GGI2019 Dublin – the final DNA Lecture Schedule

GGI2019 takes place over the weekend of October 18-19^th 2019 at the RDS (Royal Dublin Society) in Ballsbridge, Dublin (see map here). Below is the final schedule for the DNA Lectures together with a description of each talk. 

The lectures will take place upstairs in the Merrion Room. This is a different location to previous years (so don't get lost). You can see the new layout here. This room is above the entrance to the Main Hall (Hall 1) and will be well sign-posted from the floor of the exhibition hall (just follow the signs for DNA Lectures).

It is planned to record the lectures and make them available either on the Genetic Genealogy Ireland YouTube channel (as in previous years) or via Legacy Webinars. 

Entry is free to the event and to the DNA Lectures.

Friday 18^thOct 2019

10.30   Did the Irish bring rare mtDNA to Newfoundland? (David Pike, ISOGG Canada)

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has the distinct feature of being strictly maternally inherited, making it an indispensable tool for genealogical research of matrilineal ancestors. Within the mtDNA Project for Newfoundland and Labrador one particular mtDNA profile (belonging to haplogroup H5a5) has been found to occur at an unusually high frequency, especially in comparison with how rarely it appears to occur elsewhere. Given the substantial number of Irish who settled in Newfoundland, it is natural to ask whether Ireland is the source of this mtDNA lineage (as well as other mtDNA profiles in Newfoundland). This lecture will highlight what is known of the H5a5 profile in Newfoundland and where it may have originated.

11.30   An Irish - Ukrainian Case Study (Regina Negrycz, ISOGG US)

Sometimes it is simple to tell which side of the family a DNA match is on via the surnames, other times not. This presentation will show examples identifying a match’s relationship for two different ethnicities. The case study will also illustrate the identification of the relationship for a Y-DNA match using autosomal DNA.

12.30   Epigenetics for the Genetic Genealogist (Katherine Borges, ISOGG US)

Learn what Epigenetics is and why you need to learn about it for genetic genealogy. This presentation includes a brief history of this nascent field including both animal and human studies. Knowledge of epigentics can give you clues to mutations in your DNA.

13.30   The tools at DNAgedcom & Genetic.Family (Rob Warthen & John Collins, ISOGG US)

DNAGedcom has been around since 2011, but there have been a lot of changes recently there. Join us for a review of the changes over the last year, including new announcements first seen at Genetic Genealogy Ireland. In addition, learn how Genetic.Family will help you work within and across all your DNA Companies.

14.30   Canadian Casualty Identification Program – using Databases to connect Families to Their Lost Soldiers (Mags Gaulden, ISOGG Canada)

These are exciting times for anyone who has a lost relative, no matter the reason for the loss. With advances in DNA retrieval and analysis, work is being done to identify the remains of individuals who have been found around the world. This process is very similar across all aspects of research, including law enforcement, the various Doe projects and even in the identification of lost military personal from historical and current conflicts. We will take a look at the work being done by the Canadian Casualty Identification Program as well as the use of DNA databases to help in the process. Are public databases being used? Is there a government database for these soldiers’ families to leave reference samples? Are there privacy concerns to worry about in this kind of work? If I give a sample will Law enforcement have access to my sample? Join me as we attempt to bring clarity to an exciting time in genetic genealogy.

15.30   Early Irelanders: who were they and what happened to them? (Lara Cassidy, TCD)

Ancient genomes from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods can shed light on social organisation in prehistoric Ireland. We explore this here, alongside the contribution these groups made to the modern Irish.

Saturday 19^thOct 2019

10.30   The formation of the insular Atlantic genome: over 4000 years of continuity on Europe’s northwest extreme? (Lara Cassidy, TCD)

We explore the signals of genetic continuity (and discontinuity!) in Ireland from the Copper Age onwards using haplotypic data taken from both modern and ancient populations. Ancient data also allows us to trace the appearance and distribution of Y chromosome lineages through time on the island.

11.30   Irish genealogies & DNA: back into the mythological past (Bart Jaski, Utrecht University)

When people research their Irish family history and ancestry, their surname is probably the most important part of their identity. Surnames are inherited from father to son, and certain Irish (Gaelic) surnames can be traced back to ancestors who lived more than a thousand year ago. This makes Irish surnames unique in the world, and they are therefore also important for DNA research worldwide. This research can take us even further back in time – perhaps even into the ‘mythological’ past before the coming of Christianity when Irish tribes dominated the island.

