To mark its 80th anniversary in 2016, the Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) elected two long-standing members, Dr. Terrence M. Punch of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Zita Kelly of London, England, as honorary life members.
In an announcement released yesterday, IGRS chairman Steven Smyrl said, “It seemed so fitting that we should complete these celebrations by recognising the work of two of our stalwart members; two people who have generously given so much of their time and expertise to Irish genealogy and genealogists over so many years.”
Dr. Punch is a well-known speaker, teacher and writer on genealogy and history. He joined the IGRS in 1959 and since then has always been a regular contributor to the society’s journal. He holds masters and doctoral degrees from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. His thesis at Dalhousie University discussed the Irish adaptation to Halifax from 1815 to 1871. He has held the chair of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes, and the Charitable Irish Society. He is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and a former trustee of the Public Archives of Nova Scotia.
Among Dr. Punch’s numerous publications are Irish Halifax: The Immigrant Generation, 1815-1859, Sons of Erin in Nova Scotia, Genealogical Research in Nova Scotia (four editions), and four volumes of Erin’s Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada, 1761-1853. He edited The Genealogist’s Handbook for Atlantic Canada Research, and is a regular columnist in The Canadian History Magazine, Saltscapes, and the Seniors’ Advocate, and has twice won awards for historical writing from the Canadian Authors Association. His latest book, Montbéliard Immigration to Nova Scotia, 1749 – 1752, was published in 2013.
In 2011, Dr. Punch was appointed to the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour. The citation accompanying the award notes “his contributions to the development and popularization of genealogy in the Atlantic provinces” of Canada.
Ms. Kelly is an Irish genealogist with an enormous depth of understanding of resources, particularly those held by the National Archives of Ireland, National Library of Ireland and the Registry of Deeds. She undertook voluntary work for members in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin, as well as in the National Library, Dublin, and in the British Library’s Newspaper Library, London. In 1991, Ms. Kelly was elected a Fellow of the Society.
IGRS is based in England.
Last article
This week, after 15 years of writing for the Halifax ChronicleHerald‘s monthly publication, Seniors’ Advocate and Senior Living, Dr. Punch wrote his last article, Authentic research vs. fishing expedition. No surprise, the article was about genealogy.
