In the Clover ~ Irish Family History Research at SLIG

(Digital Art provided by FreeDigitalPhotos.net ~ thanks)

Next week at this time I will be midway through Course 3 ~ Irish Family History Research with David Ouimette, CG ~ at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG).  January a great time to go to Salt Lake City and settle in for genealogy courses and research at the Family History Library (FHL).  The FHL is not very crowded and the cold weather really makes me want to stay warm and dry at the library.

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been to the SLIG before (I attended and highly recommend American Records with Paula Stuart-Warren and Internet Tools & Techniques with Barbara Renick and Debby Horton; additionally if you get the chance to attend any lecture given by D. Joshua Taylor ~ do it, he is a great speaker and is quite tech savvy). 

I am looking forward to this year's course because it is focused on Irish family history research, a subject near and dear to my genealogy heart as my father's ancestry is Irish by way of Counties Carlow, Cork and Kerry.  As an added bonus, the FHL is open Monday through Saturday from 8:00 am until 9:00 pm (on Mondays it closes at 5:00 pm) for research.  I plan go to the FHL during my "free time" and put all that theory into practice with the FHL's Irish collection.

The course outline is as follows:

Irish Immigration - North American Sources and Methodology

Irish Emigration - Irish Sources and Methodology

Scotch-Irish in America

Irish Surnames and Given Names

Irish Records and Resources on the Internet

Identifying Irish Localities

The Irish Collection in the Family History

Tools for Irish Reference

Catholic Church Records

Church of Ireland Records

Presbyterian Church Records

Irish Civil Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths

Irish Census and Census Substitutes

Methodology for Interpreting and Evaluating Name Lists

Land Valuation Records

Estate, Land and Property Records

Irish Poor Law System

Methodology for Reconstructing Lineages from Irish Record Fragments

Irish Probate Records and Genealogical Collections

Preparing for a Family History Experience in Ireland

Twenty lectures over the course of the week works out to four lectures each day ~ quite the schedule.  Mr. Ouimette is the author of Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide and is also a director at large of the National Genealogical Society (a more complete bio is here ). 

Since one of my New Year's resolutions is to be a more consistent blogger, I plan to post about my experiences at the 2011 SLIG.  If you will be in Salt Lake City attending the SLIG (especially if you are attending the Irish Family History Research course) perhaps we can meet up.  If you are not attending the SLIG in person, check back here next week to attend via my blog.

Slainte