Discover your past with Genealogy Courses

Discover your past with Genealogy Courses

Have you ever wanted to find out more about your family history? For many of us, knowing much about our family before 2 or 3 generations is very difficult. With a course in genealogy however, you can discover your roots. Who knows what you could learn!

What is genealogy?

Genealogy courses teach about the study of family history. If your family does not have a rich oral tradition, and you have always wondered who your ancestors were, genealogy is the perfect way to find them.

Genealogy is a Greek word, meaning ‘generation’ and ‘knowledge’. Genealogists often use historical records, both written and oral, as well as advanced techniques, sometimes including things like genetic analysis to discover the pedigree and history of either their own family, or others.

This can be done either for personal pleasure or professionally. Most people who take a genealogy course like this are looking to discover their own roots. Whether this is because they want to be able to discover where they come from or because they want to be able to tell stories of their family to others.

Professional genealogists, on the other hand, often research the lives of celebrities and nobility to discover who they are descended from. The often publish this work, or work as researchers

There are a number of different types of record that genealogists will often look to. The most important are:

• Vital records. These are the records of birth, death, marriage and divorce. They are generally available for almost everyone who has ever lived since the start of public records keeping (which in the UK and parts of Europe can be as far back as the 16th century!)
• Biographies. If you are researching a well-known public figure, it is likely that research already exists. Using this research to help supplement your own work can be very helpful indeed.
  • If the person you are researching did something notable, there may well be biographies in the local (or national) newspaper that you will be able to use.
• Census records are an invaluable source of information, as they provide some one the most wide-ranging snapshots of publicly available information. This is also true of military records, passports, and other government mandated information.
  • Court records also fall into this category, as the formalised legal system has been recording the information of people involved
• In some areas, religious records may play an important part in helping you collect data. Churches will often keep detailed records of who has been married, baptised and buried, which can make it much easier to discover forgotten relatives, and find accurate sources of information.

Learning about your family history may also be important to discover any history of hereditary illness that might have been passed down from generation to generation.

What will I learn on a genealogy course?

The most important part of Genealogy Courses is learning how to identify and use reliable records. If you can learn to do this, you will have a much easier time. You will also produce a more accurate family tree when you are done,

By learning about the history and techniques of genealogy, you will be able to produce interesting research, either for your own pleasure, or perhaps as part of a research project. If you want to work as a professional genealogist, further training may be necessary however, so make sure you read the requirements for any job that you might seek to apply to.

Whatever the reason you decide to take a course in genealogy, with a range of flexible courses across Ireland, there is sure to be one that will work for you.