On St Patrick's Day I remember my first visit in 2001 to Ballyfoyle, Kilkenny, and the home of Patrick Kealy, my Great-Great-Grandfather. It was the birthplace of my Great-Grandmother Mary Kealy who emigrated to New South Wales. #genealogy #familyhistory #ireland Standing at the gate of an ancestral home in Ballyfoyle, Kilkenny This post first appeared on the GeniAus blog http//geniaus.blogspot.com ..read more

G'day Genimates,  I am sharing this Save the Date notice on behalf of our friends at The Genealogical Society of Queensland – GSQ. We encourage you all to follow the Connections 2025 Facebook page  for event updates and to show your support to help make this a wonderful, engaging event for history aficionados all over Australia and New Zealand. SAVE THE DATE: March 21-24, 2025. The Australasian Conference - Connections 2025 - will be held in Brisbane over four days in March 2025. Hosted by the Genealogical Society of Queensland, the conference combines the 1 ..read more

This morning I posted on social media news of  the 17th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry (otherwise known to genies as Congress)  & 5th Queensland History State Conference. As the NSW Ambassador I am thrilled to let you know that the comprehensive website for the combined event, Connections2025, has now gone live. The website gives details of the dates, site, accommodation and keynote speakers plus a program outline. Information for prospective speakers is also available. Connections2025 Website I have been fortunate enough to attend Congress in ..read more

Driving through Italy we passed through the Tonale Pass. Apparently in winter this place is buzzing with the snow lovers who flock to the area  to participate in snow sports. When we visited in autumn the place was deserted, there was a chill in the air but not a snowflake in sight. We made a stop there for a refreshment break and more importantly to pay our respects to those Italian military from the First World War memorialised at the Sacrario militare del Tonale. It was a sobering visit as we reflected on the loss of lives in all countries affected by war. The building is right ..read more

  This post first appeared on the GeniAus blog http//geniaus.blogspot.com ..read more

Thanks to the wonderful genies who have supported this exercise. A shoutout to Jennifer Jones who was the first to submit a response for 2023 and to Bobbie Edes and Linda Stufflebean for enquiring if I would be running the challenge this year. It warms my heart to see so many genies reflecting on their practice and realising that they have made progress during their geneayear. It is important to reflect/assess/evaluate on our practices.  I hope I haven't missed anyone. If I have please let me know and I will add your link. If you fancy some reflection I'm always happy to receive new contr ..read more

Back in 2012 when geneablogging was more popular than it appears to be today I threw out a challenge to fellow genies. I have continued this tradition each year. I wrote "I feel that a lot of my geneablogging friends are too hard on themselves; several have reported on their successes this year but quite a number have lamented that they haven't achieved as much as they set out to do or that they haven't blogged with the frequency they envisaged.". In the meme I ask respondents to Accentuate the Positives of the current geneayear by responding to some prompts. Over the years a generous group ..read more

When fiddling on my blog today i noticed that, in my header image, I had brown or pepper and salt coloured hair. Nowadays my dome is snow white.  My branding should reflect the person that I am.  I liked my old image that showed me waving while frolicking in the ocean. I liken my genealogy environment to a body of water where I can swim - a place where I can relax and have fun, play in the shallows or dive deep, it's somewhere that can throw up challenges and surprises.  When holidaying in Vanuatu earlier this year I was enjoying a swim in a glorious lagoon when Mr Geniaus snapp ..read more

When I announced on Facebook in September that I was in Cairns, Queensland one of my Kealy cousins sent me a message: "Hi Jill While in Cairns are you going to visit William Kealy’s grave? I’m pretty sure it is at the Pioneer Cemetery." William Thomas Kealy (courtesy R. Gallagher) Although I had William Thomas Kealy in my database I didn't know his story and how he was related to me. My database told me that William Thomas KEALY is 1st cousin twice removed of Jill Patricia CURRY. William was the Great-Uncle of the cousin who had contacted me.  William Thomas Kealy rel ..read more

Back on this day in 2014 I celebrated the sixth birthday of this blog with a post titled Six Years and Going Strong.  Today this blog is 15 years old.  My blogging status today would be limping along. While I don't post often or regularly I am still committed to the blogging platform as a means of sharing and preserving family stories and geneanews.  Sometimes something related to my family history research (that I haven't previously' posted here) pops up in my Facebook memories.   I then add a retrospective post about whatever happened on that day. Today I wrote about ..read more