Exploring Your Roots - Genealogy

More people are becoming interested in genealogy and finding out about their own family history, but they often aren’t sure where or how to start.  Others may have made a start but have hit a brick wall and don’t know how to overcome it.

Many Irish records were destroyed in the 19th and 20th centuries and as a result Irish genealogy has a reputation of being difficult.  It just means that we need to be a bit more inventive and use different record sets and it is possible for family historians to trace their ancestors back to the late 1700’s or early 1800’s.  Others, such as for example, those who have landowners in their family may be able to go much further back.

Who Is the course for? ​The course is aimed at a broad range of people from novices with no experience to those who have been hobby genealogists for some time, including:

• Those who are interested in researching their family tree but don’t know where to start
• Those who have some experience but would like to know how to make more progress
• Those who have hit a brick wall in their research and would like ideas to overcome it

How will the course help me? The course will cover a broad range of sources that will help you to research your family tree and will give you a grounding in good genealogical practice that will help you to carry out your research effectively. The focus is on records to help with your Irish genealogy research.

• You will have a greater knowledge of the available resources and improved confidence to use them when researching your family tree.
• You’ll gain a greater understanding of the lives of your ancestors, their time in place and how both key local and national events shaped their lives. 
• You will be mixing with like-minded people who have a desire to find out more about their ancestry.  Who knows – you might meet a new cousin or two? 
• The course will be delivered by a genealogist and educator who has years of experience under her belt.

Course subjects: The course will include the following subjects:

• Getting started and organising your research
• Sources of information
• Units of administration – townlands, parishes, etc
• Civil registration of births, deaths and marriages
• Church records
• Census and census substitutes
• Land, property and valuation records
• Wills and testamentary records
• Emigration and transportation
• Military records
• Occupational and educational records
• Local Government records
• Law and order records
• Electoral records
• Workhouse records
• Directories, newspapers, journals, gazetteers
• Getting started with DNA testing

Just bring yourself, a pen and a notebook to each sessions and enjoy discovering how your can learn about your family history. 

About the tutor

Natalie Bodle is a full-time professional genealogist, educator and author who undertakes ancestral research throughout the UK and Ireland, specialising in Irish and Scots-Irish genealogy research.   

She has a Post Graduate Certificate in Genealogical Studies from the University of Strathclyde having built upon many years of family history research experience and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG). She is a frequent speaker on the local, national and international circuits on Irish genealogy topics and delivers regular genealogy courses with a focus on Irish records.

A native of County Antrim, her company Roots Revealed is based in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. 

Her first book Tracing Your Family History Using Irish Newspapers and Other Printed Material was published by Pen and Sword in Feb 2024.

More information about Natalie and Roots Revealed may be found at www.rootsrevealed.co.uk