Dr Trainor succeeded Ken Darwin as Director of PRONI in 1970, and seized the opportunity to realise his vision as the office moved to purpose-built premises in Balmoral Avenue. Now the major holdings
of documents could be stored under proper conditions and accessed by students, academics, genealogists and casual researchers alike. An accrual of additional staff to locate, acquire and process new documentary collections, on an unprecedented scale, facilitated the dawning of a golden age as he oversaw PRONI becoming an outstanding source of academic riches, producing pioneering studies in
the field of social, economic and political history. A programme of publications was launched (Aspects of Irish Social History, which he edited with Bill Crawford, went into several reprints and remains a classic), resource packs for teachers produced, seminars and exhibitions hosted, programmes of local history lectures undertaken, teachers seconded (this in liaison with the Department for Education Northern Ireland (DENI) History Inspectorate), links formed with universities and academic institutions throughout Ireland, and scholarship encouraged. With extraordinary application, he created an outpost
which embodied his ideal of an institution where archives and documentary collections were made freely available for purposes of furthering an objective and evidence-based understanding of our shared past. The vision succeeded because it so strongly reflected Trainor’s own work ethic and personal values. It was a vocation as much as a profession.
This mission was initially carried out with the minimum of intervention from officialdom in Stormont. That began to change, however, when collections of governmental records dating from the foundation of the Northern Ireland state began to be added to the PRONI holdings. The 30-year rule for access to these holdings, and the need to act in conformity with practice elsewhere in the UK, inevitably introduced constraints on the use to which some of these records could be put: controversy arose as academics were denied sight of what they suspected was information reflecting adversely on former Unionist administrations. Such constraints were contrary to Trainor’s instincts. It was a world that he found frustrating and increasingly uncongenial.
He took early retirement in 1987 to devote himself to the work of the Ulster Historical Foundation, an independent historical and genealogical research and publication agency, formerly part of PRONI. Among his contributions to the Foundation’s development were the annual lecture tours 1989–2013 in the United States (44 of the 50 states visited) and Canada, involving herculean travel by Greyhound bus and hired car, delivering lectures to audiences with an increasing appetite for information on sources that would inform their interest in Irish heritage. He also championed UHF’s formative involvement in
the landmark Irish Genealogical Project, an all-Ireland initiative (of the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF) to which Ulster Historical Foundation is a significant contributor) compiling databases from church and civil birth, death and marriage records. He edited Familia’s sister publication, The Directory of Irish Family History Research, until his retirement as Research Director in 2006. Following his retirement he continued with the famous lecture tours until the age of 85. He was closely involved in the 1980s in the campaigns to save the Linen Hall Library and Friar’s Bush graveyard, both integral features of Belfast’s heritage.
His archival vision incorporated a strong all-Ireland identity, something that was recognised by Dr Garret Fitzgerald in 1987 who appointed him chair of the Management Committee of the National Archives Advisory Committee. Throughout the 1970s he served on the Irish Manuscripts Commission and was Chairman 1976–77 and 1987–99. Among his publication initiatives was the first output from the Women’s History Project (The Drennan McTier Letters, 1776–1819). He also ensured that the records arising from the very successful Irish Manuscripts Commission’s business records survey were entrusted to the National Archives of Ireland.
Dr Trainor was awarded two honorary doctorates, in 1984 by the University of Ulster and in 1986 by the National University of Ireland. He is survived by his wife Pilar, originally from Madrid, his children,
Rosana, Pancho and Katrina, and five grandsons, Santi, Milo, Jacob, Beni and Sami. After his funeral, in accordance with his wishes, his remains were returned to Coleraine for burial among his own. An old friend from those days sketched a picture of the young Brian studying his books as he lay among the dunes on Portrush strand; after an hour or two he would set off to swim the full length of the bay as far as the bar mouth and then back again, to return to his books, applauded by the watching holiday-makers.
Brian Trainor, born Coleraine 26 May 1928 died at home, Belfast 22 August 2018.
Remembering Dr Brian Trainor, Directory of Irish Family History Research, no. 41, 2018
Dr Brian Trainor (1928–2018) made a huge contribution to the preservation of records relating to Irish history and to the promotion of their use by historians and genealogists around the world. He joined the staff of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in 1956 and was appointed its Director in 1970. Following his retirement from PRONI in 1987, he dedicated himself to the work of the Ulster Historical Foundation, serving as its Research Director until 2006. He was a mainstay of the Foundation’s family history conferences for more than a quarter of a century, with his final trip to the archives in Dublin with conference delegates in 2016.
Dr Trainor made the first of nearly 40 visits to North America in the late 1970s and continued to take part in the Foundation’s lecture tours until 2013 when he was in his 85th year. He also visited Australia and New Zealand and even China during his career. He served as chairman of the Irish Manuscripts Commission in 1976–7 and 1987–98. A fuller appreciation of his achievements appears in the 2018 addition of Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review. Here we present a selection of photographs of Dr Trainor, which we hope will stir up memories and also highlight the breadth of his work and extent of his travels.