Clare Roots Society
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Established: 2006
The Clare Roots Society, the brainchild of local Ennisman Larry
Brennan, was formed in April 2006. Larry placed letters in local press
to see if there was sufficient interest to form such a group in Clare,
and about 25 people turned up at the initial meeting. That meeting was
addressed by Paul O'Donnell of the Western Family History Association,
which has been flourishing for years. Since then, the society has met
once a month, except during the summer months, and by 2010 it had over
100 members . Some members are experienced genealogists while others
are novices in the field. In addition to local members, we have some
'virtual' or diaspora members who live overseas, but who follow our
activities via email, and dream that they are in Clare!
Invited speakers have included Peter Beirne of 'The Manse' (the Local
Studies Centre of Clare County Library in Ennis), Jim Herlihy from Cork
on the RIC, Liam Curran on Irish Soldiers in the British Army, and
Jonny Dillon of the Folklore Dept. at UCD on the Schools' Folklore
Project of the 1930s. From among our own members, speakers have
included Paddy Waldron, Gerry Kennedy, Ger Madden, Declan Barron, and
Larry Brennan. In addition, Larry has run a number of hands-on computer
workshops on genealogical research, and recording of data.
The current committee is listed here. Society meetings
are held on the second last Thursday of each month at 8pm, in the Civic
Rooms, Waterpark House, Ennis. Our biggest project to date was probably
the transcription of the gravestones in the old Drumcliffe Cemetery.
Drumcliffe is the major burial ground for Ennis and environs, but many
of the plots had been lost from sight or were unidentifiable. The
results of this and other Society projects have been made available on
the Clare Library website www.clarelibrary.ie Other
projects undertaken by members include transcription of some rural
graveyards and transcription of the old Ennis National School rollbooks
1898-1952 now available on Clare Library website.
Clare Roots Society
40 Victoria Court
Ennis
Co. Clare
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