FRIDAY FEATURE: Today I wanted to focus on our overseas lecture tours AND announce the dates & locations for our USA Tour in March 2025! Full details of the events will be provided soon but for now here are the dates and locations for your diaries!

• Friday 28 February: Oakland CA

• Saturday 1 March: Oakland CA

• Sunday 2 March: Seattle WA

• Tuesday 4 March: Pittsburgh PA

• Wednesday 5 March: Pittsburgh PA

• Friday 7 March: Phoenix AZ

• Saturday 8 March: Atlanta GA

• Sunday 9 March: Green Bay, WI

• Monday 10 March: Green Bay, WI
• Tuesday 11 March: Minneapolis MN

• Wednesday 12 March: Minneapolis MN

• Thursday 13 March: Chicago IL

• Friday 14 March: Bentonville AR

• Saturday 15 March: Dallas TX

• Sunday 16 March: Dallas TX

• Monday 17 March: Bolingbrook, IL

• Tuesday 18 March: Bolingbrook, IL

In locations where there are two dates and in Bentonville, we will be providing one-to-one consultations as well as a workshop on researching Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors.

OVERSEAS LECTURE TOURS

Ulster Historical Foundation is one of the only organisations in the British Isles to undertake regular lecture tours in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain: the staff are the intrepid travellers of Irish genealogy. The Foundation will go anywhere to speak to interested parties about family history research.

In these enterprises it is important to acknowledge the contribution of Dr Brian Trainor, former Deputy Keeper and CEO of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), Director of Ulster Historical Foundation and emeritus Research Director of the Foundation.

Early in his tenure Brian recognised the value and utility of family and local history to archives and made concerted efforts during his career and since ‘retirement’ from the post of Deputy Keeper to promote PRONI, the Foundation and genealogy to non-specialist users.

The road miles covered by Brian Trainor in promoting Irish records (he also served as Chairman of the Irish Manuscripts Commission, April 1976 to April 1977 and then again from April 1987 to April 1998) locally since the 1960s and overseas since the late 1970s must be acknowledged as a contributing factor in the improvement of services for family historians and in drawing researchers to these shores.

Brian was still involved in the lecture tours in North America until 2013 (at the tender age of 85). Subsequently our Research Officer, Gillian Hunt, joined the lecture tour team. Since Brian initiated the North American lecture tours in the late 1970s the staff of the Foundation have spoken in 45 of the 50 states, and many of those states on numerous occasions.

In addition, representatives of the Foundation have visited Australia and New Zealand several times in the past 20 years, and regularly take part in events in Ireland and the UK: a clear demonstration that the staff are willing to travel to any location to speak to people interest in Ulster and Irish ancestral research. You can find out more about our previous lecture tours here.