On 6 April at Offaly History Centre, Tullamore at 2.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m.

Ireland, 1858. Two brothers were wrongfully hanged for the murder of a local land agent, setting in motion events 50 years on as Ireland fought for independence. This is an emotional telling of the true story of the Cormack brothers, from Loughmore in Ireland, who were hanged in Nenagh jail in 1858. 50 years on their bodies were exhumed and reburied in their home parish of Loughmore where they remain today.

Filmed in Ireland, this is the second film from Blue Socks Entertainment from their ‘Stories from the Famine’ series.  See www.bluesocksentertainment.com

On 27 April at Offaly History Centre, Tullamore at 8.00 p.m.

Book launch of new book by Professor Jeff Kildea on Hugh Mahon: Patriot, Pressman, Politician, Vol. 1, the years from 1857 to 1901

Jeff Kildea is an adjunct professor in Irish Studies at the University of New South Wales. Professor Kildea will give an address on Hugh Mahon. Refreshments will be served.

As a political agitator, journalist, businessman and politician, Hugh Mahon had a varied and fascinating life. Born at Killurin, Offaly, he and his family migrated to America in 1869, but returned to Ireland in 1880 after their American dream failed. He was active in the Land League in County Wexford which led to his arrest and imprisonment with Parnell in 1881, and exile to Australia. As a crusading journalist he exposed corruption and became a thorn in the side of the Forrest government in Western Australia during the 1890s. He was elected to the first Commonwealth parliament in 1901 and served in four Labor ministries, rising to Minister for External Affairs during the First World War. He has the distinction of being the only person expelled from the Commonwealth parliament.

This book, the first part of a two-volume biography of Mahon, spans the period from his birth in 1857 to his election to parliament. Pulling together the many facets of Mahon’s life, it reveals the forces which drove this complex man who was reviled by many for denouncing the British Empire while remaining a hero to those who supported self-determination for Ireland.

Professor Jeff Kildea is an adjunct professor in Irish Studies at the University of New South Wales. In 2014 he held the Keith Cameron Chair of Australian History at University College Dublin. He is the author of Tearing the Fabric: Sectarianism in Australia 1910-1925 (2002); Anzacs and Ireland (2007); and Wartime Australians: Billy Hughes (2008), as well as numerous articles and papers on the Irish in Australia. He is the director of the Irish Anzacs Project at UNSW.

15th Annual Historic Houses Conference will take place in Dublin Castle from 19-21 June 2017.

The Country House Revived? will focus on the survival and revival of historic houses across Ireland, the UK, and Europe in the course of the last fifty years. The conference will be accompanied by a photographic exhibition.

Further details and a list of accommodation are available at http://historicirishhouses.ie/

NEW SEARCH FEATURES on rootsireland.ie

Subscribers can now search using baptismal sponsors’, marriage witnesses’ or burial informants’ names.

Remember our special offer, one third off annual subscriptions, ends on 27 March 2017.

Reminder: We have recently added new Baptismal and Marriage records for Rathangan Catholic parish, Co. Wexford.

Baptisms: 1803 – 1892
Marriages: 1803 – 1806 and 1813 – 1890

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from RootsIreland


One third off a 12 Month Subscription for a limited time in March.*

Get a 12 months subscription with one third off from 6 March to 27 March 2017 inclusive.*

To obtain this offer just go to the following link and login using your existing RootsIreland login details: http://www.rootsireland.ie. If you currently have a subscription, click My Account, My Subscription and Start a New Subscription.

If you have any questions please check our Help section and if this does not provide an answer, then you may contact us or one of the county centres. You can check what is available on our site for each county here.

*Offer applies from 12 midnight Irish time on 6 March to 12 midnight Irish time on 27 March 2017 only. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

The Dublin City Council Libraries and Archives Digital repository has launched an online archive of over 43,000 historic photographs and documents. Users can search documents online by archive, date, and location at no charge.

Photos of events like the Eucharistic Congress and the North Strand Bombing are included, as well as everyday events such as social events and Dublin scenes. The Fáilte Ireland Photographic Collection with images dating from the 1930s onwards of people, places and tourist locations from across Ireland is also available.

The archive includes pictures of old documents and objects, with the oldest document dated to 1757 – of an old planning map of Dublin City.

You can find the archive at http://digital.libraries.dublincity.ie/vital/access/manager/Index

Anon. Pilgrimage to St. McDara’s [Macdara] Island – leaving the Island by currach and gleoiteog [galway hooker], Co. Galway.

Want to discover your Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors?

Many people believe that researching Irish ancestors is impossible because of the destruction of the Public Record Office in 1922. While many records were destroyed, others survived and large collections have come online in recent years.

Join Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt from the Ulster Historical Foundation during their annual U.S.A. lecture tour to learn how to get the most out of Irish resources and records, gain strategies for breaking down brick walls, and grasp important historical context that may help fill in gaps in your research.

Whether you are just beginning your Irish research or have been at it for years, you won’t want to miss these workshops!

Fuller contact details with additional information can be found at: www.ancestryireland.com/northamericantour2017

Friday, 03 March – Phoenix, AZ (9:00am–5:00pm)
Location: Irish Cultural Center, 1106 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Host: The McClelland Library
Web: www.azirish.org/upcoming-ulster-historical-foundation
Tel./e-mail: 602-864-2351, 623-225-6352 (Mobile)
Main Contact: Cindy Patricki – cindy.patricki@azirishlibrary.org

Saturday, 04 March – Phoenix, AZ (9:00am–5:00pm)
Location: Irish Cultural Center, 1106 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Host: The McClelland Library
Web: www.azirish.org/upcoming-ulster-historical-foundation
Tel./e-mail: 602-864-2351 623-225-6352 (Mobile)
Main Contact: Cindy Patricki – cindy.patricki@azirishlibrary.org

Sunday, 05 March – Tacoma, WA (1:00pm–5:00pm)
Location: Pierce County Libraries, Administrative Center Library, 3005 112th St E, Tacoma, WA 98446
Host organisation: Lakewood and South Hill Libraries
Tel/e-mail: 253-548-3425 or 316-300-3383 (mobile)
Register online: www.piercecountylibrary.org/calendar.aspx?id=281
www.facebook.com/events/618976198289299

Tuesday, 07 March – The Hermitage, Nashville, TN (6:00pm–9:00pm)
Location: The Hermitage, 4580 Rachel’s Lane, Nashville, TN 37076
Host: Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage
Web: thehermitage.com/event/exploring-your-scotsirish-genealogy
Tel./e-mail: 615-889-2941, info@thehermitage.com

Thursday, 09 March – Michigan City, IN (9:30am–4:00pm)
Location: Michigan City Public Library, 100 E. 4th Street, Michigan City, IN 46360
Host: Michigan City Public Library
Web: www.mclib.org
Tel./e-mail: 219-873-3049 (call Robin Kohn to register)

Saturday, 11 March – Bentonville, AR (9:00am–4:00pm)
Location: Bentonville Community Center, 1101 SW Citizen’s Circle, Bentonville, AR 72712
Host: Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society
Web: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arnwags, www.facebook.com/groups/nwags
Tel./e-mail: 479-271-6820, genealogy@bentonvillear.com

Sunday, 12 March – York County, PA (1:00pm–5:00pm)
Location: York County History Centery, 250 East Market St, York, PA 17401
Host: South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society
Web: www.scpgs.org/meetings
Tel./e-mail: 717-887-7508, richardkonkel@yahoo.com

Monday, 13 March – Green Bay, WI (3:00pm–8:30pm)
Location: Brown County Library, 515 Pine Street, Green Bay, WI 54301
Host: Brown County Library
Web: www.browncountylibrary.org
Tel./e-mail: 920-448-5815
Main Contact: Sue Lagerman or Mary Jane Herber

