show. This will take place on Friday & Saturday, 16-17th Feb 2018 (10am to 5pm). And the venue for this year's event will be the iconic Titanic Centre, home to the award-winning Titanic exhibition which has fast become a major tourist attraction since it opened in 2012. The main part of the show will be held on the top floor of the Centre (in the Titanic Suite) which is a replica ballroom of the Titanic itself. The DNA Lectures and traditional genealogy lectures will be held in adjoining custom-built lecture theatres with modern audio and projection equipment. The Titanic ballro...