Call for 2012 Conference Presentations

BIFHSGO is seeking proposals for presentations at its 18th annual conference being held 14-16 September 2012.

This year's focus is on Scotland. In addition to presentations on the theme, we are open to proposals for other presentations including:

writing and preserving family history

social networking

technology and genetics/DNA discoveries

case studies that illuminate social trends and illustrate good genealogical practice

Deadline: To be considered as a presenter, please submit a brief outline of your proposed talk(s) to conference@bifhsgo.ca no later than 31 Jan 2012.

For more details: Visit our conference page.

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Looking back six decades, it is difficult to imagine the demands made of the teachers of that era and in particular the demands placed upon the teachers in Catholic and Nationalist schools by the Unionist controlled Department of Education. The curriculum handed down by the Department of Education at Stormont was as British as it could possibly be. *

*We were t

aught very little history, and what we were taught was about such events in history as the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, the Battle of Hastings and the War of the Roses. Never a word was spoken about Brian Boru, the Flight of the Earls or the Irish Famine. Singing lessons were no different. The songs we were taught included “Men of Harlech”, “Rule Britannia” and “Do Ye Ken John Peel”, whilst beautiful classic songs by great Irish composers, like P. J. McCall of “Boulavogue” and “Kelly the Boy from Killann” fame, were completely unknown to us. We were taught nothing about the fine songs and music composed by Thomas Davis, Fr. O’Neill or Peadar Kearney, to mention but a few. Poetry was handed down in a similar manner, when we learned off-by-heart the works of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Thomas Hardy and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Apart from the songs and verses that we learned within the confines of our own homes, most of us never heard of the Irish poets Oscar Wilde, Thomas Moore, Jonathan Swift or W. B. Yeats, until we entered secondary education. The British ethos of the era even had the pupils of the six counties, Unionist and Nationalist alike, designing posters, requesting the public to ‘Keep Britain Tidy"

Januart Comhaltas Céilí

Sat, Jan 21stth 8:00 pm

Blessed Sacrament Church Hall
194 Fourth Ave.
Entertainment
The entertainment will be
provided by The Celtic Choir of Ottawa
January céilí Sat Jan 21st.

www.ottawacomhaltas.com

The Tooley Street Fire

a 9/11 Moment for Victorian Londoners

7 January 2012

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

By Myra Conway

There are a very few events in our lifetimes when we remember exactly where we were when we heard about them. For me two events stand out - the Kennedy assassination and the 9/11 attacks. The Tooley Street Fire and its aftermath would have been one of those events for the people living in Victorian London. In telling the story of that event Myra hopes to show how exciting it is to blend family history with social history – Myra’s ancestors lived just a block away from Tooley Street at the time of the fire. Not only was the fire itself a spectacular event but the funeral of one of the firefighters killed during the blaze rivalled that of the great Duke of Wellington. The fire led to major changes in the way fire insurance was managed and, if that wasn't enough, the sight of the fire converted a villain to become one of the saints of the London poor.

About the Speaker
Myra Conway was born and raised in the outskirts of London and came to Canada as a teenager. She is a retired public servant and has had the good fortune, through her work, to visit every province and territory. Her husband was a diplomat and so she has travelled the world with him. She is relatively new to genealogy, but now completely addicted. For her the joy is two fold - the detective work involved in sorting out the puzzles left by our ancestors and, perhaps even more, to discover the world they lived in and to try to understand what that world must have been like for them.

Ambassador Hearn promotes Canada-Ireland links in Offaly

Ambassador Hearn, a former teacher,
enjoying a visit to Scoil Mhuire, Tullamore.

Ambassador Hearn, a former athletic coach
himself, visiting the Gallen Community School,
Ferbane where he is presented with a team jersey
by the All Ireland Senior Football Champions.

Ambassador Hearn travelled to Offaly to meet with local business and community leaders and had the opportunity to engage with pupils and staff at two local schools.
Ambassador Hearn’s visit included meetings with Atlantic Corridor officials and several local companies to discuss Canada-Ireland trade and investment links and opportunities. Atlantic Corridor hosted a luncheon which included it board members and representatives from the business community and local government officials. This proved to be an excellent networking event. Ambassador Hearn

While in the region, the Ambassador also took the opportunity to visit two local schools. Firstly he went to Scoil Mhuire a 25 teacher school with 400 pupils from a variety of social, religious and cultural backgrounds. The school prides itself on its digital status which was first achieved in 2006. The school received awards for excellence in maths and science in 2010 and 2011 and achieved its 4th Green Flag award in 2011.

Gallen School also welcomed Ambassador Hearn. Galen is a new school with more then 400 students from a wide catchment area. Students in transition year are undertaking for the first time in Ireland an introduction to computer programming course entitled "Scratch", based on a syllabus developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.