Recorded Lectures
List of Past Lectures Available on DVD or Videotape at the TIARA Office
Presenter | Topic | Taped | Summary | |
---|---|---|---|---|
December 13, 2002 | Robert O'Neill | Irish Libraries | Y | |
January 10, 2003 | Marie Daly | Origins and History of The Irish Ancestral Research Association | Y | |
January 10, 2003 | Judy Barrett & Janis Duffy | 20Th Anniversary Slideshow "The Beginning of a Long Journey" | ||
February 14, 2003 | Margaret R. Sullivan | Ornaments to the Department: The search for images and stories of fallen Boston Police Officers, 1825-1972 | Y | |
March 14, 2003 | Sally K. Sommers Smith | Riverdance and the Image of Ireland | ||
April 11, 2003 | Maureen A. Taylor | Dating Your Family Photographs | NO | |
May 9, 2003 | Michael P. Quinlin | Irish Music As An Emigrant Language in Boston | Y | |
June 13, 2003 | Dennis Ahern, Judy Barrett, | Special Genealogy Projects | Y | |
June 13, 2003 | Claire Smith and Susan Steele | |||
September 12, 2003 | Walter Hickey | What's New at NARA | Y | |
October 10, 2003 | Susan Hood | Library of the Representative Church Body, in Dublin and Royal Roots - Republican Inheritance, Heraldry in Ireland | Y | |
November 14, 2003 | Nora Keohane Hickey | Little-Known or Under-Used Irish Genealogical Sources | Y | |
January 16, 2004 | Brian Donovan | Digitisation of Irish Records, & the current state of play | Y | |
January 25, 2004 | Peter Flynn | Contemporary Irish Cinema | ||
February 13, 2004 | Riobard O'Dwyer | What I Let Myself In For!!! The 40 years serious and humorous experience of an Irish-American genealogist | Y | |
March 12, 2004 | Dennis J. Ahern | Researching Civil War Ancestors | Y | |
April 16, 2004 | Thomas E. Hachey | Ireland and Irish America: Choices and Challenges | ||
May 14, 2004 | Michael Dwyer | White Lies: The Liberties With Facts That Confound Irish Family Research | ||
June 11, 2004 | Sandra Devlin | Connecting with Your Family in Atlantic Canada | Y | |
September 10, 2004 | Lee Regan | Hidden Treasures: Discovering Genealogy and Local History in Your Public Library | Y | |
October 8, 2004 | Craig Lacouture | History of the Knights of Columbus & Funeral Home Records of Interest to the Family Researcher | Y | |
November 7, 2004 | Susan Gedutis | Susan spoke on her book "See You At the Hall" | N | |
December 10, 2004 | Michael C. White | Michael spoke on his book "Garden of Martyrs -The tragic story of two Irish immigrants" | ||
February 11, 2005 | Adele Foy and Mimi Foy Willse | Babes in Foyland | Y | |
March 11, 2005 | John McColgan | Donegal & Boston - Life and Politics | Y | |
April 8, 2005 | Sandy Clunies | Planning a Family Reunion | Y | |
May 13, 2005 | Dr. Ruth-Ann M. Harris | The Nearest Place That Wasn't Ireland: the Irish Who went to England Instead of America | Y | |
June 10, 2005 | Kevin O'Neill | Sad Bondage and Deliverance: Courtship in late 18th Century Kildare | Y | |
September 9, 2005 | Mike Karsen | Write Your Family History Now! | ||
October 14, 2005 | Malachi / Malachy McVeigh | Ordnance Survey Ireland | Y | |
October 14, 2005 | Neil Savage | The Rise of the Celt | Y | |
November 7, 2005 | David L. Mishkin | Identifying and Preserving Your Old Photographs | ||
December 11, 2005 | Helen Kelly | Connecting to Your Irish Ancestors | ||
January 13, 2006 | Dr. Richard Finnegan | The Development of Irish Nationalism and the Role of Women Within That Vision | Y | |
February 10, 2006 | Walter Hickey | Beyond the census: some non-traditional (and usually overlooked) Federal records | Y | |
March 10, 2006 | Paul Bunnell | Irish Loyalists (1775-1783) that served on the side of the British during the American Revolution | Y | |
April 7, 2006 | Kevin Kenny | Ireland and the British Empire | Y | |
May 12, 2006 | Barbara Minnehan | Work and Our Famine Ancestors | Y | |
October 13, 2006 | Marcia Melnyk | Overcoming Brick Walls | ||
December 8, 2006 | Mary Ellen Grogan | Irish Census Records | Y | |
January 12, 2007 | George B. Handran | Rescuing the Relatives | ||
February 9, 2007 | Mary Ellen Grogan | What's In The Irish Repositories | Y | |
March 9, 2007 | Henry Scannell | Using Newspapers In Your Research | Y | |
