Outline:

Records of registrations of coats of arms – and the associated pedigrees – may be the only evidence there is of a lineage. This can help break down genealogical brick walls. But heraldry is often dismissed as difficult, recondite and of no contemporary relevance. Nonsense! Heraldry is a living science and art, and paradoxically very easy to understand.

In this podcast Dr Bruce Durie explains how heraldry works – with examples of real-life genealogies solved with heraldic records (Scottish, English and Irish)

Biography

Bruce Arnold is a writer and journalist. He has published twenty three books and is former Chief Critic of the Irish Independent, writing about art, theatre, music and politics. He was born in London, educated in the Cotswolds and then went to university in Dublin, reading Modern Languages. He is a Fellow of Trinity College. In 2003 he was made an Officer of the British Empire; the honour, bestowed by Queen Elizabeth, was for services to journalism and to Anglo-Irish relations. He earned a Doctorate of Letters from University College, Dublin, part of the National University of Ireland. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an honorary academician of the Royal Hibernian Academy.