Ulster Historical Foundation has been conducting genealogical research for nearly seven decades and has helped tens of thousands of people learn more about their Irish roots. To date, we have completed over 14,000 in-depth genealogical reports, organised over 30 family history conferences, and delivered presentations on Irish history and genealogy at hundreds of locations around the world.

Specialists in archival research

The members of the Foundation’s research team have the knowledge and expertise to break down the brick walls you may have encountered and assist you in your family history research. Our team is led by the Research Director, Dr William Roulston, and Gillian Hunt, our Research Officer.

Both of them have been with the Foundation for over 20 years. Their expertise and that of our experienced panel of genealogical researchers will prove invaluable in helping you find those elusive ancestors.

As an organisation that grew out of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), the Foundation has always placed a high value on using original source materials in research. While the easy availability of records online has revolutionised genealogy, it is also true that many documents can only be accessed in person in the archives. Our genealogists have a thorough grasp of the archives and know how to mine the records to extract as much as possible on your family history.

If you are unable to visit the archives in person (or indeed if you have become frustrated with dead ends in your own investigations), we will carry out the research and examine original documents held in the archives on your behalf.

About Dr William Roulston

William Roulston grew up on the family farm at Bready, County Tyrone. He joined the Ulster Historical Foundation as a researcher in 1997, becoming Research Officer in 2002 and Research Director in 2006. He was awarded a PhD in Archaeology by Queen’s University Belfast in 2004 for a thesis on places of worship of the Established Church in the north of Ireland, 1600–1740. He is involved in a number of organisations in the heritage field and serves as a Member of Council of both the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society and the Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, and is the Convener of the Reformed Presbyterian Church History Committee. He has lectured widely on a range of historical and genealogical subjects in the UK, Ireland and North America.

William is the author of a number of books looking at different aspects of the history of Ireland and the sources for its study, including Restoration Strabane, 1660–1714 (2007), Three Centuries of Life in a Tyrone Parish ... Donagheady, 1600–1900 (2010), Abercorn: The Hamiltons of Barons Court (2014), Foyle Valley Covenanters (2015), Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors, 1600–1800 (2nd edition, 2018), Researching Presbyterian Ancestors in Ireland (2020) and Researching Farming Ancestors in Ireland (2021). He was co-editor of Fermanagh: History and Society (2004), Transatlantic Lives: The Irish Experience in Colonial America (2019) and Lough Neagh: An Atlas of the Natural, Built and Cultural Heritage (2022), and co-author of Exiles of ’98: Ulster Presbyterians and the United States (2018).

About Gillian Hunt

Gillian Hunt is Research Officer with the Ulster Historical Foundation and manages the Foundation’s many genealogical activities; she has been with the Foundation since 2001. As well as looking after the genealogy side of the Foundation's work, Gillian carries out research for clients and is a hugely experienced user of the General Register Office and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, where she sits on PRONI’s Stakeholder Forum. She regularly teaches courses in Northern Ireland and gives talks on family history in the rest of Ireland, the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, co-presenting our annual North American lecture tours since 2014.

Gillian also co-delivered (with Fintan Mullan) the British Institute’s week-long Irish genealogy course in Salt Lake City in October 2018 (hosted by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History) and again in October 2022 this time online. Gillian has carried out the research for a number of television programmes, as well as appearing in several of them, most recently BBC’s ‘Stephen Nolan: Ulster-Scots, My Family and Me’

About Fintan Mullan

Fintan Mullan is Executive Director of Ulster Historical Foundation, which he joined in 1995, and has been responsible for the management of this successful Belfast-based, educational non-profit since 2001. He has extensive experience in Irish family history research and is a regular international speaker on Irish genealogy, having spoken in Ireland, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most of the lower 48 states of the USA. He has managed the production of over 150 Irish history and genealogy titles. Fintan has helped to ensure that the Foundation has been at the forefront of developments in Irish genealogy, including heritage tourism products and the provision of online resources. He helped to pioneer www.rootsireland.ie, the unique database with over 22 million Irish historical records. He is a non-executive director of the Irish Family History Foundation.

Get to Know our Researchers

I have been a researcher with the Foundation since 2017 and had been exploring my own family tree for more than 30 years before that. Before a health-enforced career change, I was previously an Insolvency Practitioner with a large multinational firm which gave me a firm grounding in reconstructing evidence from incomplete records and deciphering legal documents. I have always been active in local historical and family history societies with extensive speaking and article writing experience for Familia, The Directory of Irish Family History Research, The Bann Disc, North Irish Roots and Irish Lives Remembered. I have a particular interest in early records and have published The Town Book of Coleraine covering the period 1738 to 1853.

