There has been a significant increase in the number of people seeking knowledge of their Irish heritage. This is often linked to the availability of DNA testing and the interest people have in getting answers to the questions generated from the information they receive after testing.  This is fueling a growing interest amongst people for history of the locations linked with their ancestors, the history of their native family/clan/tribe, and the general cultural and social history of Ireland. Many are seeking a greater understanding of the reasons their ancestors left Ireland.

This program will feature a course on each of Ireland’s thirty-two counties. Pre-recorded courses will be available in four lectures lasting approximately one hour each. Each live course will have four weekly classes of one and a half hours that includes a Q&A session at the end. The course will provide an overview of the developments in that county from the earliest days to the present. Each county has at least one major clan and that clan may be featured in some detail.

In these courses I will examine the impact that major national events had on each county.  In summary, I will explain the legacy of the early peoples in Ireland; the impact of early Christianity; the Viking invasions; the conquest by the Norman’s and later the Tudors; the Cromwellian Settlement; the Penal Laws; an Gorta Mór/Great Hunger-Famine; the major rebellions in Ireland that culminated in the Irish War of Independence; and the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 that partitioned Ireland; the Irish Civil War that followed partition; and the history of partitioned Ireland up to the present day.