The Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) had another highly successful appearance at Back To Our Past, Ireland’s largest annual genealogy event. Our stall was manned by member volunteers from the Ireland Branch who were able not only to help visitors with their genealogy queries but also to tell them about the many benefits of membership of the Society. They were also able to draw their attention to the new online index to The Irish Genealogist, the Society’s journal, which had been launched just days before the show opened, and talk about some of the new materials currently being prepared for upload to the Members’ Area of IrishAncestors.ie
Back To Our Past brought together almost everything the Irish researcher needs under one roof: genealogy products and equipment, book and magazine publishers, family history societies from north and south, database providers, education providers, archival institutions, and numerous opportunities for visitors to receive one-to-one advice and guidance.
There were also three strands of lectures running throughout the three days. Two were sponsored by the Irish Family History Foundation (managers of RootsIreland) and organised by the Association of Professional Genealogists of Ireland, while a third – dedicated to genetic genealogy – was sponsored by Family Tree DNA and organised by the International Society of Genetic Genealogy.
Jill Williams FIGRS gave an excellent lecture about the IGRS on the first day. She explained the history of the Society, and how it was established by highly respected genealogists whose working papers, and much much more, are held by the Library. Her audience was rightly impressed by the volume and depth of our unique holdings. She also talked about the Society’s outreach programme and of two of the research projects run by two members: the Registry of Deeds project and the Early Irish Marriage Index.
Some members of Jill’s audience were among the nearly forty people who signed up for membership at Back To Our Past.
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