Honorary Research Fellow

I have been privileged to have been appointed recently as Honorary Research Fellow with the University of Strathclyde. I am looking forward to working with the team and advancing academic research into genetic genealogy.

The University is located in the heart of Glasgow and last year won Scottish University of the Year. I'll be working within the Department of Genealogical Studies which is part of the Centre for Lifelong Learning which itself is part of the Faculty of Humanities & Social Science.

Many of you will be familiar with the Department of Genealogical Studies as it runs several popular Postgraduate Courses, including the MSc in Genealogical Studies. These courses are organised by Course Director Tahitia McCabe and she presents an overview of what is on offer in this video here.

Genetic Genealogy is strongly represented among the courses offered and the team includes some familiar names including Graham Holton (Principal Tutor), Alasdair Macdonald and Dr Iain McDonald (Honorary Research Fellow), all of whom have spoken at Genetic Genealogy Ireland or Family Tree Live.

Research undertaken by the team includes the following:

Battle of Bannockburn Family History Project

In June 1314, the Battle of Bannockburn saw the Scots (under Robert the Bruce) beat the English (under Edward II). The project was established to mark the 700th anniversary of the battle and aimed to highlight some of the principle participants. The project has both a genealogical strand (which includes biographical information and 4-generation genealogies) and a genetic genealogy component, which utilises Y-DNA of living descendants to identify the genetic signature of the combatants.

Declaration of Arbroath Family History Project

Over 40 Scottish nobles appended their signature or seal to the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, asserting the independence of Scotland as a separate sovereign nation. This project also has both genealogical and genetic strands and aims to build the genealogies of each of the Scottish nobles and connect people living today with these signatories of the Declaration. Further information of the project can be found here. The output of this project will form the basis of a touring exhibition throughout Scotland. It is hoped that an online version of this exhibition will also be available.

The announcement of my appointment

Maurice Gleeson

Feb 2021