Go back to your Roots and discover your Ancestors.

Have you ever thought about tracing your family tree and discovering more about local history, but aren’t sure where to begin?

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council are delighted to be joining forces once again with Lough Neagh Partnership and the Ulster Historical Society to bring you a free four week course, Family Home and Place beginning Monday 24 February which will help you gain some of the tools and resources for researching your family and local history.

Facilitated by Dr William Roulston, Research Director, Ulster Historical Foundation, you will cover exciting research during these informal classes including Maps; Archives; Census returns; Civil records of births, deaths and marriages; Church records; Valuation records – Griffith’s Valuation; Tithe Valuation; Valuation revision books; Landed estate papers; Wills and testamentary papers and School records. This course will conclude with a visit to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Dr William Roulston holds a PhD in Archaeology from Queen’s University Belfast and has written a number of books, including Fermanagh: History and Society (edited with Eileen Murphy, Dublin, 2004), Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors (Belfast, 2005), Restoration Strabane, 1660-1714 (Dublin, 2007), Three centuries of life in a Tyrone parish: a history of Donagheady from 1600 to 1900 (Strabane, 2010) and Abercorn: The Hamilton’s of Barons Court (Belfast, 2014).

Come along and join us at The Gateway, our stunning new venue on the banks of Antrim Lough Shore Park on Monday 24 February from 7.30pm and find out more about your blood line and the home-grown history of Antrim and beyond. This project is funded as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

For more details and to secure your place on this free course please contact Clotworthy House T: 028 9448 1338 or visit our website www.antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk/events