The Shamrock Genealogist

I'm just wrapping up Day 1 of RootsTech. I've been here since Monday evening as I was completing my annual trip to the Family History Library and the Media dinner for RootsTech ambassadors last night. It's been a day of DNA lectures all day, which comes in handy as more and more people are buying DNA kits looking for their elusive ancestors and finding out more about who they are. Here's a list of the lectures I attended: Real World Examples of the Frustrations of Endogamy - Lara Diamond How Close Are We Really? Evaluating Shared DNA - Paul Woodbury Introduction to Autosomal DNA Chromosome Mapping by Tim Janzen AncestryDNA got in on the fun and were giving out buttons. You had to find your match to win a prize. So far I have not found my exact match. At the end of the day we wrapped up with the opening session with an address by Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch (who I had the pleasure of meeting with last night). It was a nice heart warmi...

A week from today I will be travelling from New York to Salt Lake City for my annual trip to RootsTech. This is my second trip but I consider it an annual trip as I plan on attending as much as I can. I'm going through my final checklist of things to order and bring. 1. Updated business cards - check (Make sure you list your email address, web site, Social media handles. For bonus points, list surnames or areas you're researching on the back. I opted for areas of research). 2. Ribbons to pass out - check (This is the first year I'm passing out some stack a ribbons to highlight my blog. Come find me to get a ribbon! I'm also passing out NextGen Genealogy Network ribbons). 3. Research plan for the Family History Library - need to update (I highly recommend having a plan to make sure of the library as it's going to be crowded). 4. Outfits for various dinners and events - check (I go business casual, esp for the photo ops I want to do with speakers, etc.)...

Today is Saint Valentine's Day, a day where sweethearts exchange offerings like candy and flowers and go out for romantic dinners. It's a day where I start to think about our ancestors' love lives. Stories of couples living together for 50 plus years until their last breath was taken, couples who fell in love but sadly did not end up staying together and married others, ancestors who had several marriages for reasons unknown to us. I learned one love story after getting in touch with a DNA match, who we will call "A". She was researching her grandfather Thomas Corcoran and we started to share information Apparently, her grandfather married my great grandmother Bridget Connolly. However, I could not find any info on her in the family tree I built out. We continued to keep in touch and we exchanged details that she had. She was very curious about the family in the U.S and made a note that she was happy that he found happiness in America. I didn't really...