The following libraries and archives in Belfast are also open to members of the public and, depending on opening times, may be visited during the Summer School. We would also suggest that you consider setting aside some time either before or after the Summer School to visit them. We can provide advice on how their holdings can help you in your research.
General Register Office
Oxford House, 49/55 Chichester Street, Belfast, BT1 4HL
www.groni.gov.uk
The official keeping of all births, deaths and marriages began in Ireland in 1864. Prior to this non-Catholic marriages had been officially recorded, but only since 1 April 1845. The General Register Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI) is located in Chichester Street in Belfast and has records of births, marriages and deaths for the six counties that now make up Northern Ireland from 1864 onwards. At GRONI it is possible for members of the public to book an index search (with verification of entries by staff) or an assisted search which allows for a general search of records for any period of years and any number of entries. Advance booking is advisable.
Linen Hall Library
17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, BT1 5GD
www.linenhall.com/Home/home.html
Belfast also has several excellent libraries. The Linen Hall Library in Donegall Square North was founded in 1788 as the Belfast Reading Society and is the oldest library in Belfast. The Irish and Local Studies Collection is particularly strong on published material for Belfast and Counties Antrim and Down. Its Genealogical Collection is unsurpassed in Northern Ireland for the sheer numbers of published family histories on its open shelves. In all the Library houses more than 250,000 volumes, 75,000 pamphlets, plus significant holdings of periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, maps, microforms, photographs, films and recordings. Among its useful resources for genealogists is the card index to birth, marriage and death notices in the Belfast Newsletter covering the period from 1800 to 1864.
Belfast Central Library
Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1 1EA
www.belb.org.uk
Opened in 1888 Belfast Central Library in Royal Avenue is the city’s principal library and houses some 1,000,000 volumes. Special collections include the 10,000 volume Natural History Collection; a rare book collection, and the Irish Collection. The last of these is the largest in Northern Ireland, and includes the 4,000 volume Francis Joseph Bigger Collection. The Bigger Collection is complemented by the Bigger Archive, with 10,000 items of archaeological, historical and biographical interest. Bigger (1863–1926), the grandson of United Irishman David Bigger, was a successful lawyer and member of the Gaelic League who assembled an impressive collection of books, pamphlets and bound manuscripts of Irish historical, archaeological and antiquarian interest. A section within Central Library is the Belfast Newspaper Library which has almost complete runs of the Belfast Telegraph, Newsletter, Irish News and Northern Whig.
Presbyterian Historical Society
26 College Green, Belfast, BT7 1LN
www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com
The Presbyterian Historical Society was created in 1906 to promote public awareness of the history of the various strands of Presbyterianism in Ireland. Once described as a ‘Treasure House of Ulster’s History’, the Library of the Presbyterian Historical Society contains some 12,000 books and pamphlets. These are mainly concerned with ecclesiastical history and in particular Presbyterian history. The collection includes a large number of congregational histories. A set of The Witness, a Presbyterian newspaper covering the period 1874–1941, is also available for consultation, as are the printed minutes of the General Assembly beginning in 1840. Manuscript materials include session minutes, baptisms and marriages from individual churches as well as some presbytery minutes, some of which date from the seventeenth century. The society also has a duplicate set of the microfilm copies of Presbyterian Church registers held by PRONI covering the vast majority of Presbyterian congregations in Ireland.
Ulster Historical Foundation
49 Malone Road, Belfast, BT9 6RY
www.ancestryireland.com
The Ulster Historical Foundation is now based at 49 Malone Road which it hopes to make its long-term home. Here in a dedicated space there will is a library and resource centre. The Foundation is a not-for-profit educational charity which was founded in 1956. For over half a century the Ulster Historical Foundation has been conducting genealogical research on behalf of clients and to date has completed some 13,000 ancestral reports. The Foundation has also published a broad range of books looking at different aspects of Irish history and genealogy, and organises conferences, family history workshops and lectures tours. Among the Foundation’s electronic resources is a large database of civil and church records mainly relating to counties Antrim and Down, including the city of Belfast.
