Received this email from a friend?
Sign up to receive updates direct to your mailbox

Welcome to the PRONI Express

Welcome to the latest edition of the PRONI Express. PRONI will now be using the DfC Engaged Communities Group Eventbrite page to host our talks and events. So please follow and keep an eye on the page for all our upcoming events. 

The PRONI Digest is now available to view online

This publication brings together key statistics on PRONI into a single publication. It presents statistics on topics such as collections, visitors, education and outreach activity.

Highlights include…

• Our celebration of 100 years of collecting
• 3,022 new visitors registered onsite
• 16,060 visits by audiences including those who attended talks, events and exhibitions

 Extended opening on Thursdays and Saturdays 

Until November 2025, onsite at PRONI

We are extending our opening hours on selected dates throughout 2025.

During extended opening on Thursdays, the Search Room and Reading Room will be open until 8pm so that everyone has an opportunity to access our facilities.

We will also be open on selected Saturdays from 10am to 2pm.

Upcoming Late Thursdays:

Thursday the 16 October
Thursday the 20 November

Upcoming Saturday Openings:

Saturday the 4 October
Saturday the 1 November

Call for Papers: The 1925 Irish Boundary Commission Centenary Conference

To mark the centenary of the Irish Boundary Commission, we will be hosting an Irish Studies conference on 7 November 2025. The conference will focus on both the 1925 Irish Boundary Commission and the wider topic of the partition of Ireland, its roots and its impact.

Papers are expected to be 15 minutes. Proposals should have a maximum word count of 300, alongside a short biography of 150 words.

Any proposals or queries regarding the conference need to be sent by 1 October 2025 to boundarycommission100@gmail.com

The Personality of Belfast, 1970-1990: The Bill Kirk Photographic Archives Exhibition 

Monday 15 September to Wednesday 29 October, onsite at PRONI

Bill Kirk, internationally renowned photographer, trained in the Belfast Art College during 1972-74, when he was in his early 30s. Inspired by progressive American photographers of the mid-20th century, Kirk took responsibility for making a direct record of the fractured life of the city at the time. 

Skinheads, street preachers, down and outs, the city poor, dockyard workers all feature in the sharp, unforgettable imagery of his photos. The exhibition displays 100 images selected from his archives and comes to PRONI courtesy of the Ulster Museum and the Belfast Archive Project. 

No booking required.

Now We're Talking - Wakes in Dromintee

Michael J. Murphy at Knockmore Cliff (Courtesy of The National Folklore Collection - M004.30.00001)

Check out the latest blog from the "Now We're Talking" Project which will focus on widening access to the archival collections of Sam Hanna Bell and Michael J Murphy.

This month, Seán discusses Michael J Murphy's observations about wakes that he had attended throughout his childhood in Dromintee, South Armagh.

No booking required.

Autumn in the Archives: Halloween at PRONI

Saturday 4 October from 10am to 2pm, onsite at PRONI

Join us on Saturday, October 4^th for our very first Halloween event at PRONI. Activities available will include Linen Embroidery, Pumpkin Painting, and a Spooky Behind-the-Scenes Tour.

Booking required.

Home for Heroes: Centenary of the Ex-Servicemen's Houses at Cregagh

Thursday 9 October from 1pm to 2pm, onsite at PRONI

PRONI Ref - CAB/3/G/1/3

A week after the Armistice in 1918, the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, gave a speech in which he declared the necessity of building a land fit for heroes to live in.

The following year, parliament passed the Irish Land (Provision for Sailors and Soldiers) Act which paved the way for the building of houses across Ireland specifically for veterans of the Great War. The largest group of ex-servicemen's houses were built at Cregagh, where 146 houses were completed by December 1925.

This talk will include details of the site and the styles of the houses built at Cregagh but will focus on stories for a selection of the Great War veterans who lived in the houses. The talk will also include details on the unveiling and dedication of the Cregagh & District War Memorial, which is located at the junction of three of the main streets in the "colony".

Booking required.