April 13, 2007 | Janis Duffy | Passenger Lists For the Port of Boston | Y | |
May 11, 2007 | Eva Murphy & Betsy McGovern | Under the Golden Dome: Genealogical Resources in the State Library of Massachusetts | Y | |
June 8, 2007 | Maire Concannon | Your Ancestral Home and Its Irish Gaelic Placename | Y | |
September 14, 2007 | Dr. Ruth-Ann Harris | Irish Women Emigrants: The Irish and American Context | Y | |
December 14, 2007 | Eileen Ó Dúill | Research in Ireland: Planning is the Key to Success | Y | |
January 12, 2008 | Janis Duffy and | Resources for Genealogists at the archives | N | |
January 12, 2008 | Diane Rapaport | Court Records | Y | |
February 8, 2008 | Sharon Sergeant | Finding and Using Newspaper Sources | Y | |
March 15, 2008 | Marie E. Daly (NEHGS) | Assisted Emigration from Ireland | Y | |
March 15, 2008 | Mary Ellen Grogan (TIARA) | Online Resources for Irish Research | Y | |
April 11, 2008 | Michael J. Leclerc | Finding and Using Canadian Records for Family History Research | Y | |
May 17, 2008 | Mary Ellen Grogan | Using The Irish Heritage Centres for Your Family History Research | N | |
Mary Choppa; Janis Duffy; Beth MacAleer; Marie Ahern; Eva Murphy | Panel Discussion : Discovering Your Family History in Ireland | N | ||
June 13, 2008 | Kevin O'Neill | Dunkirk, Nantucket and Ballitore [Co. Kildare]: The Circulation of Quakers and their Ideas in the Age of Revolution, 1783-93 | Y | |
July 12, 2008 | TIARA 25th Anniversary & Reunion | Y | ||
July 12, 2008 | Marie Daly & Judy Barrett | TIARA’s History by Marie Daly & Video Presentation by Judy Barrett | Y | |
July 12, 2008 | Morgan Lake Adams | Irish Nationalism & Early Irish Film: Creating a National Identity | Y | |
July 12, 2008 | Irish Consul General David Barry | An Capall Ban Award (The White Horse) & Guest Speaker Irish Consul General | Y | |
July 12, 2008 | Catherine B. Shannon | The Changing Face of Caitlin ni Houlihan: The Status of Irish Women Since Independence | Y | |
July 12, 2008 | Marie Daly | Pre-1800's Irish Research | Y | |
July 12, 2008 | Brian O'Donovan | Irish Traditional Music & Song: The Backdrop to Irish Culture at Home and Abroad | Y | |
September 13, 2008 | Sean O'Duill | Death and Burial Customs in 19th Century Ireland | N | |
October 25, 2008 | Mary Ellen Grogan & George B. Handran | Solving Problems in Irish Genealogy: Resources and Methods | N | |
November 9, 2008 | James G. Ryan | Irish Catholic Church Records - the background to their creation and survival, and how to use them | ||
January 10, 2009 | Janis Duffy | Mining the Boston Passenger Lists for Gold | Y | |
January 10, 2009 | Margaret Sullivan | Boston Police Archives | Y | |
February 13, 2009 | Michael J. Leclerc | Research in Canadian Records, Part II | Y | |
March 14, 2009 | Robert O'Neill | Irish Archives, Libraries and Genealogy Centres | Y | |
May 9, 2009 | Janis Duffy | Researching Vital Records At The General Register Office | N | |
June 12, 2009 | Kate Chadbourne | Irish Fairies on the Edge | Y | |
September 11, 2009 | Melinde Lutz Sanborn | The Irish of Ward One, Boston: Clues & Misdirection from the Census | Y | |
October 10, 2009 | John Canavan, Mary Ellen Radziewicz, and Virginia Wright | Collecting and Chronicling Worcester's Irish & Worcester Stories in the Forester Records | N | |
November 15, 2009 | Brian O'Donovan | The Wind that Shakes the Barley: Irish Songs of Rebellion and Insurgency | N | |
December 11, 2009 | David Lambert | Researching in Canada, Nova Scotia & New Brunswick | Y | |
January 8, 2010 | Robert Johnson-Lally | The Archdiocese of Boston Archives | Y | |
February 12, 2010 | Connie Reik | Federal Publications in World War II | Y | |
March 13, 2010 | Marie Daly | A Virtual Way to Tipperary: Finding Our Irish Ancestors Online | Y | |
January 1, 1970 | Eileen O'Duill | Newspapers, Street Directories & Occupational Records | Y | |
April 10, 2010 | Janis Duffy | Irish Immigration, From Cobh to Boston | N | |
May 8, 2010 | Writer's Workshop for the Irish Researcher | N | ||
June 10, 2010 | Kevin O'Hara | The Last of the Donkey Pilgrims | N | |
July - August, 2010 | Summer Recess: Jul-Aug 2010 | |||