12.30   Irish DNA Down Under (Michelle Patient, ISOGG Australia)

One of the largest cohorts of migrants to Australia and New Zealand were from Ireland, but for many of us connecting back our research to the Irish ancestors has been a challenge. The topic will give an overview of migration waves and patterns from Ireland into Australia and New Zealand and discuss a number of examples of Irish ancestry puzzles and the role DNA has had in resolving them.

13.30   The DNA Journey - perspectives from Irish adoptees (Dolores Quinlan, MIACP)

I’ll be talking about my experience as a psychotherapist working with adoptees on their voyage of discovery: what it's like to search when you have nothing; what the journey is like emotionally going from nothing to “finding your people”, the emotional rollercoaster, the stops and starts, the dead ends.  I’ll also discuss the results of a research project I did on this topic.

14.30   Exploring new Y-DNA Horizons with Big Y-700 (Iain MacDonald, ISOGG UK)

The Big Y-700 test provides a new frontier in Y-DNA testing options. I will discuss the details of this test and what you can expect to find from it. I will focus on the ability to determine ages of Y-DNA haplogroups and how this translates into the ability to trace our ancestors' migrations from the most ancient times, down to the histories of individual surnames, and how these can be merged into times probed by autosomal DNA results.

15.30   Using GenomeMate Pro & other tools (Michelle Leonard, ISOGG UK) 

This presentation will delve into the world of DNA segment data and how to use it to enhance your genealogical research. I will explain how to use both the tools provided by the main testing companies and the most useful currently available third party tools. I will use practical examples to demonstrate how to make best use of segment data tools such as GenomeMatePro, GEDMatch (Tier 1) and DNA Painter. These tools can help with understanding, interpreting and organising DNA results and, ultimately, can contribute to how successful you are in identifying matches and making breakthroughs via DNA testing.

These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

Maurice Gleeson

Sep 2019

Regina Negrycz - Speaker Profile

Regina Negrycz

Talk Title: An Irish-Ukrainian Case Study

What do you do as a Day Job?

Regina has been employed by an international life insurance company for over 22 years in a multitude of positions, including Systems Analyst, Production Support, Project Manager and Business Analyst.

What do you do as a Night Job?

In 2016, Regina accepted delivery of a 15-foot POD containing approximately 1,000 city directory books, 875 microfilms of city directories, 400 telephone directories, and millions of telephone books on microfiche. The hard copy city directories have been scanned (mostly) and are becoming part of a unique online database that can be searched on up to five fields (surname, first name, business, street name & city). These directories are from the United States and portions of Canada (British Columbia, Montreal, Vancouver) for the time period 1891 through 2002. Regina is also publishing a series of quick guides under the moniker Ancestral Guides and books based upon deaths and marriages found in the city directories. Regina has also been lecturing on DNA at the annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour in Salt Lake City, Utah each December.

How did you get into genealogy?

When I was 8 years old, I was given an assignment to fill in my family tree. Both of my grandfathers had died before I was born, so I called each of my grandmothers. One didn’t know any information to give me, and one did but wouldn’t! This peaked my curiosity and set me off on a mission to fill in the puzzle pieces!

What about your involvement with genetic genealogy?

I began attending DNA lectures in 2014. My first instructor knew the topic very well, but skipped over portions of the explanations, so I would continually ask questions. From there, I attended every DNA lecture and webinar possible. While lunching with my genealogy society in October 2015, I decided to begin leading a DNA Special Interest Group, the first of its kind in Florida. The group was widely received. I’ve tweaked it over the years to included one-on-one sessions and it has now morphed into online sessions with limited attendance, again the first of its kind in Florida. I will be extending these online sessions in January 2020 to the general public.

So, what will you be talking about?

Sometimes it is simple to tell which side of the family a DNA match is on via the surnames, other times not. This presentation will show examples identifying a match’s relationship for two different ethnicities. The case study will also illustrate the identification of the relationship for a Y-DNA match using autosomal DNA.

What DNA tests will be discussed?

Y-DNA, autosomal DNA

Where can people get more information about you or your topic?

www.ancestralbeginnings.com

https://www.facebook.com/AncestralBeginningsGenealogy/

https://www.familyrootspublishing.com/store/category.php?cat=3467

These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

Mags Gaulden - Speaker Profile

Mags Gaulden

Talk Title: The Canadian Casualty Identification Program, Using Databases to Connect Families to Their Lost Soldiers.

