The Evening Echo - September 2023
The Limerick Post - June 2023
A GROUP of volunteers in Limerick are reconnecting the Irish diaspora with ancestors who left Ireland in days gone by.
Ireland Reaching Out, an organisation with volunteers all over the country, aim to reconnect those with Irish family to the places they come from, and encourage them to visit and see where their ancestors lived, and possibly meet some long lost relatives if they’re still in the area.
https://www.limerickpost.ie/2023/06/03/volunteer-group-helping-to-reconnect-descendants-of-limerick/
The Irish Examiner - May 2023
Genealogy tourism is at an all time high after Joe Biden's visit and volunteers across the country are meeting and greeting visitiors to Ireland looking to trace their ancestry. The programme is one of a kind in Ireland where visitors can log their visit and get matched with a local volunteer who will meet with them, share history and chat about their genealogy.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41134279.html
Irish Central - June 2015
"Epic Journeys Ellis Island" exhibition tracks 71 people from Clare's stories of emmigration
A new online exhibition by Ireland Reaching out, “Epic Journeys Ellis Island,” the result of extensive research, has been launched from Tulla, County Clare. The exhibit tells the stories of 71 residents from the small town who left Ireland at the turn of the 19th century and arrived in New York, bound for a new life.
The Clare Champion - September 2015
Exhibition tells stories of emigrants' epic journeys
Epic Journeys Ellis Island brings to life the experiences of people who left Ireland at the turn of the 20th Century and passed through the Emigration Station at Ellis Island before scattering to all parts of North America to begin a new life.
The Irish Times - July 2015
Julia Hildebrand writes about how Ireland Reaching Out enables communities to form new relationships with the diaspora, but half of Ireland’s parishes are still disconnected.
"When Christine Timoney came to Ireland for the first time to follow the traces of her Irish roots she left dissatisfied with the information she had found. When she came to Ireland the second time a few years later it was a different experience. This time she had started her journey on the of website Ireland Reaching Out which is at the heart of the successful Ireland Reaching Out programme that aims to reconnect the diaspora to their place of origin in Ireland."
Irish Central - June 2015
Ireland Reaching Out launches new enhanced website for diaspora at Iveagh House
"The new enhanced website was launched today by Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO). Ireland Reaching Out connects people of Irish heritage around the world to their ancestral parishes and counties in Ireland, enabling them to celebrate, and nurture, our shared cultural identity and heritage with local Irish communities."
The Economist - June 2015
Joel Budd explores the impact of Diaspora strategies world wide and highlights the innovative work being done in Ireland.
"Ireland Reaching Out, a non-profit organisation financed largely by the Irish government, has pioneered what it calls “reverse genealogy”. Rather than waiting for people to trace their Irish ancestry, it constructs family trees from root to branch, tracking down the descendants of those who left for America, Australia and other countries."
Irish Central - April 2015
Huge roots boost as 400,000 parish records go online
"This is a great advancement for those researching their Irish family history,” commented Clare Doyle, Heritage Resource Manager with Ireland Reaching Out, Ireland’s program for the diaspora."
Irish Post UK - April 2015
Significant’ genealogy project makes 400,000 historic records publicly available this summer
“This is the most significant genealogy project in the history of the NLI. The microfilms have been available to visitors to the NLI since the 1970s, however, their digitisation means that, for the first time, anyone who likes will be able to access these registers without having to travel to Dublin.”
Baltimore Sun - March 2015
Jacksonville resident scours old records, helps people reconnect with their Irish roots
"McDonnell is a volunteer for Ireland Reaching Out, an Irish-government-sponsored program to connect with people around the world who claim Irish roots. Working on line, he serves as a parish liaison in Roscommon, home to some of his Irish ancestors."
Irish Independent - November 2013
The emigrants we're bringing home ourselves
"IRO has been a phenomenal project for us, with far-reaching implications; it's got us thinking about preservation, heritage, the unique features we have here."
Eolas Magazine - August 2013
“In an ever more virtual world, people’s sense of connection by blood to a physical place is perhaps becoming more important as people seek to find out what is unique about them and their own.”
Irish Independent - March 2012
Enda shows how we can all give hand to diaspora
“This is a rather ingenious scheme which reverses the usual process of Americans, British and sundry nationalities searching for their Irish roots. Instead, local parishes all around the country research their records, identify those who left and track down their descendants, inviting them to join the global community of 70 million of so Irish diaspora. “
Irish Central - July 2011
“It’s about re-imagining Ireland. We’re putting together a jigsaw and coming to a new understanding. We’re not just a small island off the coast of Europe, we’re the mother ship of a global tribe.”
New York Times - July 2011
In tough times, Irish call their Diaspora
“And by appealing to the Irish to come home, if only for a visit, the project could even help revive the local economy.”