Tag: Website

dublin.ie

Dublin-based folks may find some of the resources on dublin.ie useful/interesting.

The range of information available is broad, covering everything from where to find amenities like recycling centres, libraries, leisure centres and polling stations, to an online library of free publications on topics such as community gardens, green living and childcare.

The How can I? section lets you filter for FAQs based on theme, such as health, politics, entertainment and learning.

There’s also an events calendar, if you’re looking for something to do. It’s filterable by category and sorted by date. Events are both free and paid, but that’s not a filterable option. You can even add your own events, or other events you know of that aren’t already listed.

Definitely worth a poke around, whether you’re a resident or a visitor.

Downloadables

I quite enjoy whiling away the odd bit of free time creating my own templates, page layouts, and the like. It’s a side effect of the whole tech comms thing. But an odd bit of free time doesn’t tend to coincide with an urgent need for a printable resource.

The internet, though, is a mad place of infinite wonder and abundent with lovely printables/downloadables that someone else has needed, created, and been gracious enough to share.

Some examples below – some of which I’ve used, and some I’ve just found now to illustrate a point! šŸ™‚

  • Stuck for a piece of graph paper – bog standard, or wildly unusual – don’t have time to go visit a stationers, and lack the patience to spend your evening trying to draw your own? A quick search for “free downloadable graph paper” should point you at sites likeĀ incompetech.com/graphpaper/.
  • Kids learning to write and need extra sheets from those weird copy books with the extra lines showing you were the rising and falling bits of their letters should end? Try printablepaper.net/category/penmanship
    (I did actually spend too much time with Excel trying to reinvent the wheel before finding that one!)
  • How about handwriting sheets with letters/words ready to trace? How about handwritingworksheets.com or worksheetworks.com/english/writing/handwriting.html. Both of these sites will even let you specify what practice text you want on the sheet.
  • And it doesn’t have to be all about academic stuff. How about a printable garden planner, so that you can make the most of your outside space? Check out frugalliving.about.com/od/gardening/ss/Printable-Garden-Notebook.htm
  • Or tracking household stuff, like family schedules, memberships/subscriptions, meal plans, and the like. There are sites like thenesteffect.com/p/free-printables.html.

The resources out there really are endless. Many are free, some ask for a contribution if you find them useful, and if you go looking you can find paid for offerings too – often, but not always, of a superior quality.

If you’ve stumbled across a gem the world deserves to know about, do give it a shout out in the comments.

Mapping Where Your Ancestors Came From

Whenever I discover a new likely ancestor who was born, married, or died in a townland or parish I’ve not heard of before, I have to call my mum to ask whether it’s likely we had family living there. 9 times out of 10, she can tell in an instant that there’s no way we’d have people there, or that I’m on to a sure thing. And sometimes a place name that hasn’t come up before will bring out some forgotten family connections or names and relationships, opening up a treasure trove of research opportunity.

My mum knows the lie of the land like the back of her hand; I haven’t a clue, and just can’t seem to retain the information she patiently imparts, over and over and over again.

So, recently I decided to try Google before plaguing her once more on where such-and-such-a-place was in relation to such-another-place, where we definitely had family, and I came upon this wonderful resource: an interactive map of Irish counties, baronies, civil parishes and townlands!

Continue reading “Mapping Where Your Ancestors Came From”