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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. 

New Collection Systems Live

PRONI has introduced a new Catalogue Ordering System in the Search Room. If you have any questions about the new system, staff at the Help Desk can help you get started.

 Extended openings on Thursday 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 2:00pm.

Late Night Thursdays:

Thursday 17 July
Thursday 21 August
Thursday 18 September
Thursday 16 October
Thursday 20 November

Saturday Openings:

Saturday 5 July
Saturday 2 August
Saturday 6 September
Saturday 4 October
Saturday 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

Now We're Talking Project - Research Files

The Now We’re Talking Project continues to catalogue the papers of writer, broadcaster and folklorist Michael J. Murphy by moving onto the large collection of ‘research files’.

This section of the collection consists of 485 brown envelopes each containing typed notes and articles by Michael J as well as a large amount of newspaper clippings.

Murphy arranged these files into 3 distinct groups, ‘Local Data’, ‘Promiscuous Subjects’, and ‘Data Relating to Northern Ireland and Britain’.

Getting Started at PRONI - Workshop

Saturday 5 July at 11am - onsite at PRONI

Are you interested in local and family history? Why not come along to a practical workshop at PRONI to discover the essential skills required to begin your research.

You will receive advice on searching for records, take part in a practical demonstration on using the Public Search Room, and there will be an opportunity to handle original documents in the Reading Room.

You will need to register as a reader to attend this workshop if you have not already done so. To get registered please bring some form of photographic ID on the day of this event.

Booking required.

You Are Not Forgotten - Remember the 80th anniversary of VJ Day

Tuesday 29 July at 11am and 2pm - Onsite at PRONI

Partnered with curator Ciaran Doran, we are delighted to invite you to a free curated workshop of sewing and activity designed to remember VJ Day on August 15, 1945, and the end of WW2 in Europe.

Inspired by The Changi Quilt, held by the Imperial War Museum, attendees will be invited to add stitches to a collaborative textile that is compiled of pieces and patches of fabric of the era.

There will be the opportunity to attend one of two sessions of up to 50 attendees. No experience necessary and all sewing materials provided.

Booking required.

History of Photography Workshops 

July to September - Onsite at PRONI

Have you ever been intrigued by the scientific developments which gave rise to the discovery of photographic processes in the early 19th century?

Join us for a photography session at PRONI and we will explore technological advances in photography from the early days of the 1840s, up to the present, digital age. The workshop will also look at the work of the Reprographics team and explore historical photographs from the PRONI collections.

The History of Photography Workshops will run on selected dates in July, August, and September. 

Booking required.

HERoNI Exhibition - Stories in Stone: Early Medieval Sculpture

Available now until August 2025 - onsite at PRONI

Stories in Stone showcases images of High crosses and early medieval sculpture from across Northern Ireland. This sculpture takes the form of simple cross inscribed stones, enigmatic figurative sculpture and monumental High Crosses. A selection of photographs and drawings from Historic Environment Record of Northern Irelands (HERoNI’s) collections are on display as well as a collection of early medieval cross inscribed stones from Nendrum Monastic site County Down.

PRONI on Tour: Portrush Library visit 

Wednesday 13 August from 10am to 4pm, Portrush Library

Join us at Portrush Library for PRONI on Tour, an initiative which has been organised in partnership with Libraries NI to see historic documents specific to different regions put on display at various local libraries across Northern Ireland.

PRONI staff will be available on the day to help visitors uncover details of their family tree and we will be holding a Getting Started at PRONI workshop to help new readers begin their research.

Local History Groups – We want to hear from you!

Are you part of a local or family history group?

Want a change of surroundings for your next branch meeting?

Then why not contact us at proni@communities-ni.gov.uk to see if we can facilitate you and your group.

Not only can you meet up and discuss your local interests, but you can also make use of our expansive range of archival documents and avail of free resources such as Ancestry, FindMyPast and the British Newspaper Archive.

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.