Family Tree DNA will now let you transfer your “autosomal” data to Family Tree DNA for FREE. (There is a $19 upgrade available.) That means if you have tested with the sites 23 & Me or Ancestry DNA you can now catch your DNA cousins who have been  swimming around in the Family Tree DNA pool only!   It’s easy to do! See the attached link for more information.    https://www.familytreedna.com/autosomal-transferSee the link to Judy Russel’s blog “The Legal genealogist”  for a further description of this news.     http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2017/02/19/the-floodgates-open/

(Post Submitted by Jeanne Bayer)

Big News . . FindMyPast has launched an initiative to digitize the records of The Roman Catholic Church from around the World. That includes the NEW WORLD, US!  This initiative is called “The Catholic Heritage Archive”. Right now you will find millions of sacramental records from Ireland. It appears that records from England and Philadelphia are already up. And the really big news for folks who’s immigrant ancestors past through New York City, the records of The Archdiocese of New York will be digitized. That project is in the works now. Yay! Can hear the brick walls being shattered! Happy days for my fellow family historians. See the link to Find my past for more information. http://www.findmypast.com/catholicrecords
(Post submitted by Jeanne Bayer)

Millions of Ireland’s birth, marriage, and death records have been uploaded to IrishGenealogy.ie and in many cases include images.
The years covered are:

• Births: 1864 to 1915
• Marriages: 1882 to 1940
• Deaths: 1891 to 1965

Go to www.irishgenealogy.ie and click on Civil Records.