Stories come alive thanks to new company

Were any of your ancestors involved in the discovery of a woman’s body in a Louth bog back in October 1849? She was buried there by her lover, a man from Ardee who married another.

Or perhaps you have relatives who lived through the War of Independence – in particular, November, 1920, when two IRA volunteers were murdered in Ardee by British forces.

You may be surprised at the times in which your recent ancestors lived, according to a new company which aims to make the past a present for future generations with a revolutionary new way of compiling family histories, which will prove a boon for those planning upcoming celebrations.

A unique new service, Histories In The Making, presents people’s family research in a readable and informative way, putting that information into a wider historical context and delivering it in a way that is readable for all the family.

They also deliver that research in more tech-friendly way by offering their clients updatable, interactive web pages that can be sent to family members all around the globe.

Most families have an amateur historian – the one person who provides information on the family tree if a milestone celebration or gathering is planned.

However, with the oral tradition dying, and many families now connected digitally around the world, there is a fear that this information will become stagnant or lost.

David Lawlor, of Histories In The Making said: ‘We want to package the past for families. Very often, people will either have scraps of information about an ancestor or they might have a vast tome of genealogical research that is difficult to read.

‘We knit their stories together and package what people have discovered, putting it into a broader historical context.

‘We produce printed posters and brochures, and also offer clients a secure digital file, which is easily updated to the entire family network in real time, allowing the family history to grow organically as time moves on.

David a journalist and histo- ry blogger who has written six novels, likes nothing more than to tell a story.

He said: ‘As the country starts to wind down its centenary celebrations for 1916, one thing is for sure – the past has never felt so present in all our lives.

‘An industry has grown up around people’s search to understand who they are and where their ancestors came from.

“With more and more families migrating to far-flung lands, the bonds that tie relatives together are being stretched to breaking point.

‘ The oral history that was once passed down from generation to generation about our ancestors is being lost.

‘ Thankfully, there are family members who will step forward and try to retrieve their pasts through genealogical research.

‘ The downside to that lies in the dry, uninspiring report that is usually the product of such work – which is where we come in’.

For further information on this company, go to www.historiesinthemaking.ie or email: historiesinthemaking@gmail. com.