Biography

Mags is a Professional Genealogist specializing in Genetic Genealogy as a founder of Grandma’s Genes in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Growing up in a family full of family historians, Mags was primed to become a Genealogist. After earning her Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia College, she began to work her own Genealogy and Genetic Genealogy as a “hobby”.

This 30 year “hobby” eventually led her to a Leader role with WikiTree where she currently leads The DNA Project, The US Southern Colonies Project, The United Empire Loyalist Project and the British Home Children Project. She also leads the Templeton and McElmoyle One Name Studies and The FamilyTree DNA WikiTree and McElmoyle DNA Projects. Mags is the former Genetic Genealogist for the Canadian Casualty Recovery Team where she worked to connect the remains of fallen soldiers from the first and second world wars and Korea with their living family.

She is a member in good standing of the Association of Professional Genealogists, The International Society of Genetic Genealogy, The Ontario Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, The Ontario Genealogical Association, The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Association and BIFHSGO – The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa.

She is a Genetic Genealogy Lecturer, Blogger and a Social Media Maven serving as an admin for the several Facebook groups including the International Society of Genetic Genealogy Facebook Group.

What do you do as a Day Job? 

Genealogy and Genetic Genealogy are my day job. I work with Clients and help them answer questions about their family and family history. I also work with the Royal Ottawa Hospital and The University of Ottawa as part of the NETS (Narrative Exposure Therapy) Study. This study is designed to give vulnerable members of our homeless population a sense of self and identity through genealogy and genetic genealogy research. Beyond consultation and research I volunteer, speak and blog about genealogy and genetic genealogy across the globe.

What do you do as a Night Job? 

I guess my “hobby” part of genealogy would be working my family tree. The saying “the cobblers children have no shoes” seems very fitting here.

How did you get into genealogy?

I always laugh and tell people that my grandmother caught me as I was being born and started yelling my family names at me. This is pretty close to true. My Grandmother grew up in a “children’s home” in Columbia, SC and didn’t discover her true family, even her real last name, until she was 17. I grew up hearing about my families from my grandparents. In high school a distant cousin gave me some family research papers. I dove into them and I haven’t come up for air since.

Tell us about your involvement with genetic genealogy 

I can’t imagine being more involved in genetic genealogy. Working with WikiTree (a collaborative, free global family tree) to make genetic tools available to WikiTree users is one way. Being involved through my client work is an important way as well. But I also see that being involved with the genealogy and the genetic genealogy community through mitoYDNA.org or other volunteer opportunities like ISOGG (International Society for Genetic Genealogy) is also important. I guess what I am saying here is that it’s important to pay the bills, but it’s also very important to give back.

What will you be talking about?

These are exciting times for anyone who has a lost relative, no matter the reason for the loss. With advances in DNA retrieval and analysis, work is being done to identify the remains of individuals who have been found around the world. This process is very similar across all aspects of research, including law enforcement, the various Doe projects and even in the identification of lost military personal from historical and current conflicts. We will take a look at the work being done by the Canadian Casualty Identification Program as well as the use of DNA databases to help in the process. Are public databases being used? Is there a government database for these soldiers’ families to leave reference samples? Are there privacy concerns to worry about in this kind of work? If I give a sample will Law enforcement have access to my sample? Join me as we attempt to bring clarity to an exciting time in genetic genealogy.

Where can people get more information about you and the work you do?

Website: http://grandmasgenes.com/
Blog: http://grandmasgenes.com/blog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrandmasGenes
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/grandmasgenes/
WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gaulden-7
mitoYDNA: https://www.mitoydna.org/
mitoYDNA Twitter: https://twitter.com/MitoYdna/
mitoYDNA Facebook Users Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mitoYDNA/



These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

Dolores Quinlan - Speaker Profile

Dolores Quinlan

Talk Title: The DNA Journey - perspectives from Irish Adoptees

Biography

Dolores is a psychotherapist. She obtained her degree and Masters in Clinical Psychotherapy from the Tivoli Institute (Dublin). She also holds a diploma in Cross-Professional Supervision. For her Masters, she studied the psychological effect that DNA Testing has on Irish adoptees searching for their biological family. She is an accredited member of the Irish Council for Psychotherapy, and the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapists.

