Andrew Kane's Townlands of Ulster book available for pre-order

From the Ulster Historical Foundation (https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com):

Researchers and genealogists looking into their Irish family history have long felt need for a comprehensive townland atlas to give context to their findings and assist their research.

The Townland Atlas of Ulster, a new publication from Ulster Historical Foundation, will provide an invaluable guide to the newcomer to the townland system as well as opening up the world of seventeenth-century records to the serious researcher.

The book will explain the relevance of each different land division and what records were kept at each level as well as charting the evolution of parish boundaries from the 17th century. Offering insight into the relevance of each different land division and what records were kept at each level, this publication will also include brightly illustrated maps for each of the 78 baronies (as well as identifying, indexing and naming all 16,000 townlands) in the 9 counties of Ulster, showing the civil, Anglican and Roman Catholic parish boundaries and the all-important estates.

The Townland Atlas of Ulster, will be become an essential reference guide for both the newcomer and serious researcher.

Pre order today for just £54.99! When published, this book will be priced at £64.99 

For further details visit https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com/shop/products/townland-atlas. The expected publication date is 31st October 2024.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Highland Archive Service wins 'Record Keeping Service of the Year' at the ARA Excellence Awards

Congratulations to the Highland Archive Service for winning 'Record Keeping Service of the Year' at the Archives and Records Association UK and Ireland (ARA) Excellence Awards last night, after receiving 63% of the public vote. That's a seriously big thumbs up!

For more on the story please visit https://www.highlifehighland.com/blog/highland-archive-service-are-winners-in-the-2024-ara-excellence-awards/. 

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

British Newspaper Archive passes 83 million pages

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has now passed 83 million pages of digitised content, with 83,047,762 pages available as I write. 

The following are the most recent Scottish and Irish additions from the last 30 days:

Scotland:

Argyllshire Advertiser
1974-1975

Fraserburgh Herald and Northern Counties' Advertiser
1960-1963


Ireland/Northern Ireland:

Ballymena Observer
1992

Banbridge Chronicle
1879, 1882-1885, 1887, 1903-1908, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1943-1944, 1962-1963, 1966-1967

Belfast News-Letter
2003

Derry Journal
2003

Larne Times
2003

Londonderry Sentinel
2003

Louth Standard
1996, 2000

Lurgan Mail
2003

Portadown Times
2003

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

ScotlandsPeople Centre closures in September

The Dundas Room and Reid Room at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh will be closed next Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd September, as the centre prepares to launch the new version of the ScotlandsPeople website.

Please note also that the ScotlandsPeople Centre and National Records of Scotland will be closed on Monday 16th September for a local public holiday. A full list of holiday closure dates is available at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/visit-us.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

MyHeritage updates Theory of Family Relativity matches for DNA results

MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has updated the data for its Theory of Family Relativity tool for DNA matches, with the following included with this update:

• The total number of theories has grown by 40%, to 233,400,486.
• The number of DNA kits with at least one theory has grown by 16%, to 2,947,678.
• The number of DNA Matches that have a theory has grown to 167,111,082, representing a 43% increase.
• The total number of paths has increased by 35%, to 1,629,635,874.

For more on the update please visit https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/08/update-to-theory-of-family-relativity-5/.

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

RootsIreland adds more County Monaghan records

The RootsIreland website at www.rootsireland.ie has added new records for the Ulster county of Monaghan:

New Monaghan Records Added!

We are delighted to announce the addition to the Roots Ireland database of almost 15,500 census substitute records for County Monaghan! These records are as follows:

-    Grand Jury Bills County Monaghan Assizes, 1794-1831 (13002 records)
-    Newspaper Reports Monaghan Assizes, 1794-1831 (1843 records)
-    Aghabog Church of Ireland Survey, 1824 (144 records)
-    Subscribers Poor Man's Dinner Monaghan, 1853 (133 records)
-    Bragan Boys National School Register, 1884-1919 (360 records)

(With thanks to RootsIreland via email)

Chris 

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Glasgow registrars advise people not to attend ScotlandsPeople bookings next week

From the Glasgow Registrars Serrvice:

Scotland's People Refreshed Website - Launching 3rd September 2024

To prepare for these exciting changes, the website and Scotland's People service will be unavailable from 00.01 BST on Sunday, 1 September, to 12.00 BST on Tuesday, 3 September.

We would like to reassure you that users will be able to log in with their current details and previous saved information will continue to be available. Existing secure access controls and permissions will also be maintained.

Customers who have booked a space in our Family History Centre on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 September should not attend and are advised to contact us to re-book.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your continued support.

(Source: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/familyhistory)

Note that the waiting time for bookings remains at 8 weeks.

** Users intending to visit other ScotlandsPeople access centres in Hawick, Alloa and Inverness should eprhaps also check with the respective cnetres next week as to availability. 

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Unreliability of Burns Monument Centre continues

According to its website at https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/CouncilAndGovernment/BirthMarriageAndDeath/Scotlands-People/ScotlandsPeopleCentre.aspx, there will be no ScotlandsPeople access at the Burns Monument Centre in September:

"Due to circumstances outwith our control the ScotlandsPeople Centre will be closed for the month of September."

