Until we can travel again, find your legacy on Zoom through expert genealogists, DNA kits, and travel planners.
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HErita or ancestral journeys have taken on new meaning in these ongoing pandemic days as we try to find connections while we miss our loved ones. “It’s very popular right now and is very trendy,” says Edward Piegza, CEO and founder of Classic tripswho plans regular ancestral trips to countries like Italy and Greece. “With companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com It’s much more accessible and inspires people to explore their roots more than before. “
I count myself among those curious root researchers. It was always clear that my last name, Fitzsimmons, was from Ireland and Scotland. Think of Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, and Fitz, and you can deduce what “Fitz” means – “son of”. My family and I have made several trips to Ireland together, to the wild west coast near Galway, to the centuries-old Ashford Castle and the tiny town of Cong, to the villages of Kinsale and Cobh, the Titanic’s last stop to pick up passengers before they leave sailing across the Atlantic.
As St. Patrick’s Day approached, I missed my family, who were scattered around the globe, more. It seemed like the time was right to dive in a little more with a genealogist Dromoland Castle, a popular hotel in Ireland – and find a few other virtual options for people looking to explore their heritage, from Italy to Croatia to Africa.
Here is how I did it for Ireland and how you can find your roots through kits and digital connection until we can travel again.
Zoom in on your Irish roots
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Lorna Moloney, Dromoland Castle’s in-house genealogist, invited me to come with her to the castle’s cocktail bar – virtually, of course. “This is where I usually meet guests for genealogy sessions,” she said of Zoom, pointing to a photo of the bar with plush red velvet armchairs and towering windows overlooking the emerald lawn. Although I wish I was actually next to her by the flickering fireplace, I felt displaced for a moment. A week earlier I had sent her the only two family names I knew and their approximate dates of birth. She delved into historical church baptism and marriage records, identified where they came from, and showed photos of Kilkenny and Ballylanders in County Limerick.
I learned that one of my family names, Wise, is extremely rare in Ireland. For the first time I saw the obituary Lorna found in a local New York newspaper for my great-great-grandmother Delia Wise Lyons – I knew she settled in Brooklyn, but not that she was a public school teacher at PS 131 Their session could unearth some skeletons: Lorna mentioned that she spotted triple babies who died in another family or affairs that resulted in unfamiliar children. It’s her life’s work, and Lorna doesn’t seem to get confused by a sophisticated multi-branch family tree. She is a gifted storyteller who weaves family history together against the backdrop of Ireland – and when it comes to your story, she is compelling.
Book a session over Dromoland Castle for 220 euros, which includes all the research material she can find.
Find your African heritage
African Ancestry, founded in 2003, is used DNA test kits to find your ancestry, often going back more than 500 years and going back to a specific African country and ethnic group. “This is not a novelty for black people, it is a necessity,” said spokeswoman Nichole Taylor. “It brings the missing piece together in our identity puzzle. It also destroys the perception of Africa as a continent and helps people learn about the richness of their heritage and connect with them. “
It can be an overwhelming and emotional journey: The high-precision reports are a way for people of African descent who have been displaced by the slave trade to reliably find their African roots. In 2019, Ghana declared a Year of Return, encouraging people in the African diaspora to return 400 years after the first slaves landed in the United States, many of whom have connections to or from Ghana. African Ancestry organizes immersive birthright trips for families to return together anywhere on the continent.
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This year it has also stepped up its engagement on digital platforms, with a virtual identity summit on what it means to be African, family and company presentations, community presentations and celebrity interviews – Oprah Winfrey and John Legend both used the service.
Register on AfricanAncestry.com to buy kits and find out about upcoming online events.
For all over the world – and future travel planning
Classic trips conducts tours in over 50 countries on six continents and also specializes in cultural heritage tours around the world, including Italy, Spain, Vietnam and Croatia. “The cultural heritage experience doesn’t have to begin when you arrive in the land of your ancestors,” says Piegza. “We can start this afternoon.”
The company organizes personalized zoom calls and ancestral dives through its network of experienced local guides. This could be after a DNA test or just a deeper look into an area where you know you have roots. It works with too professional genealogists plan the Zoom sessions with you, create family trees and even write a family biography.
In addition, Classic Journeys plans trips if you feel inspired by what you’ve learned. It sent a family of 12, 3 generations deep, to Greece (3 of the men were called Achilles!); it included a deep dive on the island of Lesbos, home of the family’s ancestors.
Drink up your Scottish roots
My legacy is one of the largest family history and heritage resources, with more than 59 million users worldwide creating family trees and searching archives and records. With Scotland week Coming in April and so many Americans claim to have Scottish roots, now is a good time to order a DNA kit and see if you have Scottish heritage. Or when you know you know, hire local genealogist and historian Susie Douglas from Limits ancestors for a Zoom session that will tell you where your clan is from and what tartan you might claim. In future travel planning, work with a professional genealogist to help create a bespoke genealogy tour of Scotland. to plan Genealogy and clan research tours. We recommend doing this job with a glass of scotch whiskey in hand.
>> Next: The joys of virtual whiskey tasting
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