Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

I first came to learn about the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) when I enquired about any surviving records for the old Belfast Workhouse, as I knew that my great-grandmother had been born there in May 1900. While reading through discussions about the Workhouse on Belfast Forum, I kept seeing this five-digit acronym and decided to see for myself what is was all about. The official website told me that all I needed to visit was a piece of formal identification, so off I went the next day on my first trip, armed with my Passport and not a clue of what to do when I got there.

It was as straightforward as everyone made it out to be: go in the revolving front door, speak to the staff at Reception, fill in a 1-page form, show your ID, sit for a photo, and voila: you are a full-fledged PRONI member.

Copyright: DCAL

I remember being unquestionably intimidated by the scale of this building. It isn’t big in any grand, skyscraper sort of way, but right from the moment of entry you get the sense of what a large undertaking had and was still going on in order to hold all of the information that is contained within its walls. I happened to be visiting with a friend, but for any solo first-timers, it is easy to feel isolated and unsure of what to do. So, if you go there alone:

My first tip: make sure that you have pressed your membership card against the keypad at reception before you venture upstairs. After literally hundreds of visits, I still get to the Search Room, swipe my card, realise it is not activated, and then have to trek back down to Reception.

My second tip: spend some time by yourself on the computers in the Search Room that let you browse the entire PRONI index. You will do yourself a massive favour if you spend some time getting to know what types of materials PRONI holds, how to order them up, and even what the reference codes mean (I feel like I should have BG/7 tattooed on my forehead at this point.)

Copyright: British Genes

My third tip: bring some loose change with you. For little over £1, you can get a photocopy card with 5 credits. This is a godsend for when you want to print off records held on microfilm (e.g. baptisms, marriages, grave purchases.) Also, the nearest ATM is at the Odyssey Arena, so unless you want to be running back and forth across Titanic Quarter every time you want a scan of a 1903 street directory, try to remember to stick a few silver coins in your pocket.

Other than that, PRONI is what you make of it. If you spend half a day there, you will hear accents from North America, Canada, Australia, Eastern Europe, Asia, and anywhere else that a long-gone Irish clan lay down some roots more than a lifetime ago.

PRONI can be particularly useful for tracing more recent ancestors, especially compared to the pricier General Register Office office in Belfast city centre. For example, I had been told about a great-great-aunt who I never knew about, but wanted to uncover as much as possible. I didn't have enough to go on to find her in the 1911 census, so I was at a loss where to start. But finding her address on a 1916 school record for my great-grandmother (yep, *that* one) I was able to go through the directories held at PRONI and open for free consultation at all times in the Search Room. I went through them one-by-one and found her at that 1916 address all the way up until 1944. Then, travelling a whole 4 feet to the microfilm reel for Milltown’s burial records, I scanned through the pages for 1944, and within a few minutes I had found her date of death and grave-site - all without spending a penny.

Personally, the most exciting set of records held by PRONI is the 1939 National Register. After 1911, it is the nearest thing to a census that we have, as it will give the names, ages, and occupations of each person at a given address. Using the online enquiry form, you can apply for access to your family's entry, provided you have an exact or close estimation of their address. It is hoped that the entire Register will soon be available to view digitally, but until then, PRONI is the only way you are going to find out how your Northern Irish family was faring at the outbreak of World War II and introduction of ration books.

Redacted copy of my paternal grandparents' entry.

PRONI is and will hopefully remain the first port of call for anyone wanting to research Irish history. It holds millions of records in what must be an endless storage area (think of the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark) and yet, I had never heard of it before March 2013. In a nice twist of fate, I wound up working next door just 6 months later, and since then I continue to use as many lunch-breaks and early finishes as possible to get lost in its archives.

Copyright: Donal McCann

Learn more about PRONI and what it does by watching this short video below: