Genealogical Research in Ireland - Advanced Methodology

As part of my continuing series featuring genealogical institute course reviews, here guest author Barbara McTygue Scanlon shares her experience with David Rencher's course at the  British Institute. This institute takes place in October and is sponsored by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History.  

Review of "Genealogical Research in Ireland - Advanced Methodology"
taught by David Rencher

Have you reached a brick wall with an Irish ancestor? The British Institute offers a chance of a lifetime experience!

The British Institute is a week-long experience. The Institute format is instruction during the morning and guided research during the afternoon. The instructor for the Irish class is David Rencher. David is employed by the Family History Department in Salt Lake City as the Chief Genealogical Officer for FamilySearch. A professional genealogist since 1977, he is an Accredited GenealogistCM with ICAPGenSM in Ireland research and a Certified GenealogistSM with the Board for Certification of Genealogists®.

I have attended the following classes taught by David Rencher:
2010 “Making the Transition from Irish Church Records to Irish Land Records”
2011 & 2012 “Genealogical Research in Ireland - Advanced Methodology”

David covers two or three topics each morning. During the week you will have a one hour consultation with David at the Library. He will give you feedback and advice on where to look for additional records. This consultation with David is priceless! The classes are small, this allows
everyone to get to know one another. On Monday the Family History Library closes at 5:00pm. The rest of the week it is open until 9:00pm. This gives you a chance to really spend time researching your family.

While researching my Irish ancestors for many years and I have been to Ireland several times. However David Rencher provided more information about researching Irish records that you can get anywhere else. I am looking forward to another opportunity to learn and research my Irish ancestors. This years class will be “Irish Land Records and Fragmentary Evidence Correlation.”

If you really want to learn about your Irish ancestors join me this October at the British Institute in Salt Lake City.

Barbara McTygue Scanlon - I love Irish genealogy. I started asking questions about my family in 1962. I didn’t know what genealogy was, but I had to find out about my family. Even though I have been doing genealogy for a long time, I have learned so much about my family in the past 4 years. My father is 100% Irish with Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic ancestors. My mother has three Irish lines, Roman Catholic, Irish Quaker and a new branch of Scots-Irish Presbyterians I discovered in January of 2013. My first trip to Ireland was in 1990 when I discovered that I had family still living in Tullamore.

In 2002 a group of friends started the Kansas City Irish Fest. We have almost 100,000 people attend each year. I developed the genealogy area for the festival. I have been a member of the Irish Fest Committee for the past 10 years. I am also on the Board of Directors for the Kansas City Irish Center. We celebrate, support, preserve and promote Irish heritage and culture. Last fall I started taking an Irish language class.