Webinar Resources

What if you had a research assistant who could find and analyze and summarize dozens of complex source documents in minutes for you? Today's artificial intelligence (AI) tools make this possible. In this session you'll see real-world cases where the newest crop of AI tools can reliably support your genealogy research, without the debris we sometimes encountered just a year ago: hallucinations, mysterious citations, etc.

 

Mark is a professional genealogist and educator specializing in the use of technology. With extensive executive experience in technology, Mark makes complex tools accessible and productive for genealogists of all skill levels. He co-hosts the Family History AI Show podcast (link) with Steve Little. makingfamilyhistory.com 

MyHeritage is an online subscription resource for family history research with web and mobile platforms, available in dozens of languages. Users can browse/search/save billions of historical records, newspaper entries, and photos documenting their ancestors. In recent years, many different tools have been added relating to record searching, photo enhancement, DNA analysis, and artificial intelligence.

In this 90-minute broadcast Daniel focuses on use of the Library Edition of MyHeritage, and how researchers can best leverage the site's search and filtering tools to identify relevant source records and public trees on the site. He will discuss effective search strategies and introduce us to new and notable tools available to MyHeritage in a library setting. He will briefly describe the additional features available to personal subscribers to the site.

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) archive in Belfast contains millions of historical and genealogical documents that date back centuries. It can be of great value to the genealogist and family historian, and these records are not limited to what we now know as Northern Ireland!

Dave will discuss both online and in-person visit to find essential records of your ancestors. He will provide examples of the records that are available from his own research. Don’t forget, as a researcher, that the place we know as “Ireland” has changed greatly over the centuries, and your crucial records can appear in unexpected places!

Many Irish emigrants sailed to Canada, even those who later settled in the States. Canada was fully part of Great Britain until 1867, along with Ireland, so in many respects it was easier and cheaper for Irish to sail to Canada. Using Janelle’s 2x GGF and 5x GGM as case studies, she will discuss waves of immigration from Ireland, the "push & pull" to Canada, key destinations and Irish settlements.

Where might Great Aunt Sadie’s diary be found today? Where might records of the circuit rider who traversed Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan be located? What repository houses the business records of your ancestor? Where might you find the files of a relative who was working on a lineage society application?

Different strands of Presbyterianism were found in Ireland, so a array of records from those denominations can be confusing. Where can this material can be accessed for research? Records vary: the higher courts of Presbyterianism, individual congregations, as well as personal papers of individual ministers. Whether your ancestors were Covenanters, Seceders, or Non-Subscribers, whether devout or merely nominal, whether they remained in Ireland or emigrated, Dr Roulston can help to navigate and have fruitful research.

Maps have long been used by most genealogists to assist in their research. Using different tools and approaches with these same maps can add context, substance, and an endless supply of exciting ways to enhance your family history. The saga of our access to historic maps spans “space & time” in a way that profiles the field of genealogy itself: from dusty worn treasures in repositories to now digitized versions that offer access and customization IF ONLY you know how! We will demonstrate several ways to incorporate these tools when using maps to detail and explain your research in a creative form."

If any of your family names are common, you have likely faced a blizzard of source records that MIGHT be your ancestor. How to sift, sort, analyze, and make some sense of what you have found?? Chelley will give examples using Irish records to illustrate her process to "separate the wheat from the chaff."

Finding your immigrant's name on a passenger list is exciting, but don’t stop your analysis at the name! In many of these U.S. customs manifests, cryptic abbreviations and number codes jotted on the form reveal important details about an immigrant's experience upon arrival in "Amerika." Liz is a gifted and very popular presenter for Legacy Family Tree Webinars and well known to our local audiences. She also has extensive leadership, editorial, and teaching experience in our region and nationally.

Orphaned as a child, educated at Pembroke College and trained in the law at Middle Temple, William Blackstone (1723-1780) was a barrister, educator, judge and politician whose four-volume Commentaries on the Law of England, first published 1765-1769, became the basis for standard legal education in much of the English-speaking world. Its influence on legal development in such disparate places as Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the United States, as well as within England itself, was far-reaching, and Mr. Blackstone’s common law is a reference work all historical and genealogical researchers often need to consult.

Civil records are the easiest of all Irish records to find and to interpret. They’re the building blocks of your family history, often the first records you will use in research. These records document 180 years of social and government change in Ireland. We'll discuss how you can access them online, or while visiting Ireland. If you can't travel to the Emerald Isle, when might you benefit from hiring a researcher there? Who might you correspond with for local expertise?

Recording no longer available for viewing, at presenter's request.

Artificial intelligence can assist you in analyzing your personal archives, as well as online sources. Whether you need to summarize large documents to easily identify names and relationships, or to develop a "cast of characters" or timeline in complex documents, AI tools can make your research more efficient and effective. Get familiar with terms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and more. We will discuss how to use some of the most powerful AI tools available to genealogists today, such as transcription and translation, being mindful of accuracy and sourcing. We will also explore how the major research websites are providing new tools for us, using related technology.

Recording views free to members - visit Webinar Recordings and click the link provided.

Dr Thomas Finan is a professor of medieval history and archaeology at Saint Louis University is a scholar of medieval Ireland. For over 20 years he has led a "dig" in County Roscommon to examine the site of a medieval castle (of the MacDermot lords of Moylurg), unearthing mysteries of 13th century rural Ireland. A proud descendent of Roscommon Irish, Dr. Finan is also active in several digital projects analyzing collections of medieval genealogical material. Hear and see of the ancient Irish world they are revealing.

