On Thursday morning we spent the first two hours in a DNA workshop with Jennifer Zinck learning about what the results that we see from our Ancestry DNA tests can tell us. It was very interesting and the entire room was spellbound the entire time.
Jenn is very good at imparting the information is a way that is both entertaining and educational. While I have been playing with this DNA site for quite a while, there was plenty for me to learn as well.
One takeaway that will be very helpful is the use of the site PiPL to help find out who some of the people who won't respond to you on Ancestry really are. You can put in their username and you may be able to find out who they actually are.
All in all, this was a very worthwhile workshop and well worth the additional cost.
We are checking into the NERGC on Tuesday. We, Kathy and I, have a room at the Marriott Hotel. On Wednesday we are attending DNA Day. We are hoping that we will learn some things about the DNA tests that we have taken. How to use the results effectively.
There is still time to join us, the regular conference begins on Thursday and even if you can't attend until Saturday, that is okay, they have a one-day option. Hope to see you here!!
It is finally that time, the time we wait two long years for, the NERGC is here. There is still time to register for the full conference or for just one or two days. Visit the conference website and check out all the details.
If you are a Genealogy Roadshow fan you will recognize two of the presenters, Mary Tedesco and Kenyatta Barry. Enjoy all the advantages that being together with hundreds of fellow genealogists provides. Great vendors, exciting speakers and the opportunity to get help with your person brick walls will all be available.
Stay tuned, I will be posting daily next week from the conference. Wednesday is DNA Day!!!
Another census in Ireland that has survived all the unfortunate events of the early 20th century is the 1911 census. It is a very interesting census and includes a little more information that the 1901 census including how long the married couples have been married. This really helped me to nail down that this was indeed my ancestor.
What it tells you is:
Surname
Forename
Age
Sex
Relationship to head of household
religion
birthplace
occupation
literacy
Irish language
marital status
specific illness
years married
children born
children living
What was particularly fascinating for me was that my relative spoke both Irish and English. There was a rumor in our family that my ancestor Johanna Connors Donahue was a Gaelic speaker and now I know it is likely true since it is likely that her husband Cornelius also spoke Gaelic since his brother did.
The Irish census is available at the National Archives of Ireland website.
Due to a variety of unfortunate circumstances, most of Ireland's early census records no longer exist however, 1901 does exist. It is quite an interesting census and offers up some useful information to genealogists.
I know what you are thinking, my ancestors are famine immigrants, what can this census from so many years later do for me? Well let me tell you what it did for me, it introduced me to my third great uncle.
If you have used the National Library of Ireland parish records to find your ancestors' baptism and marriage records, you will know that they had siblings. In my particular case, I located the marriage record of my second great grandfather's brother in 1874. How do I know it is his brother? By this time, the parents listed on the marriage record.
This is one of the most important and exciting discoveries that I have ever made. Why you ask? Because Edmond/Edward had 8 children. One at least was married by the time of the 1911 census and had children. I now know that if I see someone who is a cousin shows up with the last name McCarthy, they may actually be a descendant of Geoffrey Donahue and Johanna Sulivan like I am.
For years I have assumed that I had no relatives who might still be living in Ireland today. I now know that it is at least possible that I have relatives and maybe they still live in the Killarney area. This is exciting stuff after so many years of finding nothing on this line.
What the 1901 census included is head of household, occupation, the age of all the household members, sex, literacy, religion, and relationship to head of the home.
If you haven't looked at the 1901 Census of Ireland, give it a look, you have nothing to lose and a world of information to gain. The records are located on the National Archives of Ireland website.