Apparently this is due to, yup, you guessed it, "staffing issues". 

For some time the Burns Monument Centre has been jokingly informing folk via its website that it offers three days a week access to ScotlandsPeople - this is how it states it on the site:

"Opening hours are Tuesday to Thursday, 9am to 3:30pm (where available)." 

The "where available" caveat covers the fact that for many months the centre has been only open one day a week, and not necessarily the same day each week - and you can only find out when that day will be on the Friday before. The centre is only four miles from where I live, but it would make no difference if it was based on the moon - it is a completely unreliable set-up, so much so that I have reverted to using the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh again in recent weeks and months. Not only does the centre in Edinburgh have better screens, it also has longer opening hours, and a library of monumental inscriptions and other useful resources.

Coincidentally, there will be a new ScotlandsPeople platform launched on September 3rd (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2024/08/new-scotlandspeople-site-launch.html). I have heard that the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh has been informally advising folk to pehaps wait until the week after the launch to attend, in case there are any bugs to iron out. 

Hopefully all such issues should be resolved before staff in Kilmarnock can resume operations in October.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Scottish and Irish Pharos Tutors genealogy courses in October

I will be teaching two courses for Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com) this October:

Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers
5 weeks, starts Monday 7th October

This is an intermediate level course in Scottish family history for those who are going back beyond 1850. You should have some experience with research in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) of the Church of Scotland and in using major websites for Scottish research.

This course discusses sources that fill the gap when the OPRs are uninformative or missing, such as the kirk session and presbytery courts records generated by the Kirk (Church of Scotland), as well as the records of dissenting and seceding Presbyterian congregations. From the forerunners of Scotlands modern towns and cities are the administrative records of the burghs, and the trades incorporations and merchant guilds, as well as other professions, which can enhance our understanding of our ancestors lives. And in the final two lessons the course turns up a notch and tackles two areas where the Scottish records, as generated through the feudal system, are truly unique, namely the various registers of land records known as sasines, and the separate legal processes in Scotland for the inheritance of both moveable and heritable estate.

Whilst some of the records discussed in the course are available online, many are available only in the archives, or in private hands, and a strong focus of this course will be in how to successfully employ the relevant catalogues and finding aids to locate such treasures. 

For further details visit https://www.pharostutors.com/scotland-1750-1850-beyond-the-old-parish-registers


***NEW COURSE*** 

Researching Irish Land Records
5 weeks, starts Monday 21st October

The issue of land ownership was a potent question in Ireland for centuries. In the 17th century vast swathes of land was settled by Protestant British colonists during the Plantations of Ulster, drawn mostly from Scotland, whilst the subsequent Cromwellian conquest led to mass confiscation of land across Ireland, to be conveyed to English soldiers and 'adventurers'. The Penal Laws had soon dispossessed the native Irish Catholic population of many rights, including landownership and inheritance rights. At the same time, the first national land valuation survey in the world was carried out, and an elaborate system of land administration imposed. In the 19th century, Ireland's incorporation into the United Kingdom was followed by great tragedy with the Famine, but in its aftermath a new opportunity arose following the Land War to radically alter rental provisions and then to redistribute land away from an absentee landlord class.

Following on from the Progressing Your Irish Research Online* course, this brand new course will look at the various types of records that can help with land research in Ireland from the period of the 17th century to the present day. It will examine the various forms of land tenure that existed, the records of ownership and rental, the valuation and conveyance of property, maps, and many other resources. Importantly it will show how to find the most useful land records, and how to use them for your family history research.

* Although not compulsory, it is recommended that students will have first completed the Progressing Your Irish Research Online course.

For further details visit https://www.pharostutors.com/researching-irish-land-records

I hope to maybe see you there!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

NIFHS DNA Summer School - and comedian Tim McGarry's ancestry

From the North of Ireland Family History Society (www.nifhs.org):

DNA Summer School 2nd to 6th September 2024

The North of Ireland Family History Society is again holding its very popular DNA Summer School. Two classes per day for beginners to advanced. Book single classes (£10) or come to all ten (£80)!

Classes are recorded and anyone registering for a class will have access to the video for 28 days - perfect for a recap or if you are in a different time zone and can’t attend live.

• 
  Step by Step Guide to analysing your autosomal DNA – Part 1
• Step by Step Guide to analysing your autosomal DNA – Part 2
• SNPs vs STRs
• The Highs and Lows of Y-DNA
• Maximise your Maternal Research with Mitotree and Mito Discover
• Mt-DNA Case Studies
• Climbing Over Brickwalls
• Using a Chromosome Browser effectively
• DNA Proof Standards
• Ancient DNA

More information and bookings here: https://www.nifhs.org/courses/ 

The society also had a very successful family history show in Belfast last weekend, including a fun session revealing some DNA surprises to Northern Irish comedian Tim McGarry - you can watch the session at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Vz2yaFaFE, or view the presentation embdedded below:

(With thanks to Linda Kilby)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.