In the last three weeks, several lectures from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) have been made available to watch on YouTube, and most, if not all, are relevant to genealogical research.
Digitised Church Records at PRONI
Digitized records dating from 1642 from 15 churches are now available to view onsite in PRONI. Dr Susan Hood, librarian and archivist at the Representative Church Body, Dublin and Rev. Robin Roddie, archivist, Methodist Historical Society, bothspeak.
PRONI’s Archives Unlocked – Revealing Maps from the Collections
Drawing upon various examples from PRONI, including regional plots, estate plans, property charts and ordnance survey, Dr. Glynn Kelson’s talk illustrates how historical maps reveal the skills and ideas that shaped them, while marking a route through our historic landscape.
Lorraine Bourke speaks about PRONI’s photographic collection in lecture available on YouTube.
PRONI’s Archives Unlocked – Prison Records at PRONI
PRONI archivist Graham Jackson sheds light on prison records at PRONI, dating from the mid-19th to late 20th century, covering the Crumlin Road Gaol, Derry Gaol, Armagh prison, and latterly the HMP Long Kesh and Maze. The archives form part of our community memory and reflect the diversity of experience of those imprisoned, the staff, and impact on families from the Victorian period to the Troubles. The records include registers, files, photographs, and audio-visual recordings.
PRONI’s Archives Unlocked – Photographic Collections & Digitisation at PRONI
Lorraine Bourke and Joy Carey explore some of the many images held within PRONI’s archives and also highlight the digitization work being carried out by PRONI to preserve these collections and make them available online. The images come from official government sources, as well as private collections.
The Big Four of The White Star Fleet
PRONI and the Belfast Titanic Society jointly host a presentation by maritime historian Mark Chirnside, who talks about the Big Four of the White Star Fleet. The White Star Line’s Celtic (1901), Cedric (1903), Baltic (1904) and Adriatic (1907), collectively known as the ‘Big Four,’ served for a combined 110 years. Together they carried around 1.5 million passengers on the Liverpool to New York and Southampton to New York routes during their time in service. Arguably the most successful series of ships the company ever produced.
Conscription & Recruitment During The First World War, Part 2
In this lecture, Dr. Mario Draper from the University of Kent speaks about Conscription in Europe, c. 1870-1918. PRONI hosted a conference exploring the background to conscription in both Ireland and Britain during the First World War. The conference examined how conscription was implemented in the UK, resisted in Ireland, and how recruitment continued throughout 1918.