Wednesday, 15 March – Fountaindale, IL (9:30am–5:00pm)
Location: Fountaindale Public Library, 300 West Briarcliff Road Bolingbrook, IL 60440
Host: Fountaindale Public Library and Plainfield Public Library
Web: host7.evanced.info/fountaindale/evanced/eventcalendar.asp, www.fountaindale.org
Tel/e-mail: Debra Dudek (main contact) – 630-685-4201 – ddudek@fountaindale.org
Register by phone (630) 685-4176 or Register online for the seminar: http://ow.ly/OLiy308phOz

Thursday, 16 March – Fountaindale, IL (9:30am–4:30pm)
Location: Fountaindale Public Library, 300 West Briarcliff Road Bolingbrook, IL 60440
Host: Fountaindale Public Library and Plainfield Public Library
Web: host7.evanced.info/fountaindale/evanced/eventcalendar.asp, www.fountaindale.org
Tel/e-mail: Debra Dudek (main contact) – 630-685-4201 – ddudek@fountaindale.org
Registration: Free Event! In-person attendance limited to 70 in Main Lecture Room, and 35 in

Friday, 17 March – Richmond, VA (9:00am–12:30pm)
Location: Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219
Programme Title: Irish Ancestry Day (note: the full event runs from 09:00 to 16:00)
Host: Library of Virginia
Web: libraryofvairishancestryday.eventbrite.com, http://www.facebook.com/educationLVA
Tel./e-mail: 804-692-3500 (general number)
Main Contact: Catherine Fitzgerald Wyatt – catherine.wyatt@lva.virginia.gov

Saturday, 18 March – Philadelphia, PA (9:00am-4:30pm)
Location of programme: Brookside Manor, 50 Bustleton Pike, Feasterville, PA, 19053
Host: The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania (GSP)
Web: https://genpa.org/events/
Tel./e-mail: 215-545-0391 email info@genpa.org

Sunday, 19 March – Pittsburgh, PA (9:00am-4:30pm)
Location of programme: Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
Host organisation: Heinz History Center & Westmoreland County Historical Society
Main contact (handling registration): Sierra Green
Tel: 412-454-6361, mobile: 724-456-4769
Email: sgreen@heinzhistorycenter.org

Tuesday, 21 March – Little Rock, AR (6:00pm–9:00pm)
Location: Hillcrest Hall, 1501 Kavanaugh Blvd, Little Rock, AR 72205
Host: Arkansas Genealogical Society, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.
Web: www.butlercenter.org
Tel./e-mail: 501-320-5711
Main Contact: Christopher Stewart – cstewart@cals.org

What better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day itself, than by making a start on your Irish and Scots-Irish ancestral quest. Your Irish genealogy is waiting to be discovered.

With sixty years’ experience of serving Irish people everywhere, let the Ulster Historical Foundation help you discover your family’s story.

From its creation as the Established Church in the second half of the 16th century up to the Court of Probate Act of 1857, the Church of Ireland was responsible for legally administering some aspects of vital life events such as registering marriage bonds and licences for those people who did not want to marry by banns. These were usually registered, but mot always, in the diocese of the bride’s local parish.

Marriage Licence Bonds were an alternative to marriage banns, although both were designed to prevent clandestine marriages. Banns were read in both the bride’s and groom’s parish on three consecutive Sundays to allow anyone knowing a reason that the marriage should not go ahead to come forward. Marriage licence bonds worked slightly differently. They allowed a couple to go to court and pay a sum to sign a witnessed declaration that the marriage was free to go ahead. Before 1858 marriage licence bonds were exclusively handled by the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of Ireland.

These new additions to armagh.rootsireland.ie are the indexes of marriage licence bonds taken through diocesan and prerogative courts across Ireland. Copies were kept by the Public Records Office but many were destroyed in the explosion during the Irish Civil War in 1922. These bonds may offer a rare opportunity to find your Irish ancestors before the 19th century. Dating back as far as 1727 they are an invaluable resource for many family historians.

Each record contains a transcript of the original register. The amount of information varies, but you can find out the following about your County Armagh ancestor: Name, Name of spouse, Year of marriage.