What do you do as a Day Job?

I work in private practice providing psychological support for a wide range of issues including adoption related issues. I provide support before, during and after their search and reunion. I have enjoyed group facilitation and tutoring students in counselling skills in the National University of Ireland Maynooth, and volunteer work with Barnardo’s post adoption services.

My work as a therapist is very rewarding. Being a facilitator of personal growth, I get to witness people transform connecting with themselves on a deeper level becoming a more authentic version of themselves. Its lovely seeing someone evolve having built new resources and self-acceptance discovering a new zest for life. I get to meet courageous and resilient people and sharing their experiences is a real privilege.

What do you do as a Night Job?

I work some evenings in my practice to accommodate clients who are unable to come during 9-5 hours and I have a very energetic 1 year old golden retriever who gets me out in nature. I’m fortunate to live near a river surrounded by acres of land and mature trees which I love to ramble around and recharge. I enjoy going into the city to listen to live music in the smaller venues and I’ve recently returned to school to learn the art of silversmithing and look forward to designing my own creations in the future. It’s a creative outlet that allows me to meet people in an environment that’s completely different to my day job. It’s fun, and through DNA testing I discovered that my great, great grandfather was a tinsmith – may be its genetic.

How did you get into genealogy?

I took a strong interest in genealogy about 4 years ago and became obsessed with it during that time. I’ll say a lot more about this in my presentation. It turns out that I have ancestors who variously owned a horse drawn taxi company, ran a confectionary business and were architects for the pro-cathedral. They are buried in tombs in the basement of the cathedral.

Tell us about your involvement with genetic genealogy

I have tested with all the major companies, but it took quite a while before I got any meaningful matches. It was hugely exciting at first, I was so curious about how all my matches were related to me but trying to understand my matches and how that fitted in was daunting and at times overwhelming. However, over time I made some amazing breakthroughs and discovered things I could never have imagined which ultimately changed my whole life.

What will you be talking about? 

I’ll be talking about working with adoptees on their voyage of DNA discovery and sharing my research gathered from interviews with adoptees, during and after DNA search and re-union, the experiencing of a DNA search when you have nothing to begin with, the emotional roller coaster, stops and starts, and ultimately the psychological experience of going from nothing to suddenly finding your people, your identity.

Where can people get more information about you and the work you do? 

My profile on the Lucan Counselling & Psychotherapy website ... http://lucancounselling.com/counsellors.php?counsellor=4

My profile on the Holisto website ... https://holisto.com/therapist-listing/dolores-quinlan

These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

Michelle Patient - Speaker Profile

Michelle Patient

Talk Title: Irish DNA Down Under

Biography

Australian genealogist and international speaker, Michelle Patient has qualifications in Chemistry & Geology, is a scientist, computer geek and DNA enthusiast. She belongs to many genealogy societies and currently volunteers on the Society of Australian Genealogists Education Committee and is the New Zealand Representative for the Guild of One Name Studies.

What do you do as a Day Job?
I am a genealogy speaker and Facebook administrator. I also do DNA consultations for individuals and for the Australian SBS TV series: Every Family has a Secret.

What do you do as a Night Job? 

More of the same … 😊

How did you get into genealogy? 

I grew up with a grandmother whose family stories, photographs and memorabilia sparked my life-long interest in genealogy. Curiosity both about the family I didn’t know as well as the family my grandmother told me about. It turned into a daily passion when working on Grandma's unidentified photographs which were given to me in the 1990's. In 1989, I began searching for my English half-sister, eventually finding her in 1993. In 2005 I reconnected my mother with her birth family.  

Tell us about your involvement with genetic genealogy

Adding DNA research to my genealogy tool kit has increased the range of my methods, revealed skeletons and broken down many brick walls.  I have been extracting genealogy evidence from DNA since 2015, have tested all three test types and have undertaken at-DNA tests at all five major companies, tested many relatives as well as people looking for unknown parentage.

What will you be talking about? 

One of the largest cohorts of migrants to Australia and New Zealand were from Ireland, but for many of us connecting back our research to the Irish ancestors has been a challenge. The topic will give an overview of migration waves and patterns from Ireland into Australia and New Zealand and discuss a number of examples of Irish ancestry puzzles and the role DNA has had in resolving them.

