Ontario Genealogical Society Establishes Palatine Special Interest Group

The following announcement was written by the Ontario Genealogical Society:

The Ontario Genealogical Society has established a Special Interest Group for Irish Palatines.  They will have the same status as a Branch but will not be tied to a specific Geographic region.  With the inclusion of the Irish Palatines the OGS has a total of 31 Branches across Ontario.

The Palatines were Protestants who left the German Palatinate in 1709 at the invitation of Queen Anne of England.  They settled in various British colonies and 185 families settled in Ireland.  Beginning in the 1830's many of the Irish Palatines moved to Canada.  Today many Canadians have Irish Palatine ancestry, often without being aware of it since all they know is that their ancestor came from Ireland.

The SIG-IP is open to any person who sees value in exploring the common heritage of German language, Protestant religion, migration to Ireland and many ties of marriage to other Irish Palatine families.  As a Special Interest Group within the OGS, the SIG-IP will develop regular communications with its members, including a web site. It will offer opportunities for sessions at the annual OGS conference and will produce occasional publications to inform its members of Irish Palatine history and genealogy.

Anyone interested in this SIG should e-mail SIG-IP@ogs.on.ca.

The Ontario Genealogical Society is interested in establishing other SIGs and seeks  suggestions.  Since we hold the library of the now-defunct Huguenot Society of Canada, we particularly would like to form a Huguenot SIG.  For information on this or to suggest other SIGs, e-mail provoffice@ogs.on.ca.

Comments

[Tracey Doupe]

A friend of mine who is Irish and myself are going to Europe (alsace region) and were wondering which towns in Germany were considered Palatine. Both our families' history indicate that we came from IReland to Canada in the 1800's. We are both interested in any information we can get.

Thanks!

Tracey Doupe
Calgary