Directors
The directors of Massey and King are Steven Smyrl and Kit Smyrl.
Steven Smyrl
Steven Smyrl has practiced as a specialist in legal and probate genealogical research since the late 1980s. He founded Massey & King Ltd. in 1993 and it remains the Republic of Ireland’s only incorporated firm dedicated to legal genealogy where all staff hold a credential from Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI). Steven was admitted to membership of AGI in 1991 and has served as a Council member since 1992; he is a founding member of the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO), serving on its Council since 1992 and acting as chairman during the years 2000 to 2002. He serves on numerous other voluntary committees.
In 2012 he appeared alongside his brother and fellow director, Kit Smyrl, in the IFTA-nominated RTE primetime show ‘Dead Money’. Each episode told the story of a person who having died intestate and had lost contact with their family and how Massey & King used its skills to track them down for its clients.
He is author of Irish Methodists - Where Do I Start? the first in the series ‘Exploring Irish Genealogy’, published by CIGO in 1999. Published in 2000, he is also co-author with former AGI member, Eileen Ó Dúill, of number two in the same series, Irish Civil Registration – Where Do I Start? He has published in various journals and is an occasional contributor to Irish newspaper media and radio.
In 2003 he was instrumental in the improvement in data recorded in Irish deaths registrations through his input into the bill stages of the Civil Registration Act 2004. Since December 2005 it has been a legal requirement that all death registrations in the Republic note the deceased's parents' names , where the information is known. Later, in 2009, his input into the same debate in Northern Ireland brought about a similar change from December 2012.
In 2007 he was elected to the fellowship of the Irish Genealogical Research Society (founded in 1936) and subsequently, in 2010, he was elected its Chairman. In 2009 his research on Dublin's Protestant nonconformists was published under the title Dictionary of Dublin Dissent - Dublin's Protestant Dissenting Meeting Houses 1660-1920.
Kit Smyrl
Kit Smyrl came into probate research in the mid-1990s. At that time he managed much of the company's English, Welsh & Scottish research activities, and by the late years of that decade he had moved to Ireland on a permanent basis, taking up position as joint Director. In this capacity he retains general oversight of the company's UK and international work, liaising with both clients and solicitors.
Over the past few years, Kit's IT knowledge has proved particularly beneficial to the company. We now utilise a number of important in-house and Internet-based databases in our everyday work. Generally this has meant that our clients receive answers to their queries much more quickly than would previously have been possible.
In 2012 he appeared alongside his brother and fellow director, Steven Smyrl, in the IFTA-nominated RTE primetime show ‘Dead Money’. Each episode told the story of a person who having died intestate and had lost contact with their family and how Massey & King used its skills to track them down for its clients.
Kit also holds a credential from Accredited Genealogists Ireland.
