Dear Irish by Ancestry friends,
Welcome to this special FIRST ANNIVERSARY issue of RELATED!
We did it! One year ago, we set out with a simple ambition: to create a magazine companion to the viral community we built, one that felt like a global Irish family. A place where history, heritage, culture, travel, and story could meet on the page. Today, as this issue goes out to more than 130,000 members around the world, I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you for reading, for sharing your family stories, for sending us photographs and memories, and for reminding us, issue after issue, that Irish identity is both deeply rooted and wonderfully far-reaching.
From the beginning, this magazine has been shaped by a belief that Ireland is not a place of memory, but a living connection we have carried across generations and across oceans. For some of you, that connection is woven into years of effort, mapping your family lines. For others, it begins with curiosity, a surname, a faded photograph you can’t forget, or a question you’ve waited years to be asked. Now is the time. Wherever your journey starts, we are honored to be part of it.
This anniversary issue reflects that journey beautifully. We explore one of the most moving and revealing spaces in Irish heritage: the cemetery. Far from being silent places, graveyards and burial grounds are rich archives of community memory. Their headstones tell stories of migration, devotion, grief, resilience, and belonging. In this issue, we look at cemetery tours that bring local history vividly to life in Derry and Cork, and we examine the vital work of restoration and data collection on gravestones—efforts that are preserving precious information for family historians, researchers, and future generations. Every inscription saved from weather and time is, in its own way, an act of remembrance.
We are also delighted to bring you another memorable installment of Brigid’s Library Book Club, including an exclusive interview with best-selling author Emilia Hart. Her work THE SIRENS has captured the imaginations of readers with details of the convict ships heading from Ireland to Australia. In conversation, she reflects on storytelling, inspiration, and the threads that connect Irish women across time. It is a thoughtful and engaging feature, and I know many of you will savor it.
Elsewhere in this issue, you will find Irish by Ancestry member Madeleine Widdowson’s tale that reminds us why family history can be so compelling, and so surprising. What began as her search for family connections became an investigation that uncovered a murder lurking in the past. At its best, genealogy opens doors into real lives—messy, dramatic, tender, and unfinished—and asks us to see our ancestors as people shaped by the same passions, conflicts, and uncertainties we face today.
And, of course, there is always more. More travel inspiration, more cultural insight, more history uncovered, and more voices from across our far-flung community. That variety is at the heart of who we are. We know that being Irish means many things at once: a fascination with the old country, a commitment to preserving family records, a love of literature and music, and a desire to understand how the past continues to shape modern Ireland.
As we mark this first anniversary, we do so with gratitude and excitement. Gratitude for the trust you have placed in us, and excitement for where this shared journey will lead next. I especially want to thank our good friends, destination expert Jonathan Beaumont in Malahide, our genealogy experts Karlee Twiner Gladden in the U.S. and Mel Howesin Dublin, and the many, many community members from all over who generously share their expertise and input every day on the Irish by Ancestry FB group (Paula Heaney, Lily Hough, Helen Warington, Steven Malia, Máire-Ailís Ní Deoráin, and more—I’m thinking of you).
Thanks for celebrating with us. We hope every issue helps you discover something new—about Ireland, about your family, and yourself.
And thank you for being part of this vital community. Here’s to ONE YEAR of connection, discovery, and storytelling—and to many more ahead.
Sláinte!
Shelagh
SHELAGH BRALEY STARR
Editor
PS: October is Family History Research Month, do something to celebrate! Add Irish by Ancestry to your favorites, so you receive our updates and see our posts, and we can keep building this incredible community with you, no matter what the Algorithm does. Then subscribe to RELATED☘️ so it comes right to your inbox.
PPS: Be on the lookout for links to Karlee’s new classes, Embarking on Your Irish Genealogy Search, Oct. 20, 6pm EST; and Irish Sources You Didn’t Know You Needed, Nov. 17, 6 pm EST. Only $30 and you get a front-row (virtual) seat to ask Karlee all your genealogy questions.
Thank you, go raibh math agat. And may you be blessed by the ancestors you seek!
