Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/09/2015
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location
Lackagh Parish Centre
Categories
Mike Feerick of Ireland Reaching Out (IrelandXO.com) spoke at our meeting on September 9th at 8pm. He addressed those present on the origins of Ireland XO, its progress to date and the opportunities for Ireland and Irish local communities in developing its Diaspora connections in the years ahead.
Ireland Reaching Out is the national Irish Diaspora programme. It aims to connect the 70 million Irish Diaspora worldwide through an online platform where people of Irish descent can research and discover their ancestral history, develop relationships with people in their parish of origin and engage with the wider Diaspora community. Ireland Reaching Out has volunteers across 1,000 Irish parishes who are reaching out to Diaspora who are researching their origins in their area, and also proactively researching the family histories of those who emigrating. Ireland Reaching Out volunteers ensure that returning members of the Irish Diaspora are greeted when they arrive and assisted with the local genealogical queries.
Mike Feerick
Mike is the founder and Chairman of Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO). A serial social entrepreneur, Mike is the CEO and Founder of Galway-based ALISON, one of the world’s largest free learning platforms for workplace skills with over 5 million registered worldwide. He holds a BBS (UL) and MBA (Harvard). Although raised in the Parish of Tiernascragh in East Galway, Mike was born in New York to parents from County Mayo. With family relations all over the world, Mike has a passionate interest in developing Diaspora Links to Ireland and is a frequent speaker on Irish Emigration History and Genealogy Worldwide, most recently in June in the USA, (Salt Lake City, UT/Casper, WY/Kansas City, MS) and in December 2014, The Botany Bay Historical Society in Sydney, Australia.
The library opened before the meeting for members who wished to borrow and/or return books.