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SIG GroupDate of MeetingDiscussion TopicDescriptionHandout LinkSupplemental Documents
Irish SIG04/14/2026Irish in the West

The West Coast of the US is made up of the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.

According to David Quimette's presentation at BYU, there weren't regular schedules of ship departures
from Ireland, so people may have stayed in a port city while they waited. Ireland had an elaborate canal
system helping get from one point to another. Later there were railways and stage lines that connected all
the major cities. "Ultimately, many would have walked."

The East Coast was already crowded, and the Midwest, while it had job opportunities, the jobs were
being filled quickly and land was becoming less available.

The west coast still had jobs available on the railways as they expanded westward and there were
opportunities in mining and lumber mills. Land was cheap in comparison to the East and Midwest.

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AI SIG04/01/2026How to use AI to build better research questions and stronger research plansThis AI SIG session is worth watching if you have ever felt stuck between a genealogy puzzle and not knowing what to do next. Instead of treating AI like a magic answer machine, the meeting shows how to use it to build better research questions and stronger research plans. Janet walks through three real member case studies, including a parentage problem in Indiana, a missing immigrant tied to DNA evidence, and a German ancestor with conflicting reports of where he died. What makes the session especially useful is how practical it is. You see how to guide AI step by step, how to push back when its first answer is incomplete, and how to ask for specific record sets and repositories instead of generic advice. There is also a helpful reminder that AI still needs supervision, especially with translation and transcription work. If you want a smarter, more organized way to tackle research problems, this recording is well worth your time. This email version is drawn from the transcript’s emphasis on the four-prompt workflow, the three member examples, and the caution to verify AI output rather than trust it blindly.Download Here
AI SIG03/04/2026 Translation and transcription Key Takeaways • Translation and transcription are two different problems — they often require different tools • AI can identify a document, not just translate it • Image quality is not a minor detail — better input means better output • When one tool falls short, try another — no single tool wins every time • Staying in the same conversation matters — ChatGPT remembers context across a session • Verify before you add to your tree — AI gives analysis; you make the final call • The tools work best when chained — Transkribus to transcribe, then DeepL or ChatGPT to translate and analyzeDownload Here
Irish SIG03/10/2026Irish in the MidwestIrish SIGDownload Here
Irish SIG02/10/2026Irish on the East CoastDownload Here
AI SIG02/04/2026Prompt TuningThis month we dove deep into the anatomy of effective prompts and practiced improving them together in real-time. The key insight: small wording changes can lead to dramatically better results. Key Takeaways • Good prompts have four essential elements • Iterative refinement produces better results than trying to get it perfect the first time • AI has infinite patience—you can keep refining and trying again • Context matters enormously for quality outputDownload Here
Irish SIG01/20/2026Irish In CanadaDownload Here
AI SIG01/07/2026General AI InformationThis is a recap of what was discussed during out first AI SIG meetingDownload Here
Irish SIG11/04/2025Websites Old and NewWebsites Old and New Sources and NotesDownload Here
Irish SIG10/14/2025Grace O'Malley 1530 - 1603The meeting covered GRACE O’MALLEY (Gráinne Ni Mháille) (pron Granya nah wallyah) 1530 – 1603 -- The family motto “Terra Marique Putens” translates to “Valiant by sea and land. She was born in the west of Ireland while Henry VIII was King of England. She was the daughter of Eoghan Dubhara Ó Máille, Chief of the O’Malley clan. In her early years the Irish clans were le to their own devices with not much interference from England. But, this changed during the Tudor Conquest. Tudor Conquest – 16TH C, Henry VIII was made King of Ireland and the system of “surrender and regrant” began; confisca on of land, planta ons established, Irish law and language was banned sparking the Desmond Rebellions and the Nine Years War Her family was based in Clew Bay, Co. Mayo and they controlled most of SW Co. Mayo. They were one of the seafaring clans of Connacht and they built a row of castles along the coast to protect their territory. They collected rent from those who fished off their coast.Download Here