Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Allied Workspace has completed the interior fitout at the new Head Quarters for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast's Titanic Quarter. Allied successfully installed 3 floors of double glazed partitions and frameless glazed doors, glazed firescreens, movable walls and specialised manifestations.
PRONI. PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE NORTHERN IRELAND
This is the Public Records Office for Northen Ireland, located down at the Titanic Centre area Belfast.
This impressive building holds a wealth of information. If you are interested in tracing family background/roots etc or if you are interested in investigating local history this place and it's extensive archives are the place to come to,- and it is entirely free. Good hunting all.
Public Record Office Northern Ireland
Public Records Office Northern Ireland is the official deposit for public records in Northern Ireland. The new facility is a mine of historical and genealogical information, and houses the Film Archive of Northern Ireland. A searchable database contains over one million archive entries with a browse and search facility. For further information visit
Photographs of The Beatles at The King's Hall in Belfast in 1964 - PRONI
Photographs of The Beatles playing live at The King's Hall in Belfast in 1964 are now available on Flicker courtesy of the Public Records Office of NI.
PRONI - Sport and Education in Ireland and Britain Conference
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) was delighted to welcome a conference organised by Dr Conor Curran, the British Society of Sports History and the Irish Research Council on 27 September 2019.
The conference will provide a discussion forum for an historical and contemporary analysis of sport, education and society in an international context. It will examine sport’s historical and contemporary role and place within education with a view towards the development of a research network and the publication of a special edited collection on the subject.
For more information regarding PRONI please visit our website at nidirect.gov.uk/proni
You can also get the latest news and updates about PRONI by joining our emailing list at proni@communities-ni.gov.uk
Northern Ireland Office - Phone in Confidence (1978, UK)
This is taken from the BFI's newly opened PFI archive.
Description taken from the BFI's website:
Prepare to witness a bomb explosion as the Royal Ulster Constabulary make a television plea for information. This is an early example of the advertising campaigns for peace beginning in the 1970s. The Northern Ireland Office created increasingly harrowing adverts showing the consequences of terrorism to encourage people to come forward. Broadcast on Ulster Television the confidential phone line reached an audience both sides of the border.
Later adverts encourage co-operation through dramatized experiences of sectarian violence. The most vivid tells the story of a son following in the paramilitary footsteps of his father set to the soundtrack ‘Cats in the Cradle’. In the mid 1990s the tone changed with a million pound campaign to promote support for the ceasefires. These used humour, optimism and Van Morrison songs to promote mutual respect, highlighting shared suffering. “Wouldn’t it be great if it was like this all the time?” is a stark contrast to the earlier slogans. This tradition of shocking imagery set to music continues through the DOE’s powerful drive safely adverts, now global exports. This material comes from the BFI collection.
THE UK NATIONAL ARCHIVES London Kew
from Wikipedia: The National Archives (TNA) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice of the United Kingdom.[2] It is the UK government's official archive, containing 1,000 years of history.[3] There are separate national archives in some of the devolved parts of the United Kingdom: the National Archives of Scotland holds government and private documents relating to Scotland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland holds records for Northern Ireland.
TNA was formerly four separate organisations: the Public Record Office, the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO).
It is institutional policy to include the definite article, with an initial capital letter, in its name (hence The National Archives, abbreviated as TNA) but this practice is rarely followed in the non-specialist media. The National Archives is based in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London. The building was opened in 1977 as an additional home for the public records, which were held in a building on Chancery Lane. The site was originally a World War I hospital, which was later used by several government departments.[4] It is near to Kew Gardens Underground station.
Until its closure in March 2008, the Family Records Centre in Islington was run jointly by The National Archives and the General Register Office. The National Archives has an additional office in Norwich, which is primarily for former OPSI staff. There is also an additional record storage facility (DeepStore[5]) in the worked-out parts of Winsford Rock Salt Mine, Winsford, Cheshire.
Ulster ( Covenant ) Day Belfast Sept. 28th 1912
Sir Edward Carson was the first person to sign the Covenant at Belfast City Hall with a silver pen, followed by Lord Londonderry (the former viceroy of Ireland), representatives of the Protestantchurches, and then by Sir James Craig.237,368 men signed the Covenant and 234,046 women signed the corresponding women's Declaration, totalling nearly half a million signatures.
