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This year marks the centenary of the local elections of 1920 which were pivotal in the history of local government in Ireland.
To mark these events, and because of their significance for the struggle for independence, the Dept. of Housing, Local Government & Heritage recently commissioned a publication from the Local Government Archivists and Records Managers to commemorate the 1920 local elections. 

Do you know anyone suffering with a mental health problem, someone in your family, neighbourhood or workplace. Maybe you have been stressed at a particular time in your life and needed help or were frightened, as someone you love presented as not being in their right mind. The truth is mental health problems are more common than we are prepared to admit.

As a young science fiction fan growing up in the 80s I had two main obsessions - the big budget Star Wars films, which I’d seen many times in the cinema, and the decidedly lower budgeted Doctor Who TV series on the BBC. 

Last week’s blog showed that Catherine McCormack gave birth to a baby boy, Patrick, on the 31 May 1916. The birth record stated that James, the father, was deceased at the time of his birth. This week we are attempting to find out what happened to James Senior.

Douglas Stuart has won the Booker Prize for Shuggie Bain, his debut novel about a boy in 1980s Glasgow trying to support his mother as she struggles with addiction and poverty. Chair of judges Margaret Busby said the judges' decision was unanimous and they only "took an hour to decide". The book is "challenging, intimate and gripping... anyone who reads it will never feel the same" she said.

Welcome to our family history blog. In week two we looked at the 1911 census for James McCormack and his wife Catherine. This week we will be looking at the births registers trying to find a birth certificate for James their son and if we are lucky any other children they might have had. We start as usual by accessing www.irishgenealogy.ie

November the month of the Holy Souls is a month of commemorations and remembrances of all our dead and in particular our war dead. Remembrance Day on the eleventh of November or Poppy day as it is sometimes called grew out of recognition of Armistice Day. The celebration of Armistice Day, traditionally a British reserve has spread worldwide and is referred to as Remembrance Day or Veterans Day depending on where you are.

Celebrate Science Week with Dublin City Libraries. There are a lot of books to enjoy from our TumbleBooks collection. Today we have chosen ‘50 Burning Questions’ written Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Ross Kinnaird.

You've found that perfect author but read all their books and are waiting patiently for the next one to come out. There may not even be a next one. The wait is just too long...

Welcome back, last week using the website www.irishgenealogy.ie we looked at how to find a marriage certificate. Our example was the marriage of James McCormack and Catherine Clarke who married in 1903. This week, staying with this couple, we are going to try tracing them on the 1911 census.