Ireland Reaching Out to You -- Unlock your past in Ireland!
We have been contacted by a new Irish Government-sponsored programme called Ireland Reaching Out seeking to connect people of Irish heritage abroad with their place of origin in Ireland and know this will be of interest to you.
By joining any of the 2,500+ parish communities online, direct genealogical assistance is available from local people in the area who also volunteer to meet any of you who make a return visit. This is a free service run by local parish volunteers and Ireland XO is a not-for-profit charity.
Above all, Ireland XO builds on the paper trail of the records that may only get people so far, by providing that final link of local knowledge. Ireland XO link directly to people from the communities of their ancestors and use their knowledge to perhaps finally discover that elusive headstone, or the spot where the ancestral home once stood, or to even seek out some long-lost cousins. Interested?
Then register with Ireland XO online and search for your people and parish(es) of origin. The steps are to register, login, find your parish/county, join and post a message.
You can search for your parish using this link, or if you don’t know it, then your county and post a message with what information you have – this is very important to speed up the process of finding your Irish ancestry.
If you don’t know either parish or county, you can still post a message here. Ireland XO are also on Facebook and Twitter so it would be great if you would “like” or “follow” us”!
If you are planning to visit Ireland in 2013 for The Gathering, do let the people at Ireland XO know and they will do their best to trace your roots and introduce you to your ancestral parish while you are here. If you have any questions, please use their Contact Form on the website.
Kind regards
Paula Kennedy
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