To Live Under Lock and Key:The Life, Love and Lunacy of Stella Moutray

Thursday 16 October from 6pm to 7pm, onsite at PRONI

Join us for a talk on the life, love and lunacy of Stella Moutray. This talk uses the writings of Stella herself, correspondence between her father and doctors in both Stroud and Farnham House, and letters of sympathy written upon her death to reconstruct the final months and days of her life.

It provides a window into attitudes towards mental health and lunacy in the early years of the twentieth century, as well as first-hand insight into the treatment received by the wealthy. Most importantly, it gives Stella, as a member of a marginalized and often stigmatised group, a voice and allows for the telling of a poignant and instructive story.

Booking required.

Mapping the Island of Ireland: David Chart Map Seminar

Tuesday 21 October from 7pm to 8pm, online

We are pleased to announce that Paul Ferguson and Dr Joseph Brady will speak online at the David Chart Annual Map Seminar, on aspects of their recent study, ‘Ireland: Mapping the Island’. This magnificent book highlights a vast selection of maps that range across the centuries and cover every part of the island.

The talk will focus on the process of finding and selecting choice maps for the book with special attention to the mapping of Ulster over the centuries and will also discuss the exciting exhibition currently showing in the Long Room, Trinity College, Dublin.

Booking required.

PRONI on Tour - Strabane Library Visit 

Wednesday 22 October from 10am to 4pm, Strabane Library

Join us on Wednesday, October 22nd for a day of family history and local heritage. Whether you're just starting out or looking to delve deeper into your family history, our team will be available to answer any questions.

If you're making the visit, why not join our Getting Started workshop at 12:30 pm? There will also be an opportunity to view original documents and photographs relating to Strabane.

Booking required.

The Korean War: An Ulster Rifles Perspective

Wednesday 29 October from 1pm to 2pm, onsite at PRONI

This illustrated talk by Nigel Henderson from History Hub Ulster will provide a brief overview of the war but will focus on the involvement of the Royal Ulster Rifles. The talk will include biographies of some of the men who died, were taken prisoner, or who returned from captivity. The talk will also cover the migration of a memorial obelisk from the Korean peninsula, to Ballymena, and then to its current location in Belfast.

Booking required.

29,200 Stitches

Monday 10 November from 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm, onsite at PRONI

Join Creative Curator and textile artist Ciaran Elizabeth Doran on the next stage of completing a collaborative stitching project where volunteers have stitched names, places, badges, insignia to remember loved ones and the significance of how the end of WW2 bought a time of looking forward and regeneration, whilst creating a permanent memorial through stitching.

29,000 stitches are the estimated number of stitches of one stitch per day since the end of WW2, and VEDay. As we approach Armistice Day, we reflect on the work created to remember both VEDay & VJ Day.

All materials provided and an opportunity to ‘Stitch Your Bit’ and see how this project has blossomed.

Booking required.

The Story of Charles Thomson and the Declaration of Independence

Friday 28 November from 4pm to 5pm, onsite at PRONI

We are delighted to welcome you to the launch of the children’s book, The Story of Charles Thomson and the Declaration of Independence, by Philip Johnston.

Charles Thomson from Maghera, Co Derry~Londonderry, was one of the most significant Founding Fathers in American history. He was the only Secretary of the Continental Congress (forerunner to United States Congress), one of only two signatories on the first printed Declaration of Independence, the co-designer of the Great Seal of the United States and published the first English translation of the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament.

Philip Johnston came across the story of Charles Thomson quite by chance, having learned about him on the radio. It is hoped that this latest book will restore Thomson’s lost voice to the public consciousness.

Booking required.

PRONI on YouTube

View over 12 years of recorded PRONI talks on our YouTube channel.  From family and local history talks, to specialist research topics, there is sure to be something for everyone.

New recordings are added regularly. Subscribe today to make sure you don’t miss any!

Subscribe on YouTube

Admission to all events is FREE, however booking is essential as spaces are limited.

Get more great PRONI content by following us today - just click or tap the icons to find our pages. PRONI regularly records its public events and talks - view these on our YouTube channel.