It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to deliver any in person events. After what seems far longer than a year and half I am looking forward to giving two in person talks and a walking tour for National Heritage Week 2021.

National Heritage Week runs from 14 August until 22 August. It’s an annual event and the goal is to encourage the people of Ireland to engage with heritage in it’s various cultural, built and natural forms. Usually it would include talks, tours, exhibitions and other special events. Last year the pandemic forced everything online but some degree of normality is returning with a mix of online talks and limited in person events.

A former church is one of the best places to talk about genealogy, particularly one with so much history. St Peter’s Cork is built on the site of one of the oldest churches in the city and currently operates as a heritage centre.

I’ll be delivering two talks in St Peter’s as part of their Heritage Week programme.

The first talk is ‘Getting Started in Your Family History Research’ on Monday August 16th at 1pm: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/getting-started-in-your-family-history-research-tickets-166510646827.

The second talk is ‘Tracing Your Irish Military Ancestors’ on Friday August 20th at 1pm. This talk will look at the sources available for researching those involved in the Irish War of Independence: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/tracing-your-irish-military-ancestors-with-david-ryan-genealogist-tickets-166517114171.

Places are limited for both talks in order to comply with current guidelines and advanced booking is recommended.

I will also be teaming up with Nano Nagle Place on Saturday August 21st at 12pm to deliver a walking tour of Douglas Street on the 1911 census. The tour will meet at Nano Nagle Place and will use the 1911 census to examine the social history of the street. Details on the tour are available here: https://nanonagleplace.ie/nanoevents/douglas-street-walking-tour/. My thanks to the archivists in Nano Nagle Place for their assistance when trying to learn more about some of those who appear on the 1911 census.

If you’re not able to make it down to Cork, Claire Santry has a comprehensive listing of other genealogy related events taking place during Heritage Week: https://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2021/08/a-selection-of-heritage-week-events-for.html.

I hope to see some of you at these events. If not there is plenty of great material to choose from during Heritage Week.