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Irish Interests

Bringing together Irish themes from across the society

Upcoming Meetings

6 Nov 2021 - ONLINE

Irish Family History: A Practical Guide - Carol Wells

 

This talk is a practical guide to help you get the most out of your Irish research using the main websites that are available and introducing some that you may not be familiar with.

Carol Wells is a member of the MLFHS Tuesday helpdesk team at Central Library, Manchester with a particular interest in Irish Genealogy. Carol says: "I have been researching the Irish branch of our family I am a member of the MLFHS Tuesday helpdesk team at Central Library, Manchester with a particular interest in Irish Genealogy. I have been researching the Irish branch of our family for over 30 years and have travelled to Ireland many times over a number of years visiting all the main genealogy centres in Dublin. I have learned many different ways of moving your research forward and will hopefully show you how much information there is available if you know where to look."

This meeting will be held online via Zoom.

  • Date: 6th November 2021
  • Saturday, 2.00pm
  • Venue: Online via Zoom
  • Speaker: Carol Wells
  • Booking: Sales Ended - archival interest
  • Cost : Members - Free of charge 
  • Cost: Non-Members - £3.00 
2 Dec 2021 - ONLINE

Old Ireland in Colour: Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley and John Breslin

 A talk based on the authors' books of colourised black and white photographs documenting the rich history of Ireland.
 
Synopsis of “Old Ireland in Colour” by John Breslin & Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley.

Old Ireland in Colour celebrates the rich history of Ireland and the Irish through the colour restoration of stunning images of all walks of Irish life, and the Irish abroad, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the chaos of the Civil War to the simple beauty of the islands, each image has been exquisitely transformed and every page is bursting with life.
 
Using a combination of cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology and his own historical research, John Breslin has meticulously colourised these pictures with breathtaking attention to detail and authenticity.

This meeting will be held online via Zoom.

  • Date: 2nd December 2021
  • Thursday, 7.30pm
  • Venue: Online via Zoom
  • Speaker: Dr Sara-Anne Buckley and John Breslin
  • Booking: Sales Ended - archival interest
  • Cost : Members - Free of charge 
  • Cost: Non-Members - £3.00
19 Jan 2022 - ONLINE

Migration and Assistance: Irish Unmarried Mothers in Britain 1926-1973 - Dr Lorraine Grimes

 

For most of the Twentieth Century, hundreds of Irish unmarried mothers migrated to Britain annually, in order to escape the stigma associated with unmarried motherhood in Ireland. This ​talk looks at what happened to some of those women once they landed in Britain, particularly in Liverpool, Birmingham and London.  It will explore the institutionalisation of Irish unmarried mothers in Mother and Baby Homes, and issues of maternity care, adoption, socio-economic class, and the position of unmarried fathers.  
 
 Dr Lorraine Grimes is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Social Science Institute at Maynooth University. Lorraine was awarded her PhD by the National University of Ireland Galway and this talk draws on her doctoral research.

This meeting will be held online via Zoom.

  • Date: 19th January 2022
  • Wednesday, 7.30pm
  • Venue: Online via Zoom
  • Speaker: Dr Lorriane Grimes
  • Booking: Sales ended - archival interest
  • Cost : Members - Free of charge 
  • Cost: Non-Members - £3.00

Meetings, Pandemics and Irish Interests

Most society meetings are held online via Zoom at present but we hope to return to meetings at Manchester Central Library and venues at Oldham and Bolton. Please check the details for each meeting before making your arrangements.

Irish Interests are always an important part of the Society's work and, although the Irish Ancestry Group is still resting, as a Society we are moving forward to bring together in this section details of any meetings, events, or other items of Irish Interest. It's been quite a year, with Covid, Zoom and a new website, and this is another important milestone in our work to help members and visitors with their research.

Our Calendar of Events at Manchester Central Library

"Booking on Eventbrite will be essential for these meetings"

Booking on Eventbrite will be essential for these meetings (please see the calendar page) so please follow us on this page, on our social media accounts and on Eventbrite to check when booking opens. Meetings are online at present but will return to Manchester Central Library and will of course be in line with any government guidelines that might be in force at the time. 

All meetings are free of charge to members and, in a normal year, it’s quite possible for a member of the MLFHS to attend 62 meetings a year (admittedly you would have to attend beginners’ courses three times – but why not?) for an annual subscription of £15. Meanwhile, web editors will be busy updating the site and adding new content to enhance your subscription further; project managers and volunteers will continue to save, transcribe and make available important records and the office volunteers will keep the membership and the post running smoothly.

Meetings and Venues

Ond day we will be back at the Manchester Central Library! This is something to look forward to and meeting in person will be so good. Please enjoy our Zoom meetings until then, and let us know at the meetings if your joining us from afar - we are enjoying meeting members from all over the world and we want to keep in touch, online, in the future. These are busy times!

Our Meeting Rooms

Our meetings are held in the Performance Space on the ground floor of Manchester Central Library. The rooms are airy and light, with plenty of space for social distancing if that will be required when our meetings are resumed.

Our Venue

Manchester Central Library, convenient for all forms of public transport, is a modernised, comfortable building, designed to offer visitors ease of access, refreshments, a local history library and meeting rooms, all on the ground floor.

Important Things to Know

Our Meetings

The MLFHS usually holds meetings once a quarter; on the 2nd or 3rd Wednesday of the month (but other local events and the availability of speakers sometimes make a change of date more reasonable). We try to find the best speakers to help us discover more about our Manchester heritage.

Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic changed everything. In the interests of everyone’s safety and wellbeing, and slightly ahead of the Government’s restrictions, all of the society’s public-facing activity ceased in March. We look forward to a time when mass gatherings will be possible again.

Looking Forward

Today we are showing, below, a picture from our 2019 Peterloo event, a taste of the meetings and activities that can take place in the library's Performance Space. We will update this with details of new meetings and events as soon as dates, fixed or provisional. can be arranged.

Peterloo event at MCL: Hilary Hartigan

The wonderful Oakenhoof Performers at the Peterloo Celebrations at Manchester Central Library, August 2019, entertaining visitors at lunch time. The Performance Space (PS) meeting rooms are to left of the musicians, and the Helpdesk is at the top right of the picture. We can’t always guarantee such exciting entertainment on our meeting days, but this is the venue! Arrive early, get a coffee, wander around the displays, say ‘hello’ at the Helpdesk and then take your seats in room PS1 and settle in comfortably for an interesting and entertaining talk.

*Non-members pay £3 per meeting. Some meetings, in particular the summer visit to another venue, may incur additional costs, any such additional costs are paid by all attendees.

The Small Print

The MLFHS usually holds meetings once a quarter; on the 2nd or 3rd Wednesday of the month (but other local events and the availability of speakers sometimes make a change of date more reasonable) and we try to find the best speakers to help us discover more about our Manchester heritage. The Covid-19 pandemic changed everything. In the interests of everyone’s safety and wellbeing, and slightly ahead of the Government’s restrictions, all of the society’s public-facing activity ceased in March. As this beautiful new website was being created other volunteers were making arrangements to cancel meetings, rearrange schedules and planning ahead for the time when mass gatherings will be possible again.