September 10, 2010 | Mary Lee Dunn | Ballykilcline | Y | |
October 2, 2010 | Michael Brophy | Kilroy was here: : A Genealogy case of a WWII Cultural Phenomenon | Y | |
November 14, 2010 | Banquet | Singers: Maureen, Lynn, & Brian | Y | |
November 14, 2010 | Mary Pat Kelly | Galway Bay | Y | |
December 10, 2010 | Elyse Luray | History Detectives' Research Methods | Y | |
January 13, 2011 | John McEneny | The Irish in New York | Y | |
February 12, 2011 | Susan Steele, Joanne Riley, & Dale Freeman | Foresters' Records: Tribulations, Triumphs and Treasures! | Y | |
March 19, 2011 | Irish Genealogy Seminar | N | ||
April 16, 2011 | Writer's Conference | N | ||
May 20, 2011 | Kathleen Williams | Resources at Boston College | Y | |
June 10, 2011 | Dr. Ruth-Ann Harris | The Eagle and the Harp: the Enterprising Byrne Brothers of County Monaghan. | Y | |
September 10, 2011 | Dr. Ruth-Ann Harris | The Famine Irish in Boston | Y | |
October 1, 2011 | Walter Hickey | USCIS- Genealogy Program: "A Files" and More | Y | |
November 19, 2011 | Banquet - Kevin O'Hara | A Lucky Irish Lad | N | |
December 9, 2011 | David Allen Lambert | Researching Your Union Civil War Ancestors: "A Roll Call of Resources" | Y | |
January 13, 2012 | Marian Pierre-Louis | Discovering Immigrant Voices through House History Research | N | |
February 10, 2012 | Michael Brophy | The 1940 US census | Y | |
March 1, 2012 | Marie Daly | Irish Genealogy Conference with NEHGS. | N | |
April 13, 2012 | Nancy Levin | Castle Garden, The Barge Office, and Manhattan's Pier | Y | |
May 18, 2012 | R. Andrew Pierce | Irish Estate Records for Genealogists | Y | |
June 9, 2012 | Susan Steele, Virginia Wright | Foresters Records of the Bread and Roses Families | N | |
September 14, 2012 | Marie Daly, Michael Brophy | Dead Money: Researching Heirs from Ireland to Boston | Y | |
October 12, 2012 | Thomas Toohey | Irish Genealogy 202: Six more ways to find your Irish ancestors | Y | |
November 10, 2012 | James Redfearn | The Rising at Roxbury Crossing | N | |
December 8, 2012 | Dick Eastman | Genealogy Apps for Mobile Devices | N | |
January 11, 2013 | Marta Crilly | The Holdings of the City of Boston Archives | Y | |
March 23, 2013 | Marie Daly | Irish Genealogy Conference w/ NEHGS | N | |
April 5, 2013 | Grace Brady | Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut | Y | |
May 24, 2013 | Peter Flynn | Blazing the Trail: The O'Kalems | Y | |
September 13, 2013 | Lori Lyn Price | Bring Your Ancestors to Life: Connect via Social History | Y | |
October 11, 2013 | Judy Lucey | Riobard O'Dwyer Papers | ||
November 9, 2013 | Peter F. Stevens | Portraits of the Irish immigrant saga and pays homage to the overlooked, yet significant, episodes of the Boston Irish experience | N | |
December 13, 2013 | Alice Kane | Using EverNote note-taking software for Genealogy Research | N | |
January 10, 2014 | Joanne Riley | Photos! Memories! Data!: "Irish Immigrant Experience" Road Show in Context | Y | Archivist Joanne Riley of UMass Boston spoke about how family stories can generate fascinating data for researchers, while seemingly dry data can reveal deeply personal stories. The talk referred to the "Irish Immigrant Experience" Road Show in the context of other story, photo and data-based archives including the Irish 1901/11 censuses, the Ireland Prison Registers 1790 - 1924, Tewksbury Almshouse database, the Irish Folklore Commission's "Schools' Folklore Scheme", and of course the Mass. Catholic Order of Foresters records. Examples and search tips for these sources were shared. |
February 14, 2014 | Susan Steele | Wonders in the Worker Files | Y | TIARA's Susan Steele presented "Wonders in the Worker Files". The lecture demonstrated how an ancestor’s occupation can reveal much more than work skills. Industry specific resources were shown to reveal occupational skills, birthplace, kinship, social and religious group membership. Lives of Irish workers in the Sandwich, MA glass industry and in the leather tanneries of Peabody, MA. were examined using material from industry museum files, local historical societies, archives, fraternal insurance records and other more familiar sources. |
