Antrim & Newtownabbey Family History Society

07/05/2026

Learn how to make the most of the Roots Ireland website to trace your ancestors. Please book soon and join us online on Monday 11 May when Natalie Bodle's talk will be "Become a Roots Ireland Power User".

Roots Ireland is a subscription site that has a wide range of records for every county in Ireland. There are transcriptions of church records, civil records, gravestone inscriptions, census, census substitutes and passengers lists.
It is particularly strong in its holdings of church records of different denominations.
As such, it can be a terrific help in helping you to overcome brick walls in your family without having to travel to archives.

During the course of the talk, Natalie will cover hints and tips as well as areas such as:
- Getting the best value subscription
- How to access the archives that generated the records
- How to compare with what is available elsewhere
- How to enhance your results with other records
- Website restrictions on use
In short, learn how to maximise your chances of research success!

We are looking forward to Natalie's return visit to our branch. Natalie is a professional genealogist and author who runs Roots Revealed. She has delivered talks and courses locally and internationally. She studied for professional genealogical qualifications with the University of Strathclyde and has undertaken additional qualifications as a tour guide.

The talk is sure to be of interest to anyone tracing their Irish roots. It is free and open to all - please email to request the Zoom link: AntrimNewtownabbey@nifhs.org
The meeting will open with our AGM followed by the talk, with time for questions afterwards.

📆 Monday 11 May, 7pm BST.
🌍 Online via Zoom.
🕖 Time zone converter: https://dateful.com/convert/belfast-uk?t=19&d=2026-05-11

We look forward to welcoming you!

12/04/2026

Antrim & Newtownabbey Family History Society We're looking forward to seeing many of you at our next meeting on Monday 13 April, when Sofie Vanherpen will give a talk on “Tracing the Footsteps of the Vikings in Northern Ireland.”

The meeting will be online and Zoom link is available by sending an email to Antrim&Newtownabbey@nifhs.org

05/04/2026

We hope you're enjoying a lovely Easter, perhaps spending some time with family looking at old photos or talking about ancestors.

We're looking forward to seeing many of you at our next meeting on Monday 13 April, when Sofie Vanherpen will give a talk on “Tracing the Footsteps of the Vikings in Northern Ireland.”

The meeting will be online and full details will be posted soon. Do join us if you can.

26/03/2026

Are you free to attend this on Friday? Plenty of surprises are in store for broadcaster, journalist & lecturer, Lynda Bryans, who will be on the other side of the mic for a change! It's a free event in the Public Records Office in Titanic Quarter and starts at 2.15pm. All welcome!

There is still time to book your ticket to attend the NIFHS event this Friday where you can learn about DNA and tracing family history and hear about the DNA results of special guest Lynda Bryans.

Tickets available via this link https://bit.ly/4t91rNG

10/02/2026

Heritage exhibitions at our local libraries 😍

Don’t miss your opportunity to see some of the exhibitions in libraries across Antrim and Newtownabbey in February! 😄

📍Glengormley Library
🖼️ Mapping Monument Exhibition - Exhibition explores the landscape legacies of the Ordinance Surbvey in the Lough Foyle and Binevenagh area
📅 6 - 20 February ⏰ During library opening hours

📍 Rathcoole Library
🖼️ HERoNI - Historic Environment Record NI Heritage Collections exhibition
📅 6 - 20 February ⏰ During library opening hours

📍 Greystone Library
🖼️ All Our Saturdays - A century of sporting excellence in Northern Ireland
📅 9 - 23 February ⏰ During library opening hours

09/02/2026

Annual update for birth, marriage and death records.

From Scotland, a daily news blog about genealogy, family history and personal heritage.

06/02/2026

💒 Can you imagine a town being renamed to celebrate a marriage? That’s exactly what happened in 1667, when Randal MacDonnell, 2nd Earl of Antrim, married Rose O’Neill of nearby Shane’s Castle - giving Randalstown its name.

Join us online to explore the history of this County Antrim town, from its early beginnings through to the 20th century, and to meet some of the interesting characters who had links with the town.

🎙 Our speaker, Linda Houston, is a founder member and Secretary of Randalstown Historical Society, which marked its 30th anniversary in 2024. She had a 30-year career in public libraries, including five years as Chief Librarian in Belfast, and has done extensive research on her own family history and into some of Randalstown's old families.

