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Certificate of Irish Heritage

When you join diaspora.ie you also get your own personal Certificate of Irish Heritage.


The Irish government recently announced that a privately owned company will be launching a Certificate of Irish Heritage. You have to prove eligibility however and some may find it difficult to locate old records, or object to the cost, so we thought we’d introduce our own and provide a choice!

It’s easy, immediate, and free – and when you join you can download your certificate here.

Enjoy!

And here’s an example of what your certificate will look like.
 
 

 

Official Irish Heritage Certificate

Update 2011: The Fexco website for the official Irish heritage certificate is also now live at heritagecertificate.ie. The certificate costs between €40.00 and €60.00 excluding delivery and VAT where applicable. It is available in different designs and a frame can be ordered as an option.

When you apply you will need to provide a formal ID; a copy of your driving licence, Social Security Card, or National Identity Document. You can also provide the name of one or two of your ancestors to appear on the certificate, as well as their year and county of birth if known.

When applying you may consent to be contacted with information about topics, goods and services relating to Ireland which the Minister for Foreign Affairs feels may be of interest to you. Such information will be provided via the Concessionaire in partnership with other Government bodies such as Culture Ireland or the Central Statistics Office etc, or State sponsored bodies such as Tourism Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the National Treasury Management Agency etc.

June 20th, 2010 | Tags: | Category: Heritage, Roots |

Minnesota Irish Cultural Center

In July 1838, three soldiers filed claims for land in what is now Saint Paul, Minnesota. Edward Phelan, John Hays and William Evans were all natives of Ireland and were some of the earliest settlers to the area. The first St Patricks Day parade took place in 1851, and by 1857 the Irish were the second largest foreign-born group in the region.

In the 2000 US Census 600,000 Minnesotans claimed Irish ancestry.

The Minnesota Irish Cultural Center was started in 2009 by a group of volunteers who, over a number of years, have nurtured the vision of creating a broad-based nonprofit Center dedicated to the study, preservation and celebration of Irish culture in all its many forms.

The center will provide services and facilities, and a degree of centralization, for the many clubs and organisations that promote and celebrate all things Irish in Minnesota. One of the aims is to become the local primary gateway to Ireland for all those of Irish ancestry living in the state.

Having established the center the priority now is to acquire a suitable property, in the right location, that will serve as a year-round base of operations. MICC has recently found a building along the St. Paul / Minneapolis border, near the intersection of Como Avenue and Highway 280, that meets the criteria.

Looking at the photos on the MICC website it certainly looks ideal. A variety of spaces that would cater for anything from small meetings, to dance and music classes, to conferences, and larger community events such as plays and dance evenings etc in the 3300 square foot ballroom area.

The Challenge
Local government budget cuts have created a hurdle as previously anticipated funding is no longer available. This means that the Minnesota Irish will have to ‘do it off their own backs’ and the center is calling for volunteers, donations, and corporate sponsors to help. If you live in Minnesota (or elsewhere) and can offer time or financial support this is a fantastic project to get involved in.

Here’s the link to the MICC website, and it would be great to do a follow up post in the future marking the next stage in the center’s evolution.

June 14th, 2010 | Category: Heritage, Spirit | Leave a comment