The grid below attempts to clarify for you the scope and emphasis of several popular ONLINE FORUMS and WEBSITES which are likely to be helpful to you in your quest to uncover more about your Nolan family roots.

In the paragraphs which follow I provide a quick overview of what is happening in each of the major focus interest areas identified in the above table i.e. kinship, history, genealogy and DNA matching.

Kinship

Clann O Nolan (aka Clann O Nuallain or the Nolan Clan) is an international organization based in Carlow Ireland, the ancestral homeland of the Nolan lineage. The name is variously written. From its oldest form to the current modern spellings: O’Nuallain, Nuallain, Nowlan, Nolan, O’Nolan, Nolen, Nolin, Knowland, etc.

The Clan O Nolan facebook group is primarily focusing on “connecting to as many people [as possible] who are descendants of the Irish O’Nolan Clann and organising biannual gatherings of Nolan descendants from around the world.

Through its membership the Clann also maintains the NolanFamilies.org website focused on establishing and maintaining for the Clann a repository of Nolan-related historical information and anecdotes of likely interest to Nolan family researchers.

To join the Clann visit the Nolan Clan webpage at this website for more information.

History

The “NolanFamilies” Email-based History Discussion Group (an offshoot of this website) is where topics related to common Nolan family history and long-standing brick walls are identified and reviewed in the hope that it will lead to greater understanding by all of Nolan family history, with its many twists and turns, from most ancient times to the present.

In turn, this improved understanding is what fuels the writing and continual updating of the online Nolan family history book at this website, which, over time, will become the cornerstone of this website.

Genealogy

Of assistance to the Nolan family researcher are the many Family Treetop Stories from around the world and the Nolan Memorials (mainly in Ireland) found at this website.

Those with Nolan roots in the Co. Carlow area In Ireland may want to consult with Anna (Nolan) Gough who carries on a family tradition of helping Nolan families with their ancestral search. To help her in this effort she moderates The Nolan Clan facebook group (primarily focused on Nolan genealogical research in the Co. Carlow area).

For those just getting into genealogical research here are a few webpages to help you get started:

• Genealogy How-To & Online Services

• Genealogy in Ireland

• Findagrave.com (world’s largest gravesite collection)

• FamilySearch.org (general guide + free access to information records)

As your research progresses you will also want to collaborate with other genealogists. Here are a few good links for doing this.

• Geneanet.org – worldwide collaboration amongst genealogists

• Genealogy.com – index to Nolan-related Query Boards

• WikiTree.com – Index to Nolan families in world family tree

DNA Matching

Zak Jones moderates the “Nolan Surname – DNA Genealogy” Facebook Group in support of worldwide Nolan genetic genealogy using the autosomal DNA matching tools and GEDcom family trees available at the GEDmatch.com website (this website enables the comparison of autosomal DNA test results coming from the Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA.com and other DNA-testing companies). Zak also administers the Y-DNA test results grid at FamilytreeDNA website where Y-DNA results are grouped by family lineeealo.

To learn more about genetic genealogy you may also want to check out the following page of weblinks related to genetic genealogy and DNA testing.

Roger Nowlan, webmaster