Whether you have family roots in County Antrim, an interest in Irish local history, or are simply curious about places you may one day visit, this talk will have something for you.

✨ Everyone welcome. Free to attend.

➡️ Please email to request the zoom link: AntrimNewtownabbey@nifhs.org
🗓 Monday 9 February, 7pm GMT.
📍Online via Zoom.
🌍 A time zone converter for overseas attendees is in the comments.

📸 Randalstown viaduct and bridge. Supplied by speaker.

Randalstown Arches Association Randalstown Chamber of Trade

08/01/2026

Have you ever wondered how old your house is?

In this illustrated online talk, Dr Sarah K. Doherty will discuss the key features to look out for to help you investigate the age of your home, or indeed any historic property. If one looks closer at the style of windows, chimneys and brickwork (even if covered in the ever-popular pebbledash), there might be an older building than you thought underneath the facade.

If you are lucky enough to live in one of Northern Ireland's 9100 listed buildings (quite a small number compared to the rest of the UK), this talk will also examine the reasons for listing, why these buildings are so important, and how to conserve period properties so they stand the test of time.

Don't miss this opportunity to widen your knowledge and to help add context to your family story.

▶ Open to all, you are welcome to join us online on Monday – see the booking details below.

Dr Sarah Doherty is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (ACIfA), a Heritage Consultant, and Tutor in Archaeology at the University of Oxford. Dr Doherty has worked on a wide range of historic buildings from 14th century churches to Grade II* Gas Works. More recently, she has worked in the Middle East, working at Tentative and UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the Hejaz Railway and Hegra (al-Hijr / Madā ͐ in Ṣāliḥ) and Old Town, AlUla in Saudi Arabia. She specialises in Heritage Statements, Heritage Impact Assessments, Heritage Management Plans, Townscapes, Conservation Area Appraisals, Building Recording, and Scoping Documents to UNESCO and UK standards. She has also worked around the UK and the Middle East, managing archaeological fieldwork such as trial trenching, strip map and recording, and geophysical surveys.

When not working on historic buildings or managing excavations in the UK, Sarah is involved in a number of archaeological projects in Egypt, notably the ancient sandstone quarries of Gebel el Silsila and the settlement of Tell el Amarna, where the famous King Tutankhamun grew up.

All welcome.
➡ How to Date your House - Dr Sarah K. Doherty.
📆 7pm, Monday 12 January 2026.
📍 It is an online meeting this month and free to attend - please email Newtownabbey@nifhs.org to request the link.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you!


Federation for Ulster Local Studies Ulster Architectural Heritage The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Hearth Historic Buildings Trust Love Heritage NI

25/12/2025

✨🎄Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2026 to all our members and friends, near and far. 🎅✨

25/11/2025

🎁 Don’t miss it! Book fair and more - this Saturday the 29th, right here in Newtownabbey! 🧬

07/11/2025

✨ A genealogy essential! ✨

Townlands and Tracing the Past: Using Place-Names in Family and Local History Research.
Townland names are an essential tool in family and local history research, especially across Ulster where they remain central to land, identity and memory. In this talk, Dr Frances Kane will explore the origins and meanings of townland names in County Antrim and beyond, showing how they reflect the historical landscape, patterns of settlement and changes in land use. She will also discuss how understanding place-name forms and their evolution over time can help researchers interpret older records more accurately. The session will offer practical guidance on using place-name resources alongside census, valuation, and parish records to trace family histories more effectively.

Dr Frances Kane is a Research Fellow in the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen’s University Belfast and Senior Researcher with the Northern Ireland Place‑Name Project (NIPNP). Her research centres on Celtic languages, historical linguistics and onomastics (the study of place‑names). She has published on the origins, meanings and evolution of Irish place‑names and works closely with archival mapping, landscape history and community heritage. Through her work with the NIPNP Dr Kane helps make place‑name scholarship accessible to researchers, local historians and the public, emphasising how names of places encode stories of land use, settlement and identity.

Don't miss this opportunity to improve your research.
All welcome.

🗓️ 7pm, Monday 10 November
📍 It's an online meeting this month so please join us on Zoom - just email Newtownabbey@nifhs.org for the link.

See you there!

The Northern Ireland Place Name Project