PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE of NORTHERN IRELAND (PRONI )

Phone: (+44) 028 90 251318 (public enquiry's)
# (+44) 028 90 255905 (public search room)

Fax: (+44) 028 90 255999

Email: proni@doeni.gov.uk

URL: http://proni.nics.gov.uk/

Opening Hours

The Record Office is open to the public on weekdays between 9:15am and 4:45pm (8.45pm on Thursdays).

Admission

Free to the general public. Commercial researchers must pay a fee.

I spent hours looking around this website. Massive amounts of very good documentation available. Many, many major collections. Far too many to go over in this article. Everything from emigration, famine, church records, family trees, census..you name it!

I again suggest that you look through all these records on-line before you visit and see what you may want to take a look at. Much of the records housed at PRONI are of great value to the genealogy researcher. Give yourself lots of time to go through this place and you will certainly be rewarded for your trouble.

None of the documents housed at PRONI can be accessed on line. You'll have to go there yourself or have someone go for you. It was a little mystifying trying to find even the simplest thing on the site. The terminology got me I'm afraid. So I've compiled the highlights and you can look around the website at your leisure.

When You get there

On arrival you'll have to sign the attendance book and prove your identity. You'll have to apply for a reader's ticket that will be good for the rest of the calendar year. Just like most archives that are government owned there are stringent rules to follow. You'll have to understand what's expected of you before you are allowed in. From the description they give it seems a lot like many of our records repositories in Washington, DC and some Genealogy Libraries I've been to. Look up what you want, ask the attendant, they bring it to you.

Records are not freely accessible you'll have to order it through the computer, and wait for the document to be brought to you in the Reading Room. It should take no longer than 34 minutes to get your documents.

Documents can be requested up until to 4:15pm or 8:15pm on Thursdays. You may request only five documents at a time. There is a copying service that is run by the Records Office, however, not all documents may available for copying. You may have to copy it by hand or have it micro-filmed due to the fragile nature of the document. You can also trace documents by obtaining a special protective covering at the desk.

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