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Wednesday 28 March 2018

Need Help Finding Your IRISH Ancestors?



Pre-order  your copy of the Irish Issue special Tracing Your Ancestor Series Magazine. The magazine was authored by Dr Maurice Gleeson and will be on sale May 1. Pre-orders are being taken NOW:


Saturday 17 March 2018

Join Us For a Celtic Cruise


Visit your ancestral homeland by sea, just like your ancestors did. Join us May 4 - 16, 2019 to sail around your Celtic homeland. 



Ports of Call:
Dublin (research and consultation opportunities)
Belfast (consultation opportunities)
Glasgow (research at the Mitchell)
Inverness (research at the Highland Archives)
Edinburgh (research at the National Records of Scotland)



Thursday 1 March 2018

Irish ViC Schedule

The schedule for the Irish ViC is available at: https://www.genealogyvic.com/schedule.html

Here's the line up for the day:





9:00 - Fintan Mullan presents Finding 17th Century Families in Ireland 


10:15 - Gillian Hunt presents Using Church Records for Irish Genealogy Research 


11:30 - Fiona Fitzsimons presents Finding Women in the Irish Records 


12:30 - break 


1:00 - Chris Paton presents Using Irish Land Records for Genealogy Research 


2:15 - Maurice Gleeson presents Making Online Resources Work for You

All times are Eastern Time (Toronto/New York)

All presentations will be available for 72 hours after the end of the virtual conference to allow for time zone challenges and to make attending easier for people who are not able to commit to the full day.


RootsTech By the Numbers

#RootsTech is a big deal. A really big deal. How big, you ask? Here are the numbers:



  • 14,200 paid registrations
  • 450 vendors/exhibitors
  • 200 speakers
  • 80 ambassadors
  • 350 classes
  • 50 states represented
  • 42 countries represented
  • 380 computers
  • 182 power strips
  • 8618 ft of cabling
It's  well orchestrated chaos. I'm already looking forward to next year!



MyHeritage Helps Adoptees Reunite with Their Bio Families! For FREE!



This news just came out from MyHeritage and I think it is incredible!

MyHeritage is excited to announce a new pro bono initiative — DNA Quest — to help adoptees and their birth families reunite through DNA testing. 
As part of DNA Quest, we are giving out 15,000 MyHeritage DNA kits — worth more than one million dollars — for free, with free shipping, to eligible participants. 
 
MyHeritage has set up an advisory board of top experts in the fields of genetic genealogy and adoption to guide and support this initiative on a voluntary basis. The advisory board includes: CeCe Moore, founder of The DNA Detectives; Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist; Richard Weiss of DNA Adoption; Richard Hill, DNA Testing Adviser; Katharine Tanya, founder of Adopted.com; Brianne Kirkpatrick, founder of Watershed DNA; Pamela Slaton, investigative genealogist; Leah Larkin, The DNA Geek; and Susan Friel-Williams, Vice President, American Adoption Congress.

Participation is open to adoptees seeking to find their biological family members, or anyone looking for a family member who was placed for adoption. Preference will be given to people who are not able to afford genetic testing, and to those who apply first. The first phase of the initiative is open to U.S. residents, involving adoptions that took place in the U.S. Additional phases may be considered in the future based on the success of the first phase, which begins now. Future phases may include other countries as well as additional circumstances, such as children of sperm donors and non-paternity events.

Adoptees and family members searching for their biological relatives can apply for a free MyHeritage DNA kit at DNAQuest.org through April 30, 2018. Participants will be selected, and their free DNA kits will be shipped to them by the end of May 2018. Results are expected as early as July 2018. The DNA Quest website includes additional information about the initiative, and a detailed section with answers to frequently asked questions.

Those who have already taken a DNA test with another company are invited to upload their DNA data to MyHeritage for free and participate in this initiative as well.
 

Why Oh WHY Am I #NotatRootsTech?


Why? am I #NotatRootsTech? Ok, ok, life circumstances truly didn't allow for me to go this year. But...but... the photos, posts and videos are making me terribly homesick. I so desperately want to be with my people. #RootsTech is a family reunion for genealogists. An annual gathering. A chance to get caught up with each other, to plan new ventures, to CONNECT. 

I am doing my best to enjoy the conference remotely. I am trying to be happy with the ability to be part of the conference from home, in my comfy pajamas. Although I know that if I was in Salt Lake and showed up in my pajamas, my people would accept me the way I am. Heck, I might even start a trend! 

I have been glued to my laptop watching the live stream talks and that is a great way to learn. I am truly grateful for my colleagues who are there and who are sharing their pictures, thoughts, posts and tweets. For the rest of us who are #NotatRootsTech, here is today's line up of talks: https://www.rootstech.org/ I am looking forward to the learning being offered. I hope you are too!

ps: I already have my hotel booked for next year....just 365 sleeps to go...