My academic background lies in history, languages and museum studies and I enjoy combine these interests by working as a part-time teacher and genealogist. I began doing genealogy about 1997 when I started researching my family history. I worked in local history in the border counties for many years and have published several local history books. I have worked for the Ulster Historical Foundation since 2017 and I enjoy the challenge of research along with meeting and helping people from all over the world on the Foundation’s courses and conferences.

My name is Fiona and I have been working as a genealogical researcher with the Ulster Historical Foundation since 2017. I have been interested in genealogy since I was 11 years old when my Irish setter puppy arrived with her own family tree. My interest developed and I have enjoyed researching family stories ever since.

I worked as a social worker for several years and have a keen interest in social history. When researching I am always considering the impact of loss through infant mortality, poverty, separation and emigration on the family.

I was delighted to research the 69 names of World War 1 service men and women from the war memorial in The Mall Presbyterian Church, Armagh. This culminated in the book Names Carved in Stone (2016) as a permanent record of their family history and military service.

I have been working as a genealogical researcher for the Ulster Historical Foundation since 2011. I was formerly a Committee Clerk in the Northern Ireland Assembly for eleven years. My interest in family history began more than 30 years ago when I started researching my own family tree. Over the years that interest has grown and deepened with the increasing availability of records and advances such as DNA. Our ancestors are so much more than just a list of dates of birth, marriage and death and I particularly like to build a back story exploring the circumstances of their lives and times. I have written articles for the Foundation’s annual publications Familia and the Directory of Irish Family History Research, as well as The Winding Roe, a community, historical and cultural magazine, which covers the greater Dungiven area where my paternal ancestors lived. I enjoy the variety and challenge of helping to unravel the family history of the Foundation’s clients.

I began working for the Foundation in late 2021. Previously I was an archivist with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland for more than twenty years. I have also worked as an archivist and historical researcher for other organisations such as Belfast City Council. I spent much of my time in PRONI working in Public Services which involved dealing with genealogical enquires and creating finding aids for sources, as well as giving talks and presentations. I have written a number of articles for Familia and other journals mainly on local and military history.

When I retired early from my teaching career, some 20 years ago, I became involved with the Ulster Historical Foundation as a data inputter/verifier. This introduced me to the world of genealogical records. I progressed from the data inputting to searching and, as someone who has always had an interest in history and detective novels, I was hooked. I have enjoyed 20 stimulating years of helping people from all over the world find their Irish roots.

I have been working as a genealogical researcher for the Ulster Historical Foundation since my retirement from teaching some 20 years ago. I had always been interested in tracing my own family history but became seriously involved when I embarked on a search for information about a distant relative who, according to family folklore, had been awarded the Victoria Cross. Due to my limited experience in the field of genealogy at that time researching this story took a long time but success eventually came some 20 years later and this relative’s remarkable story can be read in the 2014 edition of the Directory of Irish Family History Research. To be able to substantiate what had been a vague family tale was in itself rewarding but it also acquainted me with the many sources that are available and of assistance to family history searchers. Researching family histories in Ireland can be a frustrating task due to the lack of documentary evidence but there is a lot of satisfaction to be had when a successful outcome is achieved.

Kevin Keenan is Research & Guild Secretary and has been with Ulster Historical Foundation for 9 years now, after several years in the insurance industry in the United States. As Research and Guild Secretary, he is the first point of contact for those who want to contact the Foundation to either join the Guild or commission one of our research services through email, telephone, or by visiting our office. He also acts as the point of contact for clients who wish to contact our team of genealogical researchers. Kevin enjoys helping people find out more about their Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors, which his roles as Research and Guild Secretary allows him to do.

I have been working as a genealogical research with the Ulster Historical Foundation since 2017, joining while completing my MA in Public History at Queen’s University Belfast. I have always been interested in history and as a teenager I started researching my own family. I really enjoy meeting people from all over the world eager to discover more about their Ulster ancestors and helping them discover more about their family history.

Our Expertise

Specialists in archival research

About Dr William Roulston

About Gillian Hunt

About Fintan Mullan

Get to Know our Researchers