Air Raid Shelters

 Am re-reading my father's journals. My father was a child in the UK when WW2 broke out - old enough to remember, young enough to not have the emotional tools to process the chaos and dangers around him.I try not to be sad, my relationship with my father was complicated, much was resolved in the...

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Ancestral travel - Dunning

This is one of many in a series of places I plan to travel to, or have travelled to, where my ancestors lived. As one goes back in generations, the number of spaces where my ancestors lived of course increases, but there are several places that have somewhat captured the imagination for me.My roots...

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to err is human (and creates brick walls in genealogy)

 I was reminded of the fallibility of first person accounts...again! And it is a bigger lesson in general in genealogy - it's not proven until it's proven!Sigh, my father, bless his long passed soul. This time, I was pouring through his journals again, reading about his favourite aunt, Aunt Minnie. The...

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Freeholders, Tithe Applotments, Griffith's Valuations

 This post is really a way to find some of the resources to trace land, and land tenancy in Ireland. I have greatly come to appreciate the farmers in my family history. Given the scarcity of pre-1800 records in Ireland, sometimes...ok rarely, but it does happen...I have found some earlier records...

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