We provide on request a one session (two hours); an all day and a three day training programme for groups. Contact us for details. 

Each September/ December for those in and near Kilkenny we stage a ten week course on the methods and sources involved in undertaking their own family research. The 2012 course starts on Sept 25th.  Contact us for detailed brochure. 

Based in The Ormonde College on Ormonde Street, the course consists of  9 weekly sessions, on a Tuesday evening from 7.30 to 9.30pm.   

As part of this very popular course a number of field trips are arranged to local repositories such as the County Library local research centre, the magnificent, member’s only, library of Kilkenny Archaeological Society in 16th Century Rothe House.  

The final outing is an all day visit to the various repositories in Dublin. We visit The office of the Registry General,  Births, Deaths and Marriages, The National Library, The National Archives and the Registry of Deeds  where the mast head picture(above)  was taken last year.

Among the topics covered are:
Living relatives—including yourself as a source, interviewing, listening and recording skills and what to avoid:  Civil birth, marriage and death records, census records; church records - both the obvious and the lesser known; reading headstones — when and how.  The ever increasing usefulness of the internet is also discussed and explored.  

Learn the difference between what is written and what it says! Using property, legal and land based—as opposed to people based - records to best advantage.  
The course also covers the contents of the significant national repositories– what they have and how to access them.   

Actual case studies help to re-enforce the principals that ought to inform every family history researcher. Due weight is given to family traditions and stories, some times these can lead to worthwhile discoveries.

In short the course is designed  to enable you to successfully undertake your own family history reseach and it equips you with the skills and 'tools' necessary for this wonderful, life long activity.

For more details on the course, see here and here.