The first webinar in our Research Like a Pro webinar series was presented yesterday by Susan McKee, an expert in Irish genealogy, and a graduate of our Research Like a Pro study group in the fall of 2023. Born and raised in Dublin, Susan brings a unique perspective to Irish family research, combining her native understanding of Irish culture with professional genealogical expertise. Now residing in Seattle, she serves as a contributing writer for Irish...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Rick Wilson. Rick joined us in Research Like a Pro Study Group 7 and is a skilled researcher and writer. In episode 198, he shared how Y-DNA and autosomal DNA pointed to John Wilson’s origins being in County Fermanagh, Ireland. In this episode he shares how historical context and additional documentary evidence aided his research. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro...
Using both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA (at-DNA) in the previous two blog posts, the ancestral origin of John Wilson (1716-1799) appears to be in an area east of Enniskillen, which is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The purpose of the final blog post is to use documentary evidence to corroborate previous findings and use historical writings to provide rich context to John Wilson’s story of immigration to America. For the documentary portion...
With 2021 coming to a close, we reflect on lessons learned. What progress did we make in our research? What do we want to learn in 2022? One of my favorite things about family history is the opportunity to research in new locations and times – opening up the opportunity for using new records and methodologies. One of the hot topics in the genealogy world is DNA and it comes as no surprise that seven...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about researching in Irish records. Jessica Morgan, AG, joins us again and shares her extensive experience researching Irish ancestors. We discuss the importance of historical context, the record scarcity in Ireland, and what is possible to find in the records that do remain. She also teaches us about Irish jurisdictions and the power of local history. Join us as we go over Irish record types and...
In this series we’ve discussed the important resources to consult for your Irish ancestor in America. At this point, you should hopefully be armed with some specifics about your ancestor, their Irish-born family, and an idea of what province, county, or parish they came from in Ireland. Now, we will cross the Atlantic and examine the resources you will use in Ireland to pinpoint your ancestral family. First, it’s crucial to provide some historical context...
Discovering you have Irish ancestors can be very exciting. Where in Ireland did they come from? Is there a tombstone or an ancestral farm you can visit on your next vacation? Before you start googling, know that accurately tracing an ancestor from America to Ireland isn’t easy; in fact, it’s one of the hardest fields in genealogy. Irish immigrants were often illiterate, and many key records in both America and Ireland have been lost. But...
Diana and Peggy Lauritzen at the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy, 2018 When is the last time you went outside of your genealogical comfort zone and learned something unrelated to your usual research area? One of my favorite sayings is, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” That statement especially holds true for genealogy. Attending the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy last week, I decided to try out some classes in...
You sent off your Ancestry DNA test in the form of a tube of saliva and you just received your results. Are you surprised? Excited? Puzzled? Wondering what to do next? Why not explore your ethnicity results and learn where in the world you come from. The science of DNA can seem daunting to the beginner, so I invite you to join me as I learn about DNA and how to use it for genealogy...
