County Armagh Archives and Libraries

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Historic Ireland (pre-1922)
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Northern Ireland (post-1922)
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Local Research Resources

Archives


Northern Ireland is divided into 11 districts for local government purposes. In Northern Ireland, local councils do not carry out the same range of functions as those in the rest of the United Kingdom. Their functions include planning, waste and recycling services, leisure and community services, building control and local economic and cultural development. Therefore, these districts do not maintain archives and libraries.[1]


Libraries

Cultural Heritage Service Library, Armagh
1 Markethill Road
Armagh Regional Administration Centre
Armagh BT61 7EB
Northern Ireland

Telephone: 028 3752 7851
Email: armaghirishandlocal@librariesni.org.uk
Website

The resources available in the library document all aspects of Irish life and learning from earliest times to present day, with particular emphasis on the local area: County Armagh, South Down, South and East Tyrone and bordering counties in the Republic. Topics covered include religion, politics, sports and the arts. Highlights in the collection include large sections on literature (in English and Irish), history, politics and travel.

Cultural Heritage Service Library, Newry
Newry City Library
79 Hill Street
Newry BT34 1DG
Northern Ireland

Phone: 028 3026 4683
E-mail: newry.heritage@librariesni.org.uk
HERITAGE COLLECTION NEWRY CITY LIBRARY Leaflet

The collection in Newry City Library includes books on Irish history, local studies and family history. Also available are historical maps of Counties Down and Armagh covering the County series (1830s to 1950s) and a selection of local newspapers on microfilm.
The Crossle Papers archive of handwritten notebooks and scrapbooks dates from the early 1900s and was compiled from information in local newspapers. Although the notebooks were originally compiled for personal use rather than for formal research purposes, they do contain valuable information about prominent families in the Newry area. the Francis Crossle Manuscript Collection on the Newry area, including some 200 notebooks compiled by Dr. Crossle containing histories of families in the Newry area.

Armagh Robinson Library
43 Abbey Street
Armagh BT61 7DY
Northern Ireland

Phone: (028) 3752 3142
Fax: (028) 3752 4177
Email: ArmROBLib@aol.com
Website

This library houses more than 20,000 volumes including the Archbishop's personal collection of books on early Irish history and heraldry. The manuscript collection has many items of Irish interests including land and tithe records.

Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Library and Archive
15 Moy Road
Armagh, BBT61 7LY
Northern Ireland

Phone: (028) 3752 2981
Fax: (028) 3751 1944
E-mail: ofiaichlibrary@btinternet.com
Website
Archive Collections
Library catalogue search

The library houses a collection of some 20,000 books, 450 periodicals, manuscripts, art and artefacts, maps, microforms, photographs and recordings focusing on Irish history, church history, Irish language and literature, local history, especially the Archdiocese of Armagh, Irish sport, and the Irish overseas. Of special genealogical interest are the library's reference sources and supplementary information.

Philip B. Wilson Local History Reference Library
Craigavon Museum
Waterside House
Annaloiste Road, Oxford Island
Craigavon BT66 6NJ
Northern Ireland

Telephone: 028 3831 1669
Email: museum@craigavon.gov.uk
Website: Website

The library has almost 6,000 local history reference books on topics including researching family history, place names, and townlands. It has two unique collections of Quaker and Methodist books, and archaeological and local history journals including a complete set of 'Review', the biennial journal of Craigavon Historical Society.

Randal Gill Library
The North of Ireland Family History Society
NIFHS Branches
Website
Clans, Biographies, Family Trees and Names
Family Trees and Books about Families

Many Members contribute to our Transcribing and Indexing Projects. Some compilations of records, as books or CDs, are available in our online Shop. The Transcribed Records fall into the categories: Church Records, Graveyard Records and Newspaper Records. Many of these are only available in the Library.

Local libraries may have collections relating to families--newspaper clippings, donated family histories, published local histories, not ubiquitous but worth checking. The largest library in a district might serve some archive functions.

Museums


Armagh County Museum
The Mall East
Armagh BT61 9BE
Northern Ireland

Telephone: 028 3752 3070
Email: sarah.millsopp@armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk
Website
Research and Genealogy

Armagh County Museum has an extensive reference library and archive offering a wide range of research material, as well as more than 6000 books we have an extensive photographic, map and manuscript collection.

Newry and Mourne Museum
Bagenal's Castle
Castle Street
Newry County Down BT34 2BY
Northern Ireland

Telephone: 028 3031 3182/07554 772 523
Email: museum@nmandd.org
Website
Facebook

The Museum collects, preserves, and interprets the material relating to the culture, heritage, and history of Newry and Mourne. Facilities include a Reading Room for local and family history research.

Civil Registration Offices

  • How duplicate certificates are obtained has changed. These can no longer be issued from district registration offices.
  • All birth records from 1864 to 100 years ago have been digitized and are free to view and download at IrishGenealogy.ie. Some of the later marriage and death records can also be downloaded from this site.
  • An index of Ireland Civil Registration -including births, 1864-1958, marriages, 1845-1958, and deaths, 1864-1958 - is available online at FamilySearch's Ireland Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958 (An index of Ireland civil registration including 1864-1958 births, 1845-1958 marriages, and 1864-1958 deaths, but excluding index records for Northern Ireland after its creation in 1922.)
  • The General Register Office, Northern Ireland (GRONI) provides an online service for searching and ordering civil registration records. To search the records online, you must register for an account.

Websites

Emerald Ancestors provides instant access to one of the largest collections of Northern Ireland genealogy records available, containing birth, marriage, death and census records for over 1.5 million Irish ancestors. Our extensive Ulster ancestry database covers Irish Family records from civil registration indexes, church registers and historical sources in Counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry & Tyrone.

References

  1. "Local government in Northern Ireland", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_government_in_Northern_Ireland, accessed 31 March 2023.