From Counties Galway and Mayo, they were some of the poorest in Connemara.On the 11th of June 1880, over thirty families and dozens of single men and women waited by the Galway city docks. Their parish priests had brought them to the city the day before. From County Galway came twenty eight families, including the Currans from Carna in Moyrus civil parish. In their hands were tickets to America. New suits of clothes awaited them onboard the steamship. Their destination was the plains of western Minnesota and a chance to restart their lives on their own 160 acres of farmland near a town called Graceville.

Censuses are the bread and butter of genealogical research. A census enumeration anchors your ancestors in a time and place, but also offers clues to family migrations and family dynamics. Be alert for blended families, clues to migration routes, and nearby relatives. Expect census errors and double enumerations. Make sense of pre-1850 tick marks.

You have reached a point in your research that you can't seem to get beyond. Is it truly a brick wall or… is it a difficulty that might be overcome with more learning and insight, or possibly professional research? Let’s discuss the differences. How might you move forward, or identify a way to do so? This session will help you to distinguish between a true “dead end” and a temporary intermission to reflect on new strategies and tactics. Examples galore will be provided to illustrate key points.

Michael introduces major land and property valuation record sources from 19th-century Ireland, including Tithe Applotment Books, early townland valuations and notebooks compiled as part of the valuation process, Griffith’s Valuation (valuation sheets and corresponding maps), and Revision Books.

An Irishman from Cork, born about 1845, settled in Wisconsin. Learn the records and methods we used to identify six of his eleven siblings in America, then trace the family back to Ireland, where we learned about his other five siblings and his parents.

Understanding the context of your ancestor's departure from Ireland can help you with ideas for finding more information about them.

Information about our Irish ancestors is exploding on the internet. The best websites for Irish research will be explored and analyzed. Landmark additions of Catholic Church records and vital records are presented. Finding aids for further Irish research are assessed and critiqued in this tour of all that is happening with Irish re-sources in cyberspace.

Placename and surname are two of the most important pieces of information for researching Irish family history. Prominent scholar John Grenham returns to explore ways to visualize Irish locations in your record searching by utilizing his newly added map overlays with various record sources: households of surnames in Catholic records, Griffith’s valuation, Irish census records, as well as local records of birth-marriage-deaths. You will learn how the maps were created, and their use and importance to us now in shedding light on Irish ancestral places, surnames, and families.

Understanding the folklore of Ireland is key for researchers to understand the lives of our ancestors. The National Folklore Collection is a record of Ireland’s oral traditions and material culture. It holds one of the largest archival collections of its kind, recognized in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register for its significance in world culture. The collection reveals the texture of daily life in Ireland during the 19th and early 20th Century that we do not find in history books. Fiona will introduce this remarkable collection and show how it will help us to interpret ancestral evidence.

Jen works for findmypast as Research Specialist and North American Content Manager. Her presentation will help you to make the most of the site's resources by learning best practices and seeing different ways to search the site. She is a renowned presenter who will help you to leverage the site to your greatest advantage in your reseaarch. The newest site features will be highlighted. To quote Family Tree Magazine: Findmypast’s core content is for England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, with some coverage of places settled by British Isles emigrants. If you’re researching in these regions, Findmypast is a must-use resource.

Ethnicity estimates from DNA testing companies are intriguing, frustrating, and often misunderstood. As genealogists, we often have a love/hate relationship with them. We love to complain about them but we also reap the benefits of their advertisements' appeal to our cousins perhaps less interested in genealogy than we are. They can be especially helpful to those with a recent unknown ancestor but can also be informative to the rest of us. 

Millions of U.S. passenger arrival records are available online; even more are not yet indexed from ships’ passenger manifests stored on microfilm at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. How can you tell when your ancestor came to the North America? Searching ship’s manifests and other historical records may provide you with clues about an ancestor’s date and ship of arrival in the U.S. Major resources for finding U.S. (and some Canadian) immigration information are discussed and listed in the class handout with links to online repositories and helpful online how-to reading materials.

Are you new to Irish genealogy or perhaps it has been a while since you dug into your Irish family roots? This is the webinar for you! Tom Rice will provide an introduction to the key tools for finding your ancestors in Ireland: most important record types, Irish geographic terms, Irish names, key Irish genealogy websites and books, and much, much more.

Rita Davern is a Minnesota woman who searched for the place and people her grandmother left behind. The quest took her to the Burren: a beautiful, windswept region of County Clare, Ireland. There she found a clan - and its medieval legacy - that were scattered and lost during some of the most difficult centuries in Irish history. 

Free for all to view.  Click on the title to view the webinar (opens in a new browser window). Note we no longer have viewing rights to the film itself.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world - and it's over 4+ billion records are available to you for free! Tom Rice will help you navigate among the FamilySearch website. For beginner or experienced researchers. Find tips and techniques to help fill in the branches on your tree.

For most family history researchers, parish registers provide the earliest direct source of family information, providing evidence of direct links between one generation and the next (baptisms) and one family and another (marriages). These may be the only record of existence for most Irish who lived during the 18th - 19th centuries.