Where can people get more information about you and the work you do?

https://www.facebook.com/michelle.patient

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NZDNAUsersGroup/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/DNADetectivesDownUnder/

https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/dna-heritage-cut


These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

Bart Jaski - Speaker Profile

Bart Jaski

Talk Title

Irish genealogies and DNA: back into the mythological past

Biography

As a student in the Netherlands, I became interested in medieval Irish history, and ended up studying in Cork and Dublin, where I did my PhD. I published Early Irish kingship and succession in 2000, and later became a lecturer at the Celtic Dept. at the University of Utrecht. Since 2007 I’m keeper of manuscripts at the Utrecht University Library.

What do you do as a Day Job?
As keeper of manuscripts I care for about 700 medieval manuscripts and thousands of other documents. Our biggest treasure is the Utrecht Psalter. I’m usually busy with teaching, presenting, digitisation, publishing, making exhibitions, everything to bring the collection out in the open.

What do you do as a Night Job?

I’m still interested in medieval Irish history, and I still publish about it, such as in the Dutch online open access journal Kelten, of which I’m also one of the editors. I’m particularly interested in Irish medieval genealogical texts and how they relate to each other, and in the Irish origin legend (the medieval Irish legend or myth how Ireland became populated in successive invasions).

How did you get into genealogy?

You cannot understand medieval Irish society without appreciating their obsession with genealogical recording. Some of the Irish genealogies are very detailed and very old, more so than anything else in Europe and perhaps even the world. This genealogical recording was necessary to understand claims to land and rights to rule. The Irish did not adhere to primogeniture but to succession according to age and qualifications, so that brother often succeeded brother (women were excluded). There was a lot of competition for power among relatives. Powerful royal dynasties created branches with distinctive surnames who occupied neighbouring territories. And so Connacht surnames such as O’Connor, McDermot, McDonagh, O’Teigeand O’Geraghty are all related and share the same ancestry in the male line. It is this process which defines medieval Irish society, and which does not exist elsewhere in medieval Europe. This is what makes the Irish situation so special.

Tell us about your involvement with genetic genealogy

Genealogy and DNA: it’s a fascinating match with lots of possibilities and pitfalls. I got interested in it when the research about the DNA of the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages was published in 2006 (“A Y-Chromosome Signature of Hegemony in Gaelic Ireland”). This opened up new ways of investigating the interrelationship between the various medieval Irish royal dynasties (and surnames), but it also showed that people researching DNA do not always understand the process of the formation of Irish surnames. In 2013 I wrote an article entitled ‘Medieval Irish genealogies and genetics’, to deal with this question. Since then I’ve tried to keep up with recent developments to see where and how DNA and genealogical research can meet.

What will you be talking about at GGI? 

When people research their Irish family history and ancestry, their surname is probably the most important part of their identity. Surnames are inherited from father to son, and certain Irish (Gaelic) surnames can be traced back to ancestors who lived more than a thousand year ago. This makes Irish surnames unique in the world, and they are therefore also important for DNA research worldwide. This research can take us even further back in time – perhaps even into the ‘mythological’ past before the coming of Christianity when Irish tribes dominated the island.

Where can people get more information about you and the work you do?

You can have a look at the webpage https://uu.academia.edu/BartJaski. Here you find publications such as ‘Medieval Irish genealogies and genetics’ (link), and 76 tables of medieval Irish royal dynasties (link).


These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

David Pike - Speaker Profile

David Pike

Talk Title: Did the Irish bring rare mitochondrial DNA to Newfoundland?

Brief Biography

For over 30 years I have been a member of the Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2009 I was elected to the society’s Board of Directors, and I was President from 2013 to 2016. I continue to serve as webmaster and as a Board member. Some other societies to which I belong include:

• Newfoundland and Labrador Historical Society
• Wessex Society of Newfoundland
• Somerset & Dorset FHS
• Dorset FHS
• Isle of Wight FHS
• Guild of One-Name Studies
• International Society of Genetic Genealogy

What do you do as a Day Job?

I’m a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland where I teach classes, train postgraduate students and conduct research in the field of combinatorial mathematics.

What do you do as a Night Job?

My day job often spills over into evenings and weekends. However, an ongoing quest of mine is to try to trace the family of Thomas Pike who resided at Poole in Dorset in the late 1600s. One suggestion found in a document from the early 1900s is that the family traces back to Ireland. Curiously we have not yet been able to match the family’s Y-DNA with that of Pikes from anywhere other than Newfoundland (and moreover, we are in a rare subgroup of haplogroup R1b).

