This St Patrick's Day, the Baltimore Sun published a great feature on our Volunteer of the Year 2014 , Roger McDonnell. Earlier in the year, Roger was invited to the Irish Embassey in Washington DC to receive his Ireland Reaching Out Award from Amabassador Anne Anderson.
Roger lives in Maryland, USA and joined Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO) in July 2012. He responded to an email from Ireland XO looking for volunteers who could provide genealogy assistance to people tracing their Irish ancestors and since then has become an invaluable member of the Ireland XO team.
Most of Roger’s time as Volunteer is spent reviewing messages from people looking to trace their Irish Ancestors and helping them “break down the genealogy brick walls that they face.” He says “knowing where to find information is the key to providing support.” He provides the HQ team with excellent technical support by tracking and reporting on various data on the Ireland XO website.
He is also the Parish Liaison for parishes in Co. Roscommon. He says “although I was somewhat apprehensive about being a parish liaison living in the States, it has not been a problem. I would encourage anyone outside Ireland who may be on the fence to give it a try.”
Ireland XO Heritage Resource Manager Clare Doyle says “Roger is a remarkable volunteer and like many of our volunteers, he is dedicated, very giving of his time and committed to providing advice and connecting with the Diaspora. I am delighted he has received this recognition from all involved in Ireland XO”.
Recently, Roger featured in an article by the Baltimore Sun which illustrated the work that he does for our members all over the world. Read the full article here
Ireland Reaching Out is proud to have a fantastic team of Volunteers, who are responsible for activating their local parishes, reaching out to the Diaspora who are researching their origins, and most importantly, ensuring that every returning member of the Irish Diaspora is greeted with a Cead Mile Failte. This year’s Volunteer of the Year Runner-up Nominees are Col Cafferky, NSW Austraia and Elwyn Soutter, Co. Antrim. Ireland Reaching Out would like to extend a congratulations to all three winners, and also a huge “Thank You” to all of its Volunteers.
We hope you have found the information we have shared helpful. While you are here, we have a small favour to ask. Ireland Reaching Out is a non-profit organisation that relies on public funding and donations to ensure a completely free family history advisory service to anyone of Irish heritage who needs help connecting with their Irish place of origin. If you would like to support our mission, please click on the donate button and make a contribution. Any amount, big or small, is appreciated and makes a difference.