March 8, 2014 | Marie Daly | Irish Genealogy Research on FamilySearch.org | N | NEHGS Senior Genealogist and TIARA founder Marie Daly presented 'Irish Genealogy Research on FamilySearch.org'. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has microfilmed millions of American and Irish records, and has now digitized them, making them freely accessible to worldwide researchers. Among these collections are vital records, census substitutes, probate records, taxation lists, and even prison registers. Marie presented a number of techniques for using both searchable and browsable data on Familysearch.org, as well as accessing valuable Irish information on microfilm. |
March 8, 2014 | Christopher Klein | John L. Sullivan, America's First Sports Hero | N | Author Christopher Klein introduced us to 'John L. Sullivan, America's First Sports Hero'. Born in Boston’s South End to Irish immigrant parents, John Lawrence Sullivan (1858-1918) was the last of the bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing champions. He was the first American athlete to earn over one million dollars, the first American sports “superstar,” and a powerful symbol of Irish-American ascendancy during the Gilded Age. When Sullivan, known as the “Boston Strong Boy,” captured the heavyweight title in 1882, no Bostonians celebrated more than the Irish, who had felt blistered by Brahmin scorn since their arrival. That legendary spirit of the fighting Irish that was made flesh in Sullivan transformed him into a hero for hundreds of thousands of sons and daughters of the Emerald Isle who had felt emasculated in the wake of the Great Hunger, powerless under the thumb of the British, and slighted in their new homeland. Sullivan’s strength and self-belief were elixirs for a people who had suffered from malignant shame. Christopher Klein, the author of the new biography Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan, America’s First Sports Hero, will share the tale of the hard-hitting and hard-drinking boxing champion against the backdrop of Irish America emerging during the Gilded Age. |
April 12, 2014 | Anthony Sammarco | Howard Johnson' and the creation of the legendary Howard Johnson restaurant and hotel business | N | Noted historian and author Anthony Sammarco presented a fascinating account of 'Howard Johnson' and the creation of the legendary Howard Johnson restaurant and hotel business. Howard Johnson created an orange-roofed empire of ice cream stands and restaurants that stretched from Maine to Florida and all the way to the West Coast. Popularly known as the "Father of the Franchise Industry," Johnson delivered the legendary 28 flavors of ice cream, good food and prices that brought appreciative customers back for more. |
May 9, 2014 | Michael Dwyer | Hands across the Sea: Links in the Family Chain of Irish Emigration | Y | TIARA member and genealogical writer Michael Dwyer used the examples of his father’s Irish-born grandparents and their extended kinship network to illustrate how his Irish ancestors migrated to New England in the 1880s to join other family members who first came in aftermath of the Famine three decades before them. In turn, these new-arrivals continued to assist and sponsor other family members from Ireland to join them. All told, links in this chain of migration unfolded into a family saga that connects several generations over the course a century. |
June 13, 2014 | Matthew Jude Barker | The Irish of Portland,Maine, A History of Forest City Hibernians | N | The author presented an account of the history of the Portland Maine Irish and discussed his book THE IRISH OF PORTLAND, MAINE, A HISTORY OF FOREST CITY HIBERNIAN S. |
September 12, 2014 | Brenda Sullivan | Welcome to the Graveyard ~ | Y | Brenda Sullivan of The Gravestone Girls described the gravestones and landscapes of the Colonial period in the late 1600s and 1700s. Then the lecture "traveled on" to illustrate changes of the rural cemetery movement of the 19th century and continued to examine the 20 and 21st centuries to describe what is happening in modern day cemetery spaces. For the focus of the TIARA group, in addition to covering the New England gravestone experience, Brenda highlighted interesting Irish gravestones The Gravestone Girls have encountered in their travels. |
