The Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) is pleased to announce that Máire Mac Conghail was recently elected a Vice-President of the Society.
Welcoming the election, IGRS Chairman Steven Smyrl said: “It gives us great pleasure to recognise Máire's exceptional contribution to Irish genealogy through her election as a Vice-President of the Society. Over a career spanning more than sixty years, she has become one of the most respected and influential figures in Irish genealogy, while her service to many of Ireland's leading archival and heritage institutions has made a lasting contribution to the preservation and study of Ireland's documentary heritage. It is particularly fitting that the Society should honour Máire in this way during its 90th anniversary year.”
Máire received her training at the Genealogical Office in Dublin Castle overseen by the late Eilish Ellis, later the first President of Accredited Genealogists Ireland, and the late Gerard Slevin, Chief Herald of Ireland. A graduate of University College Dublin, she was awarded the Diploma in Local Studies from NUI Maynooth in 1997 and, for more than two decades, taught adult education courses in family history in Kilternan, Co. Dublin.
A member of Accredited Genealogists Ireland since 1991, Máire served as Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and President of the organisation, and was subsequently elected a Fellow. Together with her colleague Paul Gorry, she co-authored Tracing Irish Ancestors, published by HarperCollins in 1997. She is also a Fellow of the IGRS and has served the Society as Chairman of its Ireland Branch and as a member of the Society's Council.
Beyond her professional work, Máire has contributed to a number of Ireland's leading cultural and heritage institutions, including the National Archives Advisory Council, the Board of the National Library of Ireland, and the Irish Manuscripts Commission. Her election as Vice-President recognises a lifetime of service to genealogy, archives and historical scholarship in Ireland.
