Ruth Lawler - Biography

Australian-born Ruth Lawler, née Folan, has always had an interest in Irish genealogy and history, instilled in her by her father Kevin Folan, a Dublin man with strong Galway roots. Ruth originally trained as a nurse in Australia, and came to Ireland to marry Joe Lawler. Ruth and Joe run a bed-and-breakfast in their family home, St Brendan's, in the historic harbour town of Howth, Co Dublin. Now that her family has grown, she has finally found time to follow her lifelong interest in Irish family history. In June 1999 Ruth qualified in the Certificate in Genealogy Course at University College Dublin*. On completion of the course she won an Oscail scholarship, which subsequently enabled her to enroll for a B.A. Humanities course at National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Ruth is a founding member of the Certificate Genealogists Alumni Group at UCD, and a committee member of the Irish Family History Society. She has also lectured in genealogy to various groups including Fingal County Libraries and the Ireland/Australian Association.

In the course of research for the William Smith O'Brien database Ruth discovered a number of other smaller petitions, including other memorials from the period and Repeal of the Union petitions, which she hopes to have published at a later date.

Electronic publication of the Smith-O'Brien petitions has been financed by Eneclann Ltd. However, Ruth worked independently on this project for an initial two years with no funding. Eneclann is delighted to now have the opportunity to publish these petitions, and make them available to a wider audience. Ruth Lawler's dedication and hard work has paid off. She has succeeded in extending our knowledge of the Irish population in Britain and Ireland at the height of the Famine.

* The only recognized 3rd level course in Genealogy in Ireland.