This is an ongoing computerisation project and we have released the records for the surnames beginning with the letters from A-L. These will contain many other marriages for surnames beginning with letters between M-Z if they married someone who surname began with the letters from A-L. Most marriage bonds will appear twice in our records as they were recorded by both married parties surnames.

We hope to complete the outstanding records in the near future; however, we offer a manual search service for these non computerised records for a nominal fee and full details can be obtained contacting Armagh.Ancestry@armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk

Just added to www.wexford.rootsireland.ie are the transcripts of the registers of the Catholic parish Rathangan, Co. Wexford:

Baptisms: 1803 – 1892
Marriages: 1803 – 1806 and 1813 – 1890

The Capuchin Annual was published by the Irish Capuchin Franciscans from 1930 until 1977. Although its readership was predominately Irish, its circulation was international as it was frequently sent to Irish emigrants particularly in North America and in Australia. It was a journal unique in Irish publishing containing many literary, historical, photographic, theological, biographical and artistic articles. It claimed a readership of 25,000 worldwide at the height of its success in the 1950s.
Many Irish writers, artists and educators who later rose to prominence such as Benedict Kiely, Pearse Hutchinson, Francis Stuart, Daniel Corkery, Francis MacManus, Richard J. King, Thomas MacGreevey and Augustine Martin received their first opportunities to publish with the Annual.

Throughout its publication run it maintained a very high quality of contributions by leading politicians and writers. The Annual frequently reflected a very strong nationalistic theme. The 1942 and 1966 editions of The Capuchin Annual are particularly well-known as they contained detailed articles, profusely illustrated, on the 1916 Rising. The complete collection of The Capuchin Annual is now being made freely available online solely for scholarly research at www.capuchinfranciscans.ie/capuchin-annual-1930-1977

In March of this year we produced an e-publication The Family Histories of the Seven Signatories of the Proclamation as our contribution to the commemoration of the 1916 Rising.

We are delighted to announce that it is now available to purchase as a book. Thanks are due to Kildare County Council and Merrion Press/Irish Academic Press for supporting the book and ensuring it will be there for posterity.

This book would be a lovely Christmas present. It is available from Merrion Press and bookshops including Hodges Figgis, Eason’s, Dubray Books, Barker & Jones (Naas), Farrell & Nephew (Newbridge), and O’Mahony’s.

The Proclamation of the Irish Republic is the most significant document in Irish history. The credo contained therein, to cherish ‘all of the children of the nation equally’, has come to define its seven signatories, marking a common bond in their life’s work. Their memory intensely moulded by their political activities, history can forget the diverse background from which these seven men came—family histories that touched upon twenty counties and economic environments ranging from extreme poverty to privilege.

The Family Histories of the Seven Signatories is an indispensable genealogical history that uncovers the disparate lives that came together through the will for Irish independence. Thomas Clarke and James Connolly were born in England and Scotland respectively, their families having emigrated in the years after the Great Famine, an experience shared by many generations of Irish people before and since. Thomas McDonagh and Patrick Pearse had immediate English forebears. The signatories’ pasts from before they were born were an essential component in determining their ideas – each firmly their own – of an Irish republic. Their extended histories, fully disclosed within the pages of this book, are a riveting realisation of the complexities that defined nineteenth century Ireland and the lives of the seven signatories whose pasts reveal the many-faceted draw towards rebellion.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Éamonn Ceannt
2. Thomas Clarke
3. James Connolly
4. Seán Mac Diarmada
5. Thomas MacDonagh
6. Patrick Pearse
7. Joseph Plunkett

About the Author
Paul Gorry has had a lifelong interest in family history.  He has worked as a professional genealogist since 1979 and he is a Member of Accredited Genealogists Ireland.  As well as conducting research for clients, his work has involved advice to individuals on their own research, tutoring, lecturing, record editing, conference organising and writing.  He was joint author (with Máire Mac Conghail, MAGI) of Tracing Irish Ancestors (1997).  He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists (London) in 1999 and as a Fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society in 2005.