RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 31, 2014
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
If your ancestors had ties to the Old Dominion State, you may want to plan to attend the joint fall conference of the Virginia Genealogical Society (VGS) and the Augusta County Genealogical Society (ACGS) on 17-18 October 2014. Augusta County will be the focus of the event.
The program on 17 October will take place at the Waynesboro Public Library in Waynesboro, Virginia, from 9:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. After a guided research session in the library, guest speaker Dorothy A. Boyd-Bragg will talk about the formation and evolution of Augusta County’s boundaries.
On 18 October the program will occur at the Holiday Inn Staunton Conference Center in Staunton, Virginia, from 8:30 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. Featured lecturers will be Barbara Vines Little and Nancy Sorrells, who will speak on the earliest records of Augusta County, the county’s chancery court records, the Virginia Land Office and its records, migration trails and settlement clusters, and the connections between the Ulster Scots Presbyterians in Virginia, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland, and the textile industry.
Costs per person before 28 September 2014 will be $44 for VGS/ACGS members and $55 for non-members. After that date, add $10 to the prices. To register or to obtain more details, write to VGS Fall Conference, 1900 Byrd Avenue, Suite 104, Richmond, Virginia 23230-3033.
As they travel down a road in the Emerald Isle, many people drive through a town and see only buildings made of materials such as stone and mortar. Yet even small villages are often full of interesting stories, history, and romance if the inhabitants and tourists would take the time to learn about them. With that goal in mind, an Irish C. C. wrote DYSERT-DIARMADA OR IRISH PLACE-NAMES: THEIR BEAUTY & THEIR DEGRADATION.
Published in Dublin in 1919, this 2014 reprint focuses on the small town of Castledermot, whose proper name is Dysert-Diarmada. Composed of approximately 700 residents when the book was first printed, the town is located in County Kildare, whose main clans were MacKelly, O’Bryne (originally O’Brian), O’Connor, O’Dempsey, O’Dunne, Faley, and O’Toole. The author uses the town as a case study to show that much of what is said about it can be applied to other Irish place names. With Dysert-Diarmada/Castledermont as an example, the author demonstrates how changes occurring in Irish place names, often made foreigners like the Anglo-Normans, can obscure an illustrious past history.
Chapters concern such topics as the clans, round towers, castles, monasteries, and convents of County Kildare; the origin and meaning of Dysert and Castledermont and the duel between the names; faded memories, Irish saints and lay brothers; disfigured Irish place names; and paintings of scenes and historic events in Ireland. Individuals fascinated with Irish history and names, especially in County Kildare, will find much of interest in DYSERT-DIARMADA OR IRISH PLACE-NAMES: THEIR BEAUTY & THEIR DEGRADATION.
A facsimile reprint of the original work, the 151-page publication has soft covers; a preface; footnotes, many of which are annotated; a place-name index; and a general index. Priced at $21.00, it may be purchased by check, money order, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express from Heritage Books, Inc., 5810 Ruatan Street, Berwyn Heights, Maryland 20740. For phone orders, call toll free 1-800-876-6103; fax 410-558-6574; e-mail [email protected]; website www.HeritageBooks.com). To the price of the book, buyers should add the cost for shipping charges. For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $7.00 for one book and $2.50 for each additional copy