If you are planing to visit Ireland to explore your family history, you may be interested to know there is a free Genealogy Advisory Service available at the National Library of Ireland. The library is centrally located in Dublin and is easily accessed. Professional genealogists are available all day at the library to analyse what you know about your ancestors and to advise on future directions and sources of which you may not be aware. The service has been operating for the past two years and is completely free with no appointment necessary. There are occasional queues, but as often as not, service is immediate. The Library also provides PCs with access to a range of databases which you can use to explore the directions you receive from the advisers. The very extensive collection of the library is also available for research purposes. To understand the differentiation between the National Library and the National Archives of Ireland, the latter contains the records of public bodies and government ministries. The National Library of Ireland mainly contains privately generated material such as newspapers, books, pedigrees, and manuscripts.
The service has been very well-used to date by visitors from all over the world, and also by Irish people, whose interest in genealogy is increasing all the time. Having been involved as an adviser myself, it is interesting to see the diversity of problems presented by visitors. Experienced researchers can benefit from talking over their projects with experts. Sometimes, we all get stuck into a particular mindset on our research and getting another opinion can give us a new perspective and suggest new approaches.
The advisers are provided by two research companies, Ancestor Network and Eneclann, who together won the contract to provide the service. The service will continue until the end of the year and it is expected the Library will appoint service providers again next year. The advisers are mainly professional genealogists working within the two companies. Ancestor Network provide research services to individuals and also conduct consultancy projects on various aspects of genealogy. Eneclann also offers genealogy and history research services and also archives and records management services to private and public sector organisations.
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