What do I need to bring for registration and research?
For registration:
To use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)'s research facilities, you must first register as a PRONI visitor. You will receive a photographic Visitor Pass and visitor number (which you will need when ordering a document). To register as a PRONI visitor you should bring:
- Photographic identification, for example:
- a full passport,
- a driving licence or provisional driving licence (providing it shows a photograph),
- a student photo-card.
- If you are still at school or college and are over 14 years of age, you can bring a letter from your teacher or tutor with confirmation of your name and age.
Regular customers should bring their Visitor Pass each time they come to PRONI.
For research:
- Reference numbers and full details gained from published sources.
- Something on which to record your research findings, e.g. notebook or laptop. Laptops can only be used in the designated areas.
- A pencil, as pens cannot be used in the reading room when working with original documents.
- Cash, cheques or credit card to pay for copies of documents.
- Tracing paper if you want to trace from a map, however you must only do so over a protective covering which PRONI will supply.
- Basic information relevant to your research, for example:
For family history research
For family history research, you should bring along a note of dates of significant family events such as births, marriages, deaths and date of emigration. Also, note what gaps you have in your information;
Knowledge of where the family came from is vital as almost all the archives available in PRONI are organised by townland, parish, town or village.For a land or property related query:
For a property related query, you will need a full address (including townland). Folio numbers alone (as provided by Land Registry) are not sufficient to identify a property as the Land Registry archive deposited in PRONI pre-dates their current folio numbering system.
