Records held by PRONI

What 'archives' are

Private organisations, government organisations, families and individuals create and acquire records during their business or personal activities. Archives are those records which no longer have an everyday use, yet have been kept because of their historical value.

Many archives will have been transferred to an archive organisation like PRONI for long term preservation. In essence they are the ‘community memory’ - a unique and irreplaceable source of information about the past extending over many centuries.

Most documents are written on either paper or parchment (which is made from the skin of animals).  However, they may also be in electronic format. 

Archives can come in many different formats, for example:

• files
• volumes, sometimes with decorative bindings and gilt lettering
• individual documents, such as letters
• e-mails
• photographs
• maps and plans
• word-processed and electronic documents

Why archives are kept

There are various reasons why archives may be preserved:

To learn about the past

If you want to find out about something that happened in the past or about a character in history, then you would have to look at archives, to analyze the evidence and decide what the evidence is telling you.

Without a documented heritage in the form of archives, knowledge of communities, families and the built environment would be poor.  Archives can help communities and individuals understand who they are and how they came to be the way they are.

Archives can also provide a stimulating and exciting learning environment - for schools, universities and for the lifelong learner.   They help to enrich and enhance teaching at all levels.

For evidential reasons

Archives have long been kept as evidence, to be used in a court of law if necessary, as proof of rights and entitlements.  For example:

• wills are kept as proof of inheritance
• title deeds as proof of ownership of land or of mineral rights
• registers of births, marriages and deaths are kept as evidence of identity and are needed for a whole range of purposes from passports to pensions

For democratic accountability

Citizens have a general right of access to information about the activities carried out by government organisations acting on their behalf.

Government records, whether of central government, local government or of other public bodies, are vital for democratic accountability.  Without archives that document the decisions of government and how those decisions were made, there could be no public scrutiny of government activities.

Records held by PRONI 

The records held in PRONI fall into two main categories:

Public records

PRONI holds public records mainly dating from the formation of Northern Ireland (1921) to the present day. A small number date back to the nineteenth and late eighteenth centuries.  ‘Public record’ generally refers to any document created by ‘official’ sources such as:

• government departments, such as the Ministry of Agriculture (AG), Cabinet Secretariat (CAB), or the Department of Finance (FIN)
• non-departmental public organisations such as the courts, schools and hospitals

Private records

PRONI also holds a diverse range of privately deposited records such as letters, journals, diaries, photographs and albums. 

Public records (departmental)

The following is a list of departmental public records held by PRONI, along with their classification reference prefix:

Public records (non-departmental)

The following is a list of non-departmental public records held by PRONI, along with their classification reference prefix:

Privately deposited records

Privately deposited records originate from a variety of sources such as local political parties, private individuals and organisations, business, churches and landed estates.  Some examples include:

• business records
• census records
• church records
• emigration records
• pedigrees and genealogical records
• landed Estate records
• newspapers
• photographs
• political papers
• family papers
• solicitors’ papers
• wills and testamentary papers
• sporting association papers

Introductions to some of the most significant private collections at PRONI have been compiled and are available online.  These introductions generally summarise the contents of the archive and give a wealth of information about the family or organisation who created the archive.

To find out more about how PRONI's archives are organised, visit the eCatalogue section.