Search hints and tips

Word searching

When searching, be aware that subjects may be described in different ways (see ALL Words example below).  Accordingly, you may wish to try several word searches.

All Words

ALL Words search is the default search option because it produces the best results for general searching.

For example, Bessbrook Spinning Mill may be recorded as Bessbrook Spinning Mill, Bessbrook Flax Mill, Bessbrook Mill or the mill at Bessbrook. The words Bessbrook and Mill are common to all four descriptions, therefore an ALL Words search using Bessbrook and Mill would produce the most relevant search results.

Match Phrase

The best results for personal names are achieved by using the Match PHRASE search.  A Match PHRASE search for James Hamilton will return results only where the words appear in the exact order entered in the search.

Any Word

If you are searching for somebody who is also known by a title, for example Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, an ANY Word search may be appropriate.  An ANY Words search for Wellesley and Wellington will produce results for both Arthur Wellesley and the Duke of Wellington.

Other word search options

Searching by Title only
Searching by Title may produce a smaller number of results and may be useful if you want to search for a particular archive.  For example, if you are looking for the Abercorn Papers (D623), a 'Title and Description' word search for Abercorn will yield thousands of results, including Abercorn Street and Abercorn National School.  However a Title search for Abercorn will reduce the number of results to a more manageable number.

Things to consider when using word searches

Abbreviations
Please note that some words may be abbreviated, for example Co (County), Col (Colonel), Jas (James) and Thos (Thomas).  We would suggest that you take this into account when searching.

Apostrophes
Names and titles with apostrophes will only be returned if an apostrophe is included in the search.  For example, a search of St Malachys or ONeill will not display results for St Malachy’s or O’Neill.  You may wish to try both variants if you are not sure how a word may have been recorded.

Hyphens
The search facility does not support searches using hyphens.  If you want to look for a double barrelled name, for example King-Harman, you should input King Harman and use the Match PHRASE search.

Square Brackets
Some entries include text contained within square brackets to indicate that the cataloguer is providing additional information.  For example, Tom H is refered to in the Abercorn Papers (D623/A/98/23), however in the catalogue description, the cataloguer has provided additional information to indicate that Tom H. is actually Tom H[amilton].  As a search for Tom Hamilton will not return results for Tom H[amilton], in this instance it would be best to perform a Match PHRASE search using the wildcard for Tom H* or search for amilton as a word.

Wildcard searching

The wildcard (*) can be used in both text search and PRONI Reference search.  In text search, use the wildcard when you are unsure about the spelling of a particular word.  This is particularly useful for difficult place names or personal names.  Many Irish townlands were spelled phonetically until the Twentieth Century.  For example, Tanderagee is also recorded as Tandragee.  Therefore, a search for Tand* will return results for both spellings.  However, beware of shortening words too much, for example, Tan* will bring back results such as tank, tandem and tanner.

A wildcard can be used at the end of any word in both an ALL Words search and an Any Word search.  However, it can only be used as the last character in the last word of a Match Phrase search.  For example if you were looking for John Neilly, a Match Phrase search for John Neil* would return the relevant results.

You can also use the wildcard if you are unsure of an exact PRONI Reference number, for example SCH* will restrict your search to the School Records archive.

Date searching

You can search using a single date or a date range. When using the date search, the minimum requirement is a 4 digit year. This can be made more specific by selecting a month or a month and day.

PRONI Reference searching

It is often quicker to input a specific PRONI Reference number than perform a word search.  However, you must input the exact PRONI reference to achieve the desired results.

If you are unsure of a specific PRONI Reference number but know an archive or section of an archive, input the first few characters of the reference followed by the wildcard (*).  For example, D623* will return results within the Abercorn Papers only and CR1/3* will return results for Holy Trinity parish church only (within the Church of Ireland archive (CR1)).

Combination searching

Combine different fields to perform more refined searches:

Text and Date

If you know the time period for your searches, you can achieve better results by combining a date search and a text search.  For example, a text search for Richard Robinson and a date search for 1760-1790 will produce a smaller number of results than only a text search for Richard Robinson.

Text and PRONI Reference

If you are only interested in searching for a subject within a particular archive, you can achieve better results by combining a text search with a PRONI Reference search.  For example, a text search for Richard Robinson and a PRONI Reference search for DIO* will produce results for Richard Robinson only within the Church of Ireland Diocesan Records.

Date and PRONI Reference

This is useful if you want to search for specific dates within a particular archive.  For example, the Tennent Papers (D1748) contain references to the 1798 Uprising by the United Irishmen.  Therefore, a date search for the year 1798 and a PRONI Reference Number search for D1748* will bring back material dated 1798 within the Tennent Papers only.

Viewing/browsing an entire archive

If you want to navigate through the contents of a particular archive, the browse facility is more appropriate than searching.  This will display the entire archive in a tree format where you can move between the various levels.