2025 Ulster Historical Foundation Seminar Tour

Tracing Your Irish and Scots-Irish Ancestors

with Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt
March 6 and 7, 2025, Thursday 4:30pm-8:30pm & Friday 8:30am-12:30pm

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 have come online in recent years.

Join experts Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt from the Ulster Historical Foundation 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 this seminar!

Different topics on Irish and Scots-Irish research will be presented each day. Attend one or both days.

Class Itinerary for Ulster Historical Foundation Seminar

Thursday

  • Welcome by the McClelland Library
  • Introduction to Irish and Scots-Irish Family History Research
  • Census substitutes and other useful but lesser-known sources for the 18th & 19th Centuries
  • Worked examples of successful Irish searches (based on Ulster Historical Foundation research files)
  • Using Irish wills and testamentary records: A hugely valuable source for Irish family history
  • Solving Your Brick Walls –Using online databases to help individuals find their ancestors

Friday

  • Welcome by the McClelland Library
  • Understanding Irish townlands: the importance of place, identity and administrative divisions in Irish research
  • Church records for use in genealogical research: Baptismal, marriage and burial records
  • Using land records: Griffith’s Valuation, Tithe and Estate records
  • Emigration from the north of Ireland to North America – Sources for researching emigrant ancestors
  • Solving Your Brick Walls – Using online databases to help individuals find their ancestors

Handouts will be provided on the day you are attending.

Registration

$60 – ICLF members, single day admission
$70 – ICLF non-members, single day admission
$100 – ICLF members, 2 day admission
$120 – ICLF non-members, 2 day admission
Here
Presenters:

Fintan MullanFintan Mullan is the Executive Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation. Working with technology partners, Fintan was a pioneer in the creation of online resources for Irish research and has maintained the Foundation’s prominence in digital database developments for Irish genealogy. As Executive Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation Fintan has managed the production of over 100 publications, including the popular Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors and has lectured extensively on Irish history and genealogy in the U.S. and in Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.

Gillian HuntGillian Hunt is Research Officer with the Ulster Historical Foundation and manages the Foundation’s many genealogical activities. She implements research for clients, teaches courses in Northern Ireland, and gives talks on family history in Ireland, the U.K. and U.S. Gillian has also carried out the research for a number of television programmes, as well as appearing in several.

$60 single day for members; $100 two day for members
$70 single day for non-members; $120 two day for non-members

$10 for optional light snacks per day

Check-in begins at 4pm Thursday & 8am Friday 

Advance registration required: Seating is limited.