California Genealogical Society 2025 All Ireland Genealogy Seminar with the Ulster Historical Foundation

We are happy to announce that the California Genealogical Society will host the first stop of the 2025 Ulster Historical Foundation US Tour.

The Ulster Historical Foundation is a non-profit organization, founded in 1956, dedicated to helping individuals, groups, educators and global diasporas gain a deeper understanding of the rich history of Ulster and its families.

Ulster Historical Foundation has been bringing its historical research expertise and knowledge of Irish archives to North America since 1979, delivering Irish and Scots-Irish genealogy programs through our annual lecture tours. The Foundation is the only Irish historical research organization undertaking regular and extensive family history lecture tours overseas. The presenters are from one of Ireland’s foremost genealogy research organizations Our workshops are in-depth and highly educational programs. on a wide range of Irish historical and genealogical subjects. The seminars provide very practical and detailed information on how to trace your Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors.

CONSULTATION DAY

Friday, February 28, 2025, will be a day of 30 minutes consultations from 9: am to 4:00 pm at the CGS Library, 2201 Broadway, Oakland with Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt.

Price for a 30-minute consultation is $50.  More than one consultation may be booked back-to-back for a deeper exploration of your questions.  There are spaces for 22 consultations, so register today to reserve your spot

Register and pay directly with the Ulster Historical Foundation:  (to be provided by UHF )

LECTURE DAY

March 1, 2025, will be a full day of in-person lectures at Preservation Park near Martin Luther King and 12thStreet, Oakland, a short walk from the 12th Street BART station.  A box lunch can be ordered separately and there is parking for a fee across the street with a security guard 

The sessions help the beginner and the seasoned genealogist alike: from the basics (for those new to Irish genealogy) to guidance and research tips on utilizing obscure and unusual archival sources for 17th- and 18th century research. Moreover, our programs are of value to researchers, no matter where your ancestors originate on the island of Ireland.

  • Introduction to Irish and Scots-Irish Family History Research
  • Getting the most out of Griffith’s Valuation
  • Using printed sources for Irish family history: Directories, newspapers and more
  • Using the Registry of Deeds: an important source for eighteenth century research
  • The Irish Poor Law and local government records including workhouse registers
  • Solving Your Brick Walls – using online databases to help individuals find their ancestors

Pricing:

Early bird pricing until January 15. $100 for members, $125 for non-members.

Jan 15 prices increase to: $120 for members and $145 for non-members

Optional box lunch available for $30

The lecture tickets are capped at 100 participants, so register today to reserve your spot on Event Brite: <link>

Contact Maureen Hanlon or Keith Montgomery  for any questions.

Learn more:

To sign up on Eventbrite: <link here>

Meet Your Speakers

Fintan Mullan is Executive Director of Ulster Historical Foundation, which he joined in 1995, and has been responsible for the management of this successful Belfast-based, educational non-profit since 2001. He has extensive experience in Irish family history research and is a regular international speaker on Irish genealogy, having spoken in Ireland, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most of the lower 48 states of the USA. He has managed the production of over 150 Irish history and genealogy titles. Fintan has helped to ensure that the Foundation has been at the forefront of developments in Irish genealogy, including heritage tourism products and the provision of online resources. He helped to pioneer www.rootsireland.ie, the unique database with over 22 million Irish historical records. He is a non-executive director of the Irish Family History Foundation.

Gillian Hunt is Research Officer with the Ulster Historical Foundation and manages the Foundation’s many genealogical activities; she has been with the Foundation since 2001. As well as looking after the genealogy side of the Foundation’s work, Gillian carries out research for clients and is a hugely experienced user of the General Register Office and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, where she sits on PRONI’s Stakeholder Forum. She regularly teaches courses in Northern Ireland and gives talks on family history in the rest of Ireland, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, co-presenting our annual North American lecture tours since 2014.

Gillian also co-delivered (with Fintan Mullan) the British Institute’s week-long Irish genealogy course in Salt Lake City in October 2018 (hosted by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History) and again in October 2022 this time online. Gillian has carried out the research for a number of television programmes, as well as appearing in several of them, most recently BBC’s ‘Stephen Nolan: Ulster-Scots, My Family and Me’

Policies:

The California Genealogical Society shall not be held liable for any loss or damage to property. Additionally, CGS will not be liable for any loss, damage, or injury caused by strikes, weather, illness, or any other cause beyond its reasonable control.