• Photograph of some of our research team 2022
  • Family History Conference June 2019 13
  • Family History Conference June 2019 17
  • Family History Conference June 2019 12
  • Family History Conference June 2016 13
  • William and kerry 300x210
  • About us gillian participant
  • Book Table at Through the Sale Rooms Book Launch
  • Staff during 2018 Conference

Fintan Mullan

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.

Fintan at podium 2015

Dr William Roulston

William Roulston grew up on the family farm at Bready, County Tyrone. He joined the Ulster Historical Foundation as a researcher in 1997, becoming Research Officer in 2002 and Research Director in 2006. He was awarded a PhD in Archaeology by Queen’s University Belfast in 2004 for a thesis on places of worship of the Established Church in the north of Ireland, 1600–1740. He is involved in a number of organisations in the heritage field and serves as a Member of Council of both the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society and the Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, and is the Convener of the Reformed Presbyterian Church History Committee. He has lectured widely on a range of historical and genealogical subjects in the UK, Ireland and North America.

William and kerry

William is the author of a number of books looking at different aspects of the history of Ireland and the sources for its study, including Restoration Strabane, 1660–1714 (2007), Three Centuries of Life in a Tyrone Parish ... Donagheady, 1600–1900 (2010), Abercorn: The Hamiltons of Barons Court (2014), Foyle Valley Covenanters (2015), Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors, 1600–1800 (2nd edition, 2018), Researching Presbyterian Ancestors in Ireland (2020) and Researching Farming Ancestors in Ireland (2021). He was co-editor of Fermanagh: History and Society (2004), Transatlantic Lives: The Irish Experience in Colonial America (2019) and Lough Neagh: An Atlas of the Natural, Built and Cultural Heritage (2022), and co-author of Exiles of ’98: Ulster Presbyterians and the United States (2018).

Kathryn McKelvey

Kathryn McKelvey is the Office and Accounts Manager at the Ulster Historical Foundation and brings a wealth of experience and commitment to her role. Kathryn's journey with the Ulster Historical Foundation began in 1989 when she joined as an Administrative Assistant.

Her passion for Family history and commitment to the Foundation quickly became evident, leading to her appointment as Sales Assistant in 1991, later becoming the Guild and Research Secretary in 1994. In this capacity, Kathryn played a crucial role in advancing the Foundation's research initiatives and fostering connections within the historical community.

In 2003, Kathryn was appointed the Office and Accounts Manager. In this pivotal role, Kathryn oversees the seamless operation of the Foundation's administrative and financial functions.

Her extensive experience, leadership, dedication to excellence and unwavering commitment to the Ulster Historical Foundation makes her an invaluable asset as well as a respected and integral member of the team.

Gillian Hunt

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.

About us gillian participant

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’

Kevin Keenan

Kevin Keenan is our Research & Guild Secretary and has been with Ulster Historical Foundation for over 10 years now, after several years in the insurance industry in the United States. As Research and Guild Secretary, he is the first point of contact for those who want to contact the Foundation to either join the Guild or commission one of our research services through email, telephone, or by visiting our office. He also acts as the point of contact for clients who wish to contact our team of genealogical researchers. Kevin enjoys helping people find out more about their Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors, which his roles as Research and Guild Secretary allow him to do.

Kevin Keenan

Conleth Mullan

Conleth Mullan joined the Foundation in 2013 as an Administrative Assistant, becoming Guild Secretary in 2014, Sales Officer in 2015 and has been the Foundation's Sales and Marketing Executive since 2021. Studying at Queen's University Belfast, Conleth achieved a BA in Modern History and an MA in 19th Century American History and later went on to study and receive his Marketing qualifications through the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in 2017. As Sales and Marketing Executive, Conleth is responsible for arranging and facilitating the Foundation's Family History Conferences and Genealogy Courses; marketing and promoting the Foundation's publications and research services; and creating digital content for the Foundation's website and online programmes.

Book Table at Through the Sale Rooms Book Launch1