Irish Village, History, Culture & Craic

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Brendan M.

October 29, 2024

My wife and I set an appointment to learn of my Irish heritage. We asked if the appointment could be moved earlier and was easily accommodated. Genealogist Fiona provided a very friendly welcome and from there, we were amazed by her ability to dig into my paternal generational lineage. It was a journey from Ireland to Scotland to the US and it was a challenging dig. Fiona was patient, determined, so obviously talented in the databases from Ancestry, Ireland and Scotland. In the end, we discovered where we are from, what more to learn and how, and simply enjoyed her and the experience so very much. She provided screen shots and background via email, a gift to be enjoyed by other family members. Questions were answered that had lasted a lifetime, and we owe Fiona a debt of gratitude.

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Maddi R.

August 16, 2024

I’ve seen other visitors complain about the center 'simply sitting you down in front of Ancestry' or searching certain family history websites. The thing is, these websites aren’t just research tools for laymen, they are databases that contain many vital records that experts know how to navigate better than the average enthusiast. I’ve also seen other visitors complain that sessions felt like a ‘rip off’ because the genealogists weren’t able to help them. If you are looking into this experience expecting a guarantee, rather than support from an expert to enhance your chances of finding more information, then maybe you should forego genealogy services, because that’s not how they work. Our session did begin with our genealogist searching ancestry but it went so far beyond that. The genealogist we spoke with introduced us to additional resources I wouldn't have found on my own, with access to a variety of Irish records. She expertly cross-checked between multiple sources and was a wealth of knowledge on what records to specifically search for, based on when Ireland started recording births as well as baptisms, whether certain records were known to be destroyed, and so on. She also provided a very clear list of next steps we could take to try and discover more with the data we currently have. She emailed every single resource, link, and screenshots of any potentially helpful information she found, and made sure we knew where to go from there. We really enjoyed learning from her and even though our lack of surviving records meant we weren't able to make any huge discoveries, I learned so much that I can apply to my family history work moving forward. I'm excited to see if the next steps she gave us lead to anything new!!

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Elizabeth A.

June 09, 2024

A story that had to told... Thank you for telling the story! An informative and wonderfully interactive exhibition of Irish history. The building has been creatively repurposed and is fitting for this museum. It's called "Epic" for all the right reasons.