Church records are one of the most important sources of information for family and local history research. A complete list of all church records held by PRONI can be found in the PRONI Guide to Church Records. PRONI works to make these records as accessible as possible to the public.
To compliment the original documents and microfilm copies it holds, PRONI has an ongoing programme to digitise additional church records. PRONI works with the various church denominations across Northern Ireland to digitise church records and make them available to the public. This is usually done on an annual basis and as resources allow. To date, PRONI has digitised over 500 records from 70 churches a full list of which is available in our online guide. By digitising records PRONI can make them easier to access while also helping preserve the originals.
Access to Digitised Church Records
Digitised church records can be accessed onsite in the PRONI search room. It is possible to zoom in on details on a particular page to make the content more readable.
As church records often contain sensitive personal data, more modern records may be closed for a period of time in line with data protection legislation. The closure period is usually 100 years for baptism records, 84 years for marriage records, while burial records are generally open.
Copies of Digitised Church Records
Copies of individual pages of digitised church registers can be requested from PRONI’s Public Services team by emailing proni@communities-ni.gov.uk. Depending on the date of the record, some of the information on the page may have to be ‘redacted’ (blanked out) in line with data protection legislation.
Church Microfilm Digitisation
PRONI holds hundreds of microfilm copies of church records. The original copies of most of these records are still held locally by the specific church. Creating microfilm copies makes the church records easier to access while also helping preserve the originals.
Over time, the quality of some of the microfilms has deteriorated. PRONI is undertaking a project to digitise its holdings of church microfilms. The project has started by digitising parish records (Church of Ireland) held on microfilm. Digitised copies of these parish records will be available in PRONI’s search room in the near future.
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