The signatures were made by Ulster Unionists across a strikingly large breadth of society including labourers, professionals, aristocracy and clergy. It was not only in Ulster that the Covenant was signed. Signatures were collected in major cities in England and Wales and in Dublin, with 2000 signatures were given by those who could prove they were born in Ulster.The Covenant had two basic parts: the Covenant itself, which was signed by men, and the Declaration, which was signed by women. In total, the Covenant was signed by 237,368 men; the Declaration, by 234,046 women. Both the Covenant and Declaration are held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). An online searchable database is available on the PRONI website.The Covenant (for men)
BEING CONVINCED in our consciences that Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V., humbly relying on the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant, throughout this our time of threatened calamity, to stand by one another in defending, for ourselves and our children, our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland.
And in the event of such a Parliament being forced upon us, we further solemnly and mutually pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority. In sure confidence that God will defend the right, we hereto subscribe our names.
And further, we individually declare that we have not already signed this Covenant.
The Declaration (for women)
We, whose names are underwritten, women of Ulster, and loyal subjects of our gracious King, being firmly persuaded that Home Rule would be disastrous to our Country, desire to associate ourselves with the men of Ulster in their uncompromising opposition to the Home Rule Bill now before Parliament, whereby it is proposed to drive Ulster out of her cherished place in the Constitution of the United Kingdom, and to place her under the domination and control of a Parliament in Ireland.
Praying that from this calamity God will save Ireland, we here to subscribe our names.
[Wikipedia] General Register Office (Northern Ireland)
The General Register Office (GRO) (Northern Ireland) is responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships and adoptions as well as administering marriage and civil partnership law in Northern Ireland. The GRO is within the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency which in turn is part of the Northern Ireland Executive's Department of Finance.
Registration indexes held by GRONI
births registered from 1 January 1864 in what is now Northern Ireland
adoptions recorded in the Adopted Children Register Northern Ireland from 1 January 1931
deaths registered from 1 January 1864 in what is now Northern Ireland
registered non-Roman Catholic marriages from 1 April 1845 and all registered marriages from 1 January 1864
civil partnerships registered in Northern Ireland from 5 December 2005
World War II death indexes from 1939 to 1945
Certificates are only available for life events registered in what is now Northern Ireland. To order a life event certificate online you can visit GRONI at order by telephone on 0300 200 7890 or 028 91513101 (if outside NI) or download an application from the website and apply by post. Applications for collection in person may only be made at the General Register Office in Belfast . Non priority applications will be ready to collect on the third working day. GRO offer a While You Wait Service for priority applications (extra fee). Waiting times will be approximately 20 – 30 minutes. If you fail to collect your certificate within three working days it will be posted out to the address you have provided.
Family History Website
Available at nidirect.gov.uk/family-history, the General Register Office for Northern Ireland (GRONI) unveiled its family history website on Wednesday 9 April 2014. As with the system currently in place in England and Wales, it has previously only been possible to access civil registration records as certificates sent by post – a process in Northern Ireland that costs £15 and can take around five full working days.
However, family historians can now search the website’s free BMD index and click through to view an ‘enhanced’ transcription of a record for 50p. In the case of births, for example, this will include a place, date and the full names of both parents. Users can then decide whether to go ahead and view a scan of the original register entry for £2.50, instantly revealing more crucial genealogical information.
For researchers at home, only ‘historic’ civil records dating back to 1845 will be available through the platform – births over 100 years, marriages over 75 years and deaths over 50 years. However, those paying a visit to GRONI’s public search room in Colby House, Stranmillis Court, Belfast, BT9 5RR will be able to see more recent material from the computer terminals, including adoptions and civil partnerships.
It was a landmark moment in Northern Irish genealogy.
Visit GRONI online
For data protection reasons, if you are using the internet to search the register, some of the records will not be available to view. You will be able to access the following records if you visit GRONI online(external link opens in a new window / tab):
birth records over 100 years old
marriage records over 75 years old
death records (including World War II death records) over 50 years old
You cannot access civil partnership and adoption records online. If you want to view these records, or view recent records, you must book an appointment at the public search room or, if you know the details, you can apply online for certificates. Stillbirth records are not available for public access. If you want to apply for a stillbirth certificate, you should contact GRONI.
GRONI search room opening hours
The search room is open from 9.30 am until 4.00 pm (except the first Tuesday every month, when the office opens at 10.00 am). Booking is advisable. The public search room is accessible to wheelchair users. A personal induction loop system is available for deaf or hearing-impaired visitors.
Please support this channel and help me upload more videos. Become one of my Patreons at
Herbert & Me
A short film produced by Strabane History Society and the Alley Theatre exploring the life and legacy of Herbert Cooper. Narrated by Michael Kennedy it includes cine film shot by his father in the 1950's showing carnivals and events in the life of Strabane town as well as the earliest moving images of the legendary 'Clipper Carlton' showband.
Supported by the Peace III programme and managed for the Special EU programmes Body by the North West Peace III Cluster.
Filmed and directed by Katherine Kirk.
Herbert Cooper images reproduced courtesy of the Public Records Office NI.
PRONI - HMS Belfast 80
PRONI in partnership with the Imperial War Museum (IWM) hosted an event to mark the 80 anniversary of the HMS Belfast which was built by Harland & Wolff. This event was held on 12 March 2018.
Speakers included Ngaire Bushell from the Imperial War Museum and Stephen Cameron, author of Belfast Shipbuilders: A Titanic Tale.
For more information regarding PRONI please visit our website at nidirect.gov.uk/proni
You can also get the latest news and updates about PRONI by joining our emailing list at proni@communities-ni.gov.uk
PRONI - Your Family Tree - Using The General Register Office
To help you start exploring your genealogy, PRONI ran a ten-week lecture series, exploring some of the key archival sources you can use to trace your family history. This is the tenth talk in PRONI's Your Family Tree lecture series. This talk entitled 'Using The General Register Office' was given by Emma Elliott from GRONI on 13th May 2015 in PRONI.
For more information regarding PRONI please visit our website at proni.gov.uk
You can also get the latest news and updates about PRONI by joining our emailing list at proni@dcalni.gov.uk
Voiceover by Aaron for Your Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
Voiceover by Aaron for Your Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
Voiceovers by BigFish Media
We are a Voiceover Agency with over 2000 voiceover artists in over 100 languages.
We record voiceovers for TV documentaries, radio and TV commercials, radio imaging, on-hold telephone messages, IVR, web videos, E-Learning, explainer videos, webinars, corporate DVDs, audio books, podcasts and mobile phone apps.
We can also provide experienced voiceover artists for live award ceremonies (Voice of God) and shopping centre announcements.
BigFish Media Ltd was established in 2004 and is run by former BBC Radio 2 Newsreader Ricky Salmon.
The BigFish Media office and voiceover recording studio is located in a residential road near Woking, Surrey, UK. We are just half an hour from London Waterloo and within easy reach of the M25, M3 and A3. There is plenty of free parking.
Our studio is equipped with ISDN, Skype and ipDTL. It is also available for hire by the hour or day.
Hire one of our voices today:
Call: +44(0)1483 750578
Email: office@bigfishmedia.co.uk
A Vision for Northern Ireland outside the EU
On Monday 19th September 2016, MLAs debated the following motion:
That this Assembly, in the light of the referendum decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, endorses and adopts the approach contained in 'A Vision for Northern Ireland outside the EU', published by the Ulster Unionist Party.
You can read the transcript of the debate in the Official Report
PRONI - 1918 & the Vote
To mark the centenary of the 1918 General Election, PRONI is held a conference on 22 November 2018. This event saw the launch of new PRONI resources about Suffrage and the 1918 election.
Speakers include:
Professor John Coakley (QUB) on 'The impact of the 1918 election in Ireland'
Dr Myrtle Hill (QUB) on 'Women and the Vote'
Niall Kerr (Nerve Centre) on 'Suffrage and Creative Responses'
Dr Glynn Kelso (PRONI) on 'Voices from the Archives'
Ian Montgomery (PRONI) on 'The Absent Voters lists of 1918'
For more information regarding PRONI please visit our website at nidirect.gov.uk/proni
You can also get the latest news and updates about PRONI by joining our emailing list at proni@communities-ni.gov.uk
WW2 Training Film for US Soldiers | How to Behave in Britain | 1943
● Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon:
● Visit my 2ND CHANNEL:
►Facebook:
►Twitter:
►Google+:
✚ Watch my Military Training Films PLAYLIST:
This 1943 educational / training film (originally titled as ‘A Welcome to Britain’) introduces US soldiers to Britain and tells them what to expect, how to behave and how not to behave in Britain during World War 2. The film aims to explain British culture and character. Starting with the ubiquitous pub visit, the film breezes through geography lessons, food, entertainment and traveling on the British Home Front. It was made by the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom) with the assistance of the US Office of War Information. Remarkably the film is not a patronizing propaganda piece like so many other similar productions made during the war.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT
The United States and Great Britain have been firm allies for a century. Their mutually beneficial relationship particularly deepened during World War 2, when the circumstances of war brought hundreds of thousands of Americans through the British Isles.
The United States entered the war in December 1941, and American ground forces arrived in Belfast the following month. By February 1942 members of the U.S. Eighth Air Force were on the ground, building towards a strategic bombing campaign. American and British naval and air units cooperated in fierce battles for the control of the Atlantic. The U.S. troop build-up progressed quickly at first to support Operation Bolero, the buildup for a proposed invasion of France. Bolero was suspended amidst concerns that a 1942 or 1943 cross-channel invasion would be premature, and troops were diverted to North Africa and the Mediterranean. In the second half of 1943 the American buildup in Great Britain resumed in earnest.
The United Kingdom served as a critical base for American operations throughout the war. U.S. troops embarked from there for the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, and for subsequent operations in the Mediterranean. American units participating in the Combined Bomber Offensive and the air war over Europe were based in England. Great Britain served as the training ground and staging area for Operation Overlord, the massive amphibious invasion of Europe through Normandy on June 6, 1944 – D-Day. Over 1,600,000 American servicemen and women were in Great Britain as the invasion was launched. Numbers dwindled thereafter, but as late as April 30, 1945 there were still over 224,000 airmen, 109,000 communications zone troops, and 100,000 in hospitals or preparing to serve as individual replacements.
At the height of the American presence in Great Britain, American servicemen and women were ubiquitous through much of the island nation. They built or occupied vast encampments of their own, but also spent time in local pubs and establishments, toured the countryside, and befriended British families. Both nations established impressive programs to bring the two cultures together amicably, and to accommodate and entertain the visitors. Tens of thousands of American servicemen married English women, bringing them back to the United States after the war ended. American Forces Radio Network broadcast from the United Kingdom, bringing music and news from “home” to the British air waves. American Red Cross Service Clubs opened to entertain American servicemen off their bases. Pieces of American life and culture were seen and felt across the United Kingdom throughout the war, and Americans in turn took pieces of British life and culture home with them.
WW2 Training Film for US Soldiers | How to Behave in Britain | 1943
TBFA_0109 (DM_0057)
NOTE: THE VIDEO REPRESENTS HISTORY. SINCE IT WAS PRODUCED DECADES AGO, IT HAS HISTORICAL VALUES AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED WITH EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ITS TOPIC IS REPRESENTED WITHIN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE VIDEO DOES NOT CONTAIN SENSITIVE SCENES AT ALL!
Celebrating Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland and China by Mark Watchorn, Deputy Consul-General in Wuhan, China
Filling of Vacancies in the Office of First Minister and deputy First Minister
On Monday the 11 January 2016 the Rt Hon Peter Robinson MLA resigned from his position of First Minister.
This video shows the procedure that takes place to fill vacancies within the Office of First Minister and deputy First Minister.
From the Official Report
Mr Speaker: The First Minister's resignation has now taken effect and, in accordance with section 16B(2) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the deputy First Minister has also ceased to hold office. The next item of business is the filling of both vacancies, and I will conduct that process in accordance with the procedures required by section 16B(3) of the 1998 Act. I will begin by asking the nominating officer of the largest political party of the largest political designation to nominate a member of the Assembly to be the First Minister. I will then ask the nominating officer of the largest political party of the second largest political designation to nominate a member of the Assembly to be the deputy First Minister.
As the persons nominated to fill the vacancies shall not take up office until each of them has affirmed the terms of the Pledge of Office contained in schedule 4 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998, when I have received both nominations I will ask each of the persons nominated to affirm the terms of the Pledge of Office. Before we proceed, Members may find it helpful if the Pledge of Office is read into the record so that it does not have to be read in full by the persons nominated to the office of First Minister and deputy First Minister.
The Pledge of Office is as follows: To pledge:
to discharge in good faith all the duties of office; commitment to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means; to serve all the people of Northern Ireland equally, and to act in accordance with the general obligations on government to promote equality and prevent discrimination; to promote the interests of the whole community represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly towards the goal of a shared future; to participate fully in the Executive Committee, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council; to observe the joint nature of the offices of First Minister and deputy First Minister; to uphold the rule of law based as it is on the fundamental principles of fairness, impartiality and democratic accountability, including support for policing and the courts as set out in paragraph 6 of the St Andrews Agreement; to participate with colleagues in the preparation of a programme for government; to operate within the framework of that programme when agreed within the Executive Committee and endorsed by the Assembly; to support, and act in accordance with, all decisions of the Executive Committee and Assembly; to comply with the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
Paragraph 6 of the St Andrews Agreement says:
'We believe that the essential elements of support for law and order include endorsing fully the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the criminal justice system, actively encouraging everyone in the community to co-operate fully with the PSNI in tackling crime in all areas and actively supporting all the policing and criminal justice institutions, including the Policing Board.'
The Pledge of Office has now been read into the record of proceedings and, for the information of Members, copies are also available in the Hall. I will now proceed with the nomination process, and I call on the Rt Hon Peter Robinson to nominate a Member of the Assembly to be the First Minister.
You can read the full transcript on our website:
British government obstruction of truth must end
Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said today the British government must accept its involvement in the conflict and for dealing with its legacy.
Speaking ahead of a trilateral meeting today with the British and Irish governments on the issue of the legacy of the conflict, the North Belfast MLA said;
“It is clear that Theresa Villiers and the British government have been actively obstructing truth recovery when it comes to the activities of its forces and agents.
“They have reneged on the commitment to hold an inquiry into the murder of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane by British agents. The British government fears the outcome of any enquiry with the potential to expose British state collusion in political assassinations and their agent’s involvement in directing loyalist death squads – a policy which went to the very top of the Thatcher government.
“They continue to withhold information from the inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, shelved the inquiry into the murder of 14 people in Derry on Bloody Sunday and rejected a demand for a Hillsborough-style inquiry into the Ballymurphy Massacre of 11 civilians.
“They have blocked truth recovery through injunctions, destroying documents and evidence. They have also refused to disclose information requested by the coroners’ courts and the Ombudsman’s office and failed to back the Haass proposals.
“The British government and their agents were active participants in the conflict. They must accept their responsibility for state killings and the role of their agents in loyalist death squads.”
PRONI - Londonderry Papers Conference
The papers of the Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry, are a major resource for the study of local and international history. From their home at Mount Stewart members of the family have played major roles in the history of Ireland, the United Kingdom and Europe from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. They were also major land owners in counties Antrim, Down and Donegal and in the North East of England.
The Londonderry Papers held in PRONI have now been brought into public ownership and this workshop was intended to highlight the potential of the collection for family and local historians, academics, authors and film makers.
This conference was held in PRONI on 14th November 2013 and the speakers were: Ian Montgomery on the Londonderry Papers in PRONI, Liz Bregazzi on the Londonderry Papers in Durham Record Office, Frances Bailey on Mount Stewart and the National Trust, Anne Casement on Researching the Family and Brian Henry Martin on Using the Archive for Television.
For more information regarding PRONI please visit our website at proni.gov.uk
You can also get the latest news and updates about PRONI by joining our emailing list at proni@dcalni.gov.uk