October 18, 2014 | Susan Steele & Virginia Wright | Wives, Daughters, Mothers, Sisters: Weavers, Domestics, Machine Operators, Seamstresses | N | TIARA members Susan Steele and Virginia Wright examined the lives of women in the workplace - from domestic service to military service, from mills to medical practices. Fraternal insurance records, local history files and other industry specific sources were examined as sources of information about wages, working conditions, barriers and opportunities for our female ancestors. |
November 15, 2014 | Susan Steel | Mass Memories Project | N | Banquet |
December 12, 2014 | Margo Shea | Beyond Reconciliation: Memory, Truth and the Northern Irish Troubles | Y | |
January 9, 2015 | Tom Riley | The Orphan Trains | Y | Writer Tom Riley spoke on the "Orphan Train" program. From 1854 to 1929, an estimated 273,000 children were transported out of New York City on what became known as Orphan Trains. Many of these children were of Irish descent, and were sent to live with families in rural America. The Orphan Trains were also operated out of Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. Few records were kept regarding these trains, but some estimate that 400,000 to 600,000 children were transported in the largest mass relocation of children in American history. |
February 27, 2015 | Matthew Barlow | The Irish in Montreal | Y | |
March 28, 2015 | Walter Hickey & David McKean | The Irish in Lowell | N | "Digging Up the Past: Uncovering the Acres Roots". This lecture described the archaeological digs at St. Patrick's Parish in Lowell, MA. The digs are a cooperative effort by UMass Lowell and Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland for the purpose of learning more about Lowell's Irish population in the mid 19th century. |
March 28, 2015 | Connie Reik | Beyond Pension Files! Discover Your Civil War Veteran in Federal Publications and Documents | ||
May 8, 2015 | Alex Goldfeld | The Eliot School and the Catholic Exodus of 1859 | Boston's public historian Alex Goldfeld shared the story of the Eliot School and the Catholic Exodus of 1859. Founded in 1700, the John Eliot School is the third oldest in the entire Boston Public School system. In 1859, it was the site of a bloody incident, when a Catholic boy named Thomas Whall was severely beaten for refusing to recite the then-required Protestant prayers in the class room. Join us as we explore this event and place it in the context of public education and Catholic immigration in 19th century Boston. | |
June 12, 2015 | Mary Pat Kelly | of Irish Blood | Y | Author Mary Pat Kelly spoke about the story of her sequel to “Galway Bay” which narrated 6 generations of her Irish-American family. In “Of Irish Blood”, the years are 1903 to 1923 and she is focusing on Honora Keeley Kelly's granddaughter, her great-aunt called Nora or Nonie. |
September 11, 2015 | Joanne Riley | Doing History with Online Mapping Tools | Y | In her lecture UMass archivist Joanne Riley described how maps help to orient genealogists in space and time as they study their ancestors’ immigration, migration and residence patterns. Paper maps can be works of art and are a joy to pore over and study. Still, digitized maps offer exciting advantages over paper maps, and digital maps that are backed by data are more exciting still. Joanne gave an overview of various types of maps useful to genealogists, key online mapping collections, and demonstrations of fire insurance maps, geo-coded maps, satellite maps, overlay maps and customization map tools. |
October 9, 2015 | Thomas Lester | The Sacramental Records Available at the Archdiocese Archives | Y | Thomas Lester, Archivist and Records manager for the Archdiocese of Boston spoke on sacramental records available at the Archives, as well as some other useful collections and new and upcoming developments at the Archive, located at 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree. |