How did you get into genealogy?

My initial genealogical endeavours go back to grade school when I had to complete a small pedigree chart as a homework assignment. Since then it has become a much more significant and complicated pursuit that has expanded to include tracing various ancestral and collateral lines, visiting archives, travelling to ancestral homelands, etc. Some of the most rewarding outcomes have been those which were serendipitous, as well as those which led to unexpected twist and turns. Genetic genealogy has led to some of these new discoveries, and it has also enabled questions to be asked that would not have been otherwise conceived of.

PS: if anybody is “missing” a Maurice Merrigan from Ireland, possibly he might be the one who got married in Newfoundland in 1809 and became a 4x-great grandfather of mine.

Tell us about your involvement with genetic genealogy 

I have been engaged with genetic genealogy since 2004 when I founded the Y-DNA project for the PIKE surname and its variants. This project now has over 250 participants, including several with Irish lineages. Overall we have now found evidence of more than twenty distinct genetic clusters for the Pike surname, the largest of which accounts for about 25% of all Pikes who have tested their Y-DNA (and who have been found to share a profile within haplogroup R1a).

I have also been involved with genealogical applications of mitochondrial DNA and autosomal DNA, for which I am a coordinator for corresponding projects for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

What will you be talking about?

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has the distinct feature of being strictly maternally inherited, making it an indispensable tool for genealogical research of matrilineal ancestors. Within the mtDNA Project for Newfoundland and Labrador one particular mtDNA profile (belonging to haplogroup H5a5) has been found to occur at an unusually high frequency, especially in comparison with how rarely it appears to occur elsewhere. Given the substantial number of Irish who settled in Newfoundland, it is natural to ask whether Ireland is the source of this mtDNA lineage (as well as other mtDNA profiles in Newfoundland). This lecture will highlight what is known of the H5a5 profile in Newfoundland and where it may have originated.

Where can people get more information about you and the work you do?

My personal website is at https://www.math.mun.ca/~dapike

The Newfoundland and Labrador mtDNA Project’s website is at https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/nfld-lab-mt-dna/about

The Pike Y-DNA Project’s website it at https://www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/family_history/pike/DNA/

These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).

GGI2019 Dublin - new arrangements

Back to Our Past (BTOP) returns to the RDS (Royal Dublin Society) in October 2019 and this year it is scheduled to take place on Oct 18-19 (Friday & Saturday). This is similar to the exhibition in Belfast (i.e. 2 days instead of 3 days). And Genetic Genealogy Ireland (GGI2019) will be there too.

BTOP will take place in the Main Hall of the RDS. This is a complete departure from previous years and entry to the exhibition will be via the front entrance of the RDS rather than the side entrance. The GGI2019 DNA Lectures will take place in the Merrion Room, which has a similar capacity to the one we normally use (i.e. 100 people). It is directly above the Main Entrance and is accessible from the floor of the Main Hall via a staircase.

The DNA Lectures will take place in the Merrion Room, above the Main Entrance

The BTOP exhibition area will be in Hall 1 (Main Hall) and the FTDNA stand will be situated near the entrance to the stairs to the DNA Lectures area so people will pass by the stand on their way to and from the lectures. 

The exhibition runs from 10am to 5.30pm, so that will allow a maximum of 7 lectures per day (from 10.30 am every hour). I hope to have the draft final schedule in the next month or two but so far the confirmed international speakers include the following: David Pike, Michelle Patient, Regina Negrycz, Rob Warthen, Mags Gaulden. In addition we will have some home-grown talent, including Lara Cassidy from Trinity College Dublin.

MyHeritage have confirmed they will have a stand. Ancestry have not decided as yet.

Hall1 (the Main Hall) is the new location for BTOP.
GGI takes place in the Merrion Room above the Main Entrance.
(click to enlarge)

We will probably have the ISOGG Day Out on Sunday this year and then most people will make their way home on Monday. Rootstech will be on in London the following weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun 25-27 Oct 2019) so some people will be going on to that.

For details on travel accommodation and general logistics, please visit this page here. 

Looking forward to seeing you there for GGI2019 Dublin.

Maurice Gleeson

Sep 2019

These lectures are sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by volunteers from ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy).