Posted on February 2nd, 2011 by Colleen | No Comments »
William Holland, a genealogical researcher from Atlanta, dances to the left of Fon Angwafo III, the king of the Mankon tribal group in Cameroon, during a ceremony
When William Holland traveled from Atlanta to Cameroon to dig into his family roots, the quest succeeded beyond his wildest dreams: A blend of genetic testing and genealogical
sleuthing connected him with one of the West African nation’s royal families. The king of Mankon, a region in Cameroon, embraced Holland so completely that the American was ceremonially given the name of the king’s father.
read more:http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/01/5916155-family-roots-get-tangled-up-in-africa/a>
Posted on March 26th, 2010 by Manndi | No Comments »
The final post in our Irish genealogy series.
While you’re in Ireland, you should take some time to visit the places your ancestors lived. You can walk the same path they would have taken to school, visit the church they were married in, and if you’re lucky, you can see the home they lived in. I had the opportunity to visit Ireland a few years ago to see where my great great grandmother came from. She was born in Edenvale in County Antrim. My sister, mother, grandmother and I spent 3 days driving around the area. We were able to do things like walk around the local cemeteries and visit the pastor’s home to search the record books for our ancestors. We were even able to find the house that may have been our ancestral home (unfortunately, we have not been able to prove or disprove the family story).
"Ancestral home" in the 1950s
"Ancestral home" in 2001
While in Antrim, we were also able to visit the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, which is located in Cultra, Northern Ireland. Historical buildings from around Ireland have been relocated there and you can see demonstrations of activities your ancestors may have participated in, like printing and making crafts. Even if your ancestors didn’t come from the area, you can still get a feel of the way your ancestors would have lived. There are also smaller museums in other counties, along with historical monuments and buildings that have been preserved, that you can visit to learn more about your ancestor’s life.
May the luck of the Irish be with you!
Posted on March 25th, 2010 by Manndi | No Comments »
The second in our our three-part Irish genealogy series.
If you can’t find your ancestor online or just want an excuse to take a vacation, a genealogy trip to Ireland can be worthwhile. Before booking your ticket, you need to know at least the county your ancestor was from, an approximate date of birth, and a name. Additional information that can be helpful is the name of your ancestor’s parents and spouse and their religion. Some examples of where to find their place of origin can be found in our previous posting.
If you haven’t found that information yet, another option would be to look at records for their friends or people that lived near them in the U.S. Immigrants commonly travelled with or settled near people they knew in their homeland. One of these friends might have left their posterity more information about their origin than your ancestors did. If you discover the origin of your ancestors’ friend you might just discover your ancestor lived next door to them in Ireland.
There are two main sources for records in Ireland: public record offices and libraries. Some of these locations are listed in our previous posting and additional locations can be found in the brochure at http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/trip/index.html. This brochure also contains books on genealogical research in Ireland and other sources that may be useful in your research. Each office or library has different hours, procedures, and records so you’ll want to research them before your trip.
If you know which church your ancestor attended, you can contact the current pastor or minister and see if they have access to any of their parish records. When I was in Ireland a few years ago, the pastor was storing the record books at his home and he let us view them there. We did not find any of our direct ancestors in those books but we did find many of our other relatives.
Doing research is not the only reason you should travel to Ireland. Being able to visit the places your ancestors lived can be a wonderful experience and can help you have a better insight into their life. To read more about this, make sure to read our next posting…