November 14, 2015 | Sheila Connolly | TIARA Annual Banquet | N | The Banquet speaker, author Sheila Connolly, talked about her research for her County Cork mystery series that features the owner of Sullivan's Pub - Maura Donovan. |
December 11, 2015 | Maureen Talor | Photo Detecting 101 | N | Learn how you can spot clues in your family photos to be able to place them in time and place |
January 8, 2016 | Rhonda McClure | Mining the Treasures in Newspapers | Y | Newspapers contain a wealth of information for genealogists from obituaries to birth and marriage announcements, from feature articles to classifieds. Newspapers also provide historical narrative and a glimpse into your ancestor’s everyday life. Genealogist Rhonda R. McClure discussed what information is available, how it can help you in your family history research, and how to access these important resources—especially those available at the NEHGS library and on AmericanAncestors.org. |
February 12, 2016 | Pam Holland | “Finding Cousins Through DNA | Y | This talk showed how to explore your matches and use the tools available at the three major DNA testing companies: FamilyTreeDNA, AncestryDNA and 23andMe. It focused on practical ways to discover how you are related to your Autosomal DNA Cousins. Case studies using matches at each testing company illustrated methods you can use to connect with new cousins who can help you grow your family tree. This talk assumed you are considering testing or have tested at one of the three DNA testing companies. |
March 11, 2016 | James O’Toole | Passing for White | Y | Boston College Professor and author James O'Toole spoke on his book “Passing for White” a story about the Healey family. Through the prism of one family's experience, this book explores questions of racial identity, religious tolerance, and black-white "passing" in America. Spanning the century from 1820 to 1920, it tells the story of Michael Morris Healy, a white Irish immigrant planter in Georgia; his African American slave Eliza Clark Healy, who was also his wife; and their nine children. Legally slaves, these brothers and sisters were smuggled north before the Civil War to be educated. In spite of the hardships imposed by American society on persons of mixed racial heritage, the Healy children achieved considerable success. |
April 23, 2016 | Richard Reid | Alternative Genealogical Software to Family Tree Maker | Y | The genealogical software world is a changing landscape with software and service changes. This session will cover an overview of the main software packages available for the Windows and Mac worlds. In addition to the family tree building and documentation packages, we will look at some of the research and publishing tools that are currently available. A CD-ROM is provided with all the handouts and trial versions of the software packages demonstrated. |
May 13, 2016 | Margaret Sullivan | First Generation Irish | Y | This lecture showed how exploring the wide variety of documents – whether in your attic or on the internet - can reveal new information on the immigrant generation. A good deal about immigrant ancestors can be learned by documenting their American-born children, who were often more literate and longer lived than their immigrant parents, thus creating more records. Finds from local historical societies, church records, pensions, municipal records, and custody petitions illustrated types of information the records of our ancestors' work, education, military service, schools, social organizations, and graves as well as family stories and heirlooms. |
June 10, 2016 | Bill McEvoy | Documenting Sand Banks Cemetery in Watertown's East End | Y | Bill McEvoy discussed his four years research of the Catholic Mount Auburn Cemetery, also known as Sand Banks Cemetery or Cottage Street Cemetery. Sand Banks Cemetery, a less than 7 acre parcel, is owned by and receives minimal care from the Archdiocese of Boston. The cemetery has many exquisite and finely carved monuments erected to residents from all walks of life. Not all of the graves are marked and many of the monuments are weathered and in need of repair. Many have fallen face up/down and others are in danger of falling. This slideshow program provided a sampling