Public records: departmental

About departmental public records

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) holds a large number of public records from the various departments/ministries of Northern Ireland government, past and present.  These archives chart the development of local administration from the establishment of the original government ministries in 1921-1922, through to the modern day.

They represent a valuable source of information for a diverse variety of researchers, whether it is the post-graduate student seeking information on the 1974 Power Sharing Executive, or the family historian trying to locate ancestors in the land valuation records.

Under the Public Records Act (Northern Ireland) 1923 (80KB) , all records produced by government departments must be assessed by PRONI for their historical value.  Those deemed of sufficient importance are then transferred to PRONI for permanent preservation.

The records of a government department are catalogued according to the department where they originated.  The reference is usually composed of the first 3 letters of the name of the department or ministry (for example, records of the Department of Finance bear the reference prefix FIN).

Since the foundation of Northern Ireland, a number of bodies have merged, changed their names or function or become defunct, however, their files and papers still retain the original classification scheme.  New reference letters have been allocated to the new body.  This is usually indicated in the introductions to the records of each department found in the catalogues.

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000, you can request to see public records which have been closed for a period of 30-100 years under the pre-FOI system.

The following is a list of Government records held by PRONI, along with their classification reference letters: