The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast is one of the best regional archives in the UK. It holds centuries of records relating to the province of Ulster and the families that have lived here.
One of the main features of PRONI’s collections is the fact that they cover both public (i.e. official) and private records. These include thousands of documents relating to the management of the great landed estates, records of many important businesses, records relating to the governance of many of Northern Ireland’s towns.
Using the PRONI eCatalogue, which can be done online prior to a visit to the archive, it is possible to identify the records of greatest interest.