Back To Our Past takes place on 18th-20th October at the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin.
This is one of the main Irish heritage events during the year of The Gathering, and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., has accepted an invitation to officially open the presentations at 12.15pm on Friday 18th October. The lectures are sponsored by www.rootsireland.ie (run by the Irish Family History Foundation), and have been organized by the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland (APGI).
Programme Content
The talks cover a wide range of topics that will appeal to military history and local history enthusiasts as well as the family history researchers who attend the event. Such diverse subjects as Book Collecting, Priest Hunters, the Morpeth Roll, and ‘Transport Ancestors’ are included, while two questions are posed: Who Are the Irish Anyway? Who Do the Irish Think They Are?
The military history ranges in time from the Norman invasion of Ireland to the Irish in the Vietnam War. Absolute beginners in family history are catered for, as of course are the more experienced. Popular topics that are the staple diet of the BTOP audience return again, while sources like School Roll Books make a first appearance, and place names are given some scrutiny. Looking overseas, there are lectures on researching in U.S. records, as well as in the National Library of Wales and London’s Society of Genealogists.
Genealogists from the Irish Family History Foundation will be amongst the speakers, including Monica Hynes, East Galway Genealogy centre in Woodford, Michael Byrne, Laois/Offaly, Brian Mitchell of Derry and Gillian Hunt from the Ulster Historical Foundation (Cos. Antrim and Down). Tony Hennessy is one of the new faces, along with the authors James Durney, Conor Kostick, Colin Murphy and Damian Shiels. Three energetic lecturers – David Butler, Else Churchill and Mario Corrigan – will be delivering two talks each.
The full timetable of the presentations may be seen on the Programme Schedule page <http://www.backtoourpast.com/mysitecaddy/site3/visitorschedule.htm> of the BTOP website.
These talks run in two concurrent strands throughout the event, and admission is free for all those attending the BTOP (first come, first served).