Latest news from PRONI stakeholder forum in Belfast

On Friday I attended the latest virtual stakeholder forum meeting with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni). As usual, it's all happening in Belfast!

Cataloguing

I unfortunately missed the first few minutes due to a computer issue, but managed to arrive in time for the latest cataloguing update from Lorraine Bourke. Some highlights:

The personal papers of the Reverend Alexander Cairns of the Methodist and Congregational Churches, including diaries, letters, scrapbooks, draft sermons and more, are being catalogued.

Papers from the East Belfast Historical Society are being digitised, and will be made available under D4750 by the end of this month.

Some further church records being worked on (with catalogue numbers, which may not be live yet):

• Derryvullan North in Co. Fermanagh, CR1/37
• Seagoe Parish Church, Co. Armagh, including some transcribed materials going back to 1660, CR1/49
• Annalong parish church, Co. Down, including burials from 1857 onwards, CR1/12/1
• Donaghcloney vestry records from 1872, CR1/103/4/1
• 3 notebooks of births, baptisms etc from Downpatrick Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church
• Athlone Baptist, marriages and minutes, CR11/1/5

Materials from the recently completed Colab project (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/06/latest-news-and-developments-from-proni.html) will be added to the PRONI catalogue under D4844.

Transcriptions of some interviews and photos by Marcus Patton, as part of his architectural history PhD of buildings in Northern Ireland from 1945 onwards, will be available on site under D4831.

A thousand glass plate negatives from Galgorm Castle will appear under D3027/8/C/1-3 for on site access. A hundred images from this are currently on display at the Braid Museum in Ballymena (http://www.thebraid.com/museum.aspx), until February 4th ; from Feb 20th-April 7th they will appear in an exhibition at PRONI itself.

Ailbhe Nic Lochlainn then informed us of progress on the cataloguing of the papers of Irish language body the Ultach Trust (Ulster Language, Traditions And Cultural Heritage; aka Iontabhas Ultach). There are 120 boxes of papers, and for the first time PRONI will be providing bilingual catalogue entries for these in both Irish and English. (I'm delighted to see the trust's papers will be available; many years ago I interviewed its late leader Aodán Mac Póilin for a student documentary I made in Bristol about the language, and am glad to see it is still thriving in its work).

We also heard from Lucy Wray about the Madill Archive Project, looking at the maritime archaeology work of Harry Madill who has been studying Irish traditional boats across the island of Ireland (and influences from them extending to Newfoundland, the USA and New Zealand). The work includes 33 surveys of traditional boats, research notes, 4500 photos and more. There are 9 interviews being transcribed from this, some 25 hours of recordings, available soon in 2023. Catalogued under D4790.

2022 annual release records 

Stephen Scarth paid tribute to the late Dr. Eamonn Phoenix before we were briefed on the current sensitivity review from records being released shortly from 1999 under the 20 years rule. 512 files are being released unredacted, 220 will have some redactions, with a further 29 remaining fully closed (mainly for personal data reasons). Issues discussed include devolution, the North-South implementation body, the Belfast to Dublin rail link and military property. The National Archives of Ireland is also doing a major release from the same period (see https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/annual-release-of-state-records-2022/).

Other snippets

Janet Hancock advised that late night opening on a Thursday will likely return in the new year, but not to the extent that it previously was – it will be likely just an hour or two extension on the main opening time, tbc.

There will be an event on June 22nd 2023 commemorating PRONI's centenary.

PRONI will also be at the Balmoral Show in May 2023.

PRONI is continuing its involvement with Beyond 2022 and the Virtual Records Treasury project.

PRONI will be hosting a 'Disability on the Record' exhibition, showing how language has changed across times with regards to disability issues, how far society has come, and how far it still has to go.

PRONI's Reading Room is closed this week for the annual Preservation Week, although the Public Search Room will remain open.

The four machines in the Public Search Room offering access to GRONI's Geni service need to be replaced, the machines have been ordered but have not yet arrived. There are also new TV screens on order for the documents ordering system.

Events Jan-Mar 2023

• Jan 26th 2023: Holocaust Memorial Day – Eve Kugler, Story of a Holocaust Survivor, 11am. (On site)
• Feb 16th 2023: Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies, Annie Tindley (Newcastle University), 7pm. (On site)
• Feb 23rd 2023: Mary Alice Young Launch Exhibition. (On site)
• Mar 8th 2023: Western Front Association, Dr Tim Bowman, the Disbandment of the Southern Irish Regiments (Zoom)
• Mar 9th 2023: Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies, Bronagh McShane (National University of Ireland), 7pm (Zoom)
• Mar 23rd 2023: 'A Tale of Three Books : Explorations in Belfast's Art History 1760-1888' by Eileen Black, 1pm. (On site)
• Mar 29th or 30th 2023: (TBC) Anniversary of Belfast Agreement/Good Friday Agreement, Conference focusing on records, resources, accounts & publications. (On site)

Finally, Roddy Hegarty, Director at the Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Memorial Library & Archive (www.ofiaich.ie), informed us that there will be a conference event in April 2023 commemorating the birth in 1922 of the Cardinal.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.