Madill Archive Project

The Madill Archive Project aimed to preserve, document and make publicly accessible maritime heritage records and traditional Irish boat designs.

The project was delivered by a partnership between Ulster University, PRONI, National Museums Northern Ireland, Marine Division, DAERA and Ulster Maritime Heritage and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Photograph of a skiff, 'Mary and Susan', at Newcastle, Co. Down — Photograph of the skiff, 'Mary and Susan', ashore at Newcastle, Co. Down (D4790/2/3/7/4)

The main aim of the project was to make a maritime archive created by Portstewart-born Harry Madill freely available to the public. Harry created the archive in response to his realisation that traditional fishing and sailing craft around the coast of Ulster were fast disappearing. The project archive is held at PRONI and comprises a number of elements.

Boat Surveys (D4790/1)

Drawing on his engineering background, Harry created surveys of 34 individual traditional wooden fishing and sailing vessels or vernacular vessel types. These surveys include Harry's own meticulous line drawings, all of which have been digitised.

The digitised drawings are available to access through the PRONI onsite catalogue and the eCatalogue. The remaining survey papers, which include research papers and photographs, will be accessible onsite at PRONI at the end of August 2023.

Line drawing by Harry Madill of a yawl, 'Marian' — Line drawing by Harry Madill of the 'Marian', a Co. Down yawl (D4790/1/1/1)

Photographs (D4790/2)

Harry took over 5000 photographs of traditional craft and recorded a wealth of information on individual vessels and vessel types. All of these photographs have been fully catalogued and a sample have been digitised.

The digitised photographs and a further 400 digital photographs from the collection of Dr Robin Ruddock will be available through the PRONI onsite catalogue and the eCatalogue at the end of August 2023. The remaining photographs will be accessible onsite at PRONI.

Photograph of a herring skiff, 'Anna', taken at Kilkeel, Co. Down — Photograph of the 'Anna', a South Down herring skiff, taken ashore at Kilkeel, Co. Down (D4790/2/3/2/3)

Oral History (D4790/3)

The archive includes oral history interviews conducted by Harry with fishermen and those working in maritime industries. Recordings of three individuals have been fully transcribed.

These transcriptions and the audio recordings will be available through the PRONI onsite catalogue and eCatalogue at the end of August 2023. Further recordings will be made available at the end of December 2023.

Reference Material (D4790/4)

A range of reference materials and reports on boats and fisheries compiled or written by Harry Madill will be catalogued and made available at the end of December 2023.

Madill Archive Project (D4790/5)

A key project output was a filmed oral history recording of Harry Madill conducted by Dr Wes Forsythe, Ulster University. A transcript of this interview is available through the PRONI onsite catalogue and eCatalogue. At present, the interview itself is only accessible through the PRONI onsite catalogue.

Searching the Madill Archive

You can search the Madill Archive on the eCatalogue under the catalogue reference number D4790. By selecting the 'Browse' options, you can navigate within the different sections of the archive. You can also search using keywords such as 'yawl', 'skiff', 'currach', 'drontheim'.

Help improve this page - send your feedback

What do you want to do?

report a problem

leave feedback

ask a question

Report a problem

Which problem did you find on this page? (Tick all that apply)

A link, button or video is not working

There is a spelling mistake

Information is missing, outdated or wrong

I can't find what I'm looking for

Another issue

You will not receive a reply. We will consider your feedback to help improve the site.

Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

Tell us more about the problem you're having with the nidirect website.

Enter your feedback

What is your question about?

Choose a topic for your question:

What to do next

Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk

If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit. Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

Employment and Support Allowance

Call 0800 587 1377

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

Personal Independence Payment

Call 0800 587 0932

If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

For queries about your GRONI account, email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk.

For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme, email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

For queries about:

Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about 60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly. We don't have access to information about you.

Extra comments (optional)

Translation help

Select a language