The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a division within the Engaged Communities Group of the Department for Communities (DfC).
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is distinguished from other archival institutions in the United Kingdom by its unique combination of private and official records. The Record Office is not the Northern Ireland equivalent or imitation of any Great Britain or Republic of Ireland archival institution. It combines the functions and responsibilities of a range of institutions: it is at the same time Public Record Office, manuscripts department of a national library, county record office for the six counties of Northern Ireland, and holder of a large range of private records. This range of remit, embracing, among others, central and local government, the churches and the private sector, is unique to Northern Ireland.
History
thumb|PRONI at Balmoral Avenue
PRONI was established by the Public Records Act (Northern Ireland), 1923. The new body opened to the public on Monday 3 March 1924 on the fourth floor of a former linen warehouse in central Belfast (at Murray Street). The immediate challenge was to identify and preserve surrogates of records lost in Dublin during the Four Courts fire on 30 June 1922. The first Deputy Keeper, Dr David A. Chart (born in Lucknow but educated in his mother's native County Kilkenny), successfully replaced many of these records by approaching solicitors, business people, politicians, churches and the landed aristocracy.
The success of Chart's acquisition policy meant that PRONI needed more storage space. In April 1933, the office moved to a new central Belfast location, the first floor of the new Royal Courts of Justice in Chichester Street. However, it was not until 1965 that the Ministry of Finance for Northern Ireland would approve an actual purpose built repository. This new building, opened in 1972, was at Balmoral Avenue in South Belfast and was the first new record office building to be built in the UK since the Public Record Office in London was erected in 1838.
Between 1924 and 1982, PRONI was part of the Ministry (later Department) of Finance for Northern Ireland. The functions were then transferred to the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (the DoE), and, in 1995, PRONI became an executive agency within the DoE. With the restoration of devolved government in 1999, PRONI became an agency within the new Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL; pronounced as 'Dee-Kal'). The department brought together for the first time overall responsibility for libraries, museums and archives. As part of the implementation of the Review of Public Administration, PRONI ceased to be an agency in 2006 and became a division within the core department. On 9 May 2016, PRONI became a division within the Engaged Communities Group as part of the newly created Department for Communities (DfC).
Relocation to Titanic Quarter
thumb|PRONI at Titanic Quarter
In March 2011, PRONI reopened in new purpose-built premises at 2 Titanic Boulevard, BT3 9HQ, in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, approximately one mile from the city centre. The £29 million new headquarters includes a larger public search room, a reading room with seats for 78 users (most of which have access to power for laptops), a wifi cafe, microfilm readers, self-service digital cameras for digital copying, electronic information points, public art integrated into the fabric of the building, lecture theatre facilities, and dedicated exhibition space.
PRONI is easily accessed from Belfast City Hall via the Metro 26, 26A and 26B bus services. The Belfast Rapid Transport Glider Service - G2 also serves Titanic Quarter and operates daily every 10 minutes to and from Wellington Place. PRONI is in close proximity to the Titanic Quarter railway station (formerly Bridge End) and George Best Belfast City Airport.
Titanic Quarter is also home to leading tourist attractions including Titanic Belfast, , , SSE Arena, Titanic Exhibition Centre and Titanic Studios (aka the Paint Hall Studios) where Game of Thrones was filmed.
Current organisation
Records
thumb|right|[[Papal bull issued by Honorius III in 1219]]
PRONI currently holds 54 kilometres of records.