“The Route Back Home”, Ballymoney’s international family history conference, has been a huge success with delegates from across the globe arriving in the Town Hall in search of their ancestors.

“The Route Back Home” concentrated entirely on how to research family history in the Ballymoney region and this made it the first genealogy conference in Northern Ireland to focus on a specific locality. Many of the academics and speakers who attended the conference congratulated the organisers, Ballymoney Borough Council, on their visionary approach.  Praise also came from the delegates who had travelled from Australia, USA, Canada, Ireland and the UK, with a couple also making the trip from Norway!

The event was organised by the staff of Ballymoney Museum who began planning for “The Route Back Home” more than two years ago.  The weekend of activities began with a bus tour of some local graveyards, giving delegates an opportunity to enjoy the wonderful North Antrim countryside.  This was the first time that many of the delegates had visited ‘the Route’ and, for some, it was an emotional experience to see their beautiful ancestral home.

Over the following two days, the delegates were provided with a programme of lectures given by genealogy experts from the North of Ireland Family History Society (Coleraine Branch), the Public Record Office NI, Ulster Historical Foundation, the Centre for Migration Studies and Queen’s University.  LibrariesNI provided an extremely popular session and delegates were impressed with the provision for research provided by both Ballymoney Branch Library and the Local Studies Service in Ballymena.

Dorothy Arthur chose the conference to launch her much anticipated new book on the families buried in St. Patrick’s Parish Church Graveyard in Ballymoney.  The publication is a follow up to her recent book on the Old Church Graveyard and is already selling quickly to local genealogists.  Copies are available at Ballymoney Town Hall or by visiting www.ballymoneygraveyard.com .

The highlight of “The Route Back Home” was, for many, the evening reception on Friday. The night began with a drinks reception, hosted by the Mayor of Ballymoney, Bill Kennedy. As a token of their appreciation, the North of Ireland Family History Society presented the Mayor with a copy of his family tree which traced his ancestors back to the early 1800s.  A delicious meal followed, with the delegates and other guests enjoying the accompaniment of beautiful harp music from Sandra Kirk.  The night drew to a close with a humorous and enlightening talk on Ulster dialect by local raconteur and historian Alex Blair. 

Ballymoney Borough Council would like to thank everyone who contributed to “The Route Back Home” and helped to make it such a successful event.  Plans are already being considered for a second conference in 2012 with the intention of making this a regular event to attract ‘genealogy tourists’ from all over the world.

Some of the overseas delegates who attended the Route Back Home family history conference in Ballymoney, 1 & 2 October. Harpist, Sandra Kirk, provided entertainment throughout the reception. Photograph courtesy of Rusty Givens.