Daniel has only been a member of the online genealogical community a few months, but already his presence there has sparked a lot of excitement, not only for his willingness to participate in conversations and offer advice, but because his age makes him something of an anomaly. For a community that spends quite a bit of energy trying to get young people interested in their family history, Daniel is a genealogist’s wish come true.
Please introduce yourself, Daniel!
Hi there! My name is Daniel from Daniel’s Genealogy and I live in Ireland. I am a 15 year old (16 in October) interested in genealogy – something I think you wouldn’t have seen coming!
I do reviews on family tree builders, tips & tricks, and I did a handy organizer for your ancestors!
What made you become interested in family history? Was there a particular moment, person, thing that first sparked your interest?
A few days after the death of my grand-uncle in January 2017. I was sitting on my couch searching for free family tree builders because it made me think about how much I knew about my family and I didn’t know anything past my grandparents on both sides and since January 2017, I have been researching my family and I am so glad I started that journey before it’s too late…
Genealogically speaking, what takes up most of your free time at the moment?
I am not able to do much at the moment seeing as I am a student and what with homework and the like, but when I can research my family, I am trying to find any historical documents e.g. census, death, marriage, birth or baptism records detailing any family, children so I can make my tree as detailed as possible.
What was/is your biggest brick wall and how did you bust it down/how are you working on busting it down?
This may come off as a strange answer but while I am trying to track down the certs for my grand-aunts & grand-uncles, one of them who is my grand-aunt Delia, I was having an issue trying to find her birth cert and asked for help on the lovely community on social media and was given a suggestion: Bridget and found her straightaway!
What is your favourite website(s) related to family history research and genealogy? Why would you recommend it and what makes it special?
For me, I use Irish Genealogy as it is brilliant and you can get certs for free from 1863 onwards (that’s when civil registration started in Ireland). It’s filled in loads of gaps that I would never have imagined!
Another website is called Walk My Past and it does exactly what it says on the tin, people walk your past when you can’t/are unable. It is very useful. A genie on there named Tom had helped me track down my grand-aunt & her husband (I never knew that she had married) and he found a load of documents on them. Another lady named Tara had found her naturalization form with a picture attached (again, something that I had never seen). It is special because it is a community of those who are passionate about genealogy and want to help those who need it and I’m glad I’m part of it!
What advice would you give to genies starting out?
Start young before all your grandparents and their generation are gone. Secondly, I’m going to sound repetitive but it’s true, before you start getting yourself into researching your family, you need to compile absolutely everything from family members so you’re not going over things that people already know, also never be afraid to ask for help online, the genie community on Twitter help me quite often and if they can help me with a question or query, I don’t see why they can’t help you!
Where can you find Daniel online, you ask?
Daniel is on Instagram @daniels_genealogy
On Twitter @DanielGenealogy
Or his blog at http://www.danielsgenealogy.weebly.com
full civil registration started in Ireland in 1864, not 1863 – civil registration of non-Catholic marriages started in 1845.
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Daniel is really on the ball. I wish I had started at his age. This is a great series, Zoe!
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Same here! I was always interested in family history, but never did actual research and record hunting until the last few years. So much time wasted! Daniel’s got the right idea.
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My compliments to Daniel! He is absolutely right about interviewing grandparents and older relatives while they are still alive. Once they are gone, there is a huge vacuum of information.
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For sure! How I wish I asked more questions while my grandparents were living!
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We all have that feeling and that’s what makes us work harder.
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Great interview, Zoe! I enjoyed meeting Daniel, and his advice to start recording living history is spot-on.
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