PRONI lecture series

Wish I was still in Belfast! From PRONI:

Call to explore your local history

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), in conjunction with the Open University Ireland (OUI) is encouraging people to explore their local history.

PRONI and the Open University will be delivering a free monthly lecture series from September this year to April next year hosted at PRONI’s brand new state-of-the-art Headquarters in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.

Commencing on 29 September 2011, the series will be delivered by Dr Janice Holmes, Dr Olwen Purdue and Dr Barry Sheen from the Open University Ireland and will examine the major themes of local history and the sources available to local historians. PRONI staff will present examples of these sources from the archives.

DCAL Minister Carál Ní Chuilín said: "This series of lectures between PRONI and the Open University are for members of the community who have not had the opportunity to benefit from Third Level Education so they will not make assumptions about attendees academic knowledge on history or politics.

“PRONI will be bringing history alive through their historical archives, whilst the Open University will be providing the historical context. Local history is very much part and parcel of who we all are, and I encourage anyone with an interest to come along and participate. The lectures are free and cover topics as varied as urban history, religion, crime, poverty and families.”

Dr Janice Holmes, Open University Ireland said: “The Open University in Ireland is proud to be working in partnership with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland as it begins its first year in its new headquarters in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