of some of the monuments in the cemetery and the people they commemorate. Bill's study is based on data collected for 22,000+ people buried from 1854 to 1920. This presentation is intended to provide a better understanding of the state of residential and economic conditions, lack of proper sanitation, substandard to nonexistent healthcare, ethic prejudices, mortality, etc. Bill entered all of his findings into a spreadsheet, including causes of death, occupations, residences, places of death, places of birth, spouses' names, maiden names, parents' names and their places of birth. The spreadsheet is searchable and is available on The Watertown Historical Society website. |
September 9, 2016 | Pam Holland | Finding the Stories of Your Ancestors. | Y | This lecture explored social history and how it goes beyond just names and dates to better understand an individual’s life. Learn what life was like by extrapolating from a variety of resources such as: newspaper stories, diary, letters or interviews, and community history. Find what resources are available including: photographs & images, ephemera, and digitized books. Learn where to find all of the above resources, including finding online images to illustrate a story and how to put it all together to tell a story with examples from the presenter’s writing. |
October 14, 2016 | Jake Fletcher | Which Matthew O'Neill is Mine? Approaches to Irish Genealogy | Y | This presentation explained how to ‘FAN’ out your ancestor's life and the direction of your research. There are a number of unique ways to gather information on your Irish ancestors and the communities they migrated to. The lecturer’s breakdown and explanation of these advanced methodologies can ensure genealogy success and propel your research back to the Irish homeland. |
November 12, 2016 | Banquet / Michael Melanson | Journey, An Irish-American Odyssey | N | TIARA - 2016 Annual Banquet speaker, author Michael Melanson, discussed researching his book “Journey, An Irish-American Odyssey”. |
December 9, 2016 | Ellen B. Alden | Yours Faithfuly, Florence Burke | Y | Ellen B Alden's recently published historical novel is based on nineteen original Civil War letters that she discovered in her attic (her parents left them years ago). The letters are written by her great, great grandfather Florence Burke to his wife Ellen and their three children while he was serving with the 37th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers. Her novel brings history to life and portrays the extraordinary life of first generation Irish Immigrant ancestors. Her talk included a display of the original letters, tintype photos and historical documents; a power point presentation with the discovery of the letters, the research, travel, genealogy, writing, editing and final product of the historical novel; a reading of excerpts from the letters and the novel; a portrayal of historical time periods and events... Potato Famine,Irish Immigration, Civil War and exploitation of the Draft law. |
January 13, 2017 | Judy Lucy & Marie Daly | “Genealogist’s Handbook for Irish Research” ... | Y | Marie E. Daly and Judith Lucey discussed their recently published book that offers tips for navigating the sometimes challenging course of finding Irish ancestors. Using real-life examples and offering many illustrations of records and techniques, they take a step-by-step approach to using American records to trace Irish ancestors in this country, with the goal of finding the place of origin. They then explain how to use Irish records to learn even more. Drawing on their years of experience guiding those with Irish ancestry, Daly and Lucey focus not just on sources of records but, more important, on strategies for research and interpretation. The book includes to-do lists, illustrations and maps, a comprehensive table of online resources, and a detailed index. |
February 10, 2017 | Diane Laferriere & Kim Zunino | Overseers of the Poor Records with | Y | The Overseers of the Poor was the welfare office for the City of Lowell from its creation in 1820s until the state assumed responsibility for welfare in the 1960s.The largest collection of these records encompassed the years from 1887 to 1907.These records were stored at City Hall and remained hidden until 2012 when several volunteers from the Greater Lowell Genealogy Club indexed the collection for the Lowell Historic Board. This collection contains over 7,000 records of men, women and children, immigrant and native born, and their individual family histories. Originally intended to validate claims, they are a goldmine of information for family historians. |
March 11, 2017 | Deb Gellerson/Margaret Lacoste/Eileen Pironti | TIARA/NEHGS Joint Seminar | N | Deborah Sullivan Gellerson and Margaret Feeney LaCombe described The Maine Gaeltacht DNA Project which started in 2011, is sponsored by the Maine Irish Heritage Center in Portland and overseen by several volunteers. Collectively, they have spent thousands of hours developing what is essentially a massive family tree of Irish immigrants who came to Maine in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and the Great Famine of 1845-1852. Jean Maguire, Library Director (NEHGS) presented 'From Paper to Pixels: Digitizing Catholic Records from the Archdiocese of Boston'. Eileen Pironti, Genealogist of the Newbury Street Press (NEHGS) presented 'Think Outside the Box: Examples of Underutilized U.S. Records for Irish Research'. |
April 14, 2017 | Linda Roghaar | How to turn your family history into a published book | Y | This talk examined the procedures to turn your family history into a published book. From manuscript preparation to printing, learn the important steps to preserve your work in a professional, permanent document or book that will be read and enjoyed by generations to come. The author discussed how these steps apply to everyone and every project: writing, editing, copyediting, organizing and preparing visual elements, design and typesetting, proofreading, printing, and distribution. |
May 12, 2017 | John Snelle | 'Townland Translator Database' - a tool intended to help make sense of Ireland's land valuation records. | Y | John Schnelle described his “Townland Valuation Translator Database” - a tool intended to help make sense of Ireland's land valuation records. |
June 9, 2017 | Ely Janis | Petticoat Revelutionaries: Irish American Women and the Ladies Land League | Y | Ely Janis explored the accomplishments and lasting legacy of the Ladies Land League. This civic organization of thousands of Irish-American women joined forces in the 1800s to raise money to aid victims of the potato famine in Ireland. Led by Fanny Parnell, who became an icon of Irish culture, the league enabled women to carve out a new public role in the male-dominated realm of Irish-American life. |
September 8, 2017 | Michael Brophy | Orphan Trains: History, Genealogy, Legacy | Y | Shortly after the Great Irish Famine, New York City found itself with 10,000 orphaned children living on its streets. The Orphan Train movement was founded shortly thereafter and transported 200,000+ children from New York to the Midwest and beyond. Over two million descendants live on to tell the stories of this uniquely American movement. |
October 13, 2017 | Shellee Morehead | Using DNA and the Genealogical Proof Standard: Two cases studies of Irish Hamilton families. | Y | Using the Genealogical Proof Standard as well as DNA evidence, Shellee described solving a 300 year old mystery: Who was Captain Thomas Hamilton? This talk explored the genealogical proof standard, the question relating to Hamiltons in Colonial New England, and introduced another Irish Hamilton whose parentage is being addressed using DNA. She explained targeted testing and how to get started using DNA to solve family mysteries. |
November 11, 2017 | Elizabeth Osta | Jeremiah's Hunger | N | Author Elizabeth Osta discussed her research for her book Jeremiah's Hunger which is based on her ancestor Jeremiah Buckley who lived during the Great Famine. |
December 8, 2017 | Dave Robinson | What Did You Miss: Deep Diving into your Research | Y | Examples are given where attention to the smallest details can change identities or relationships. Reviewing your research can uncover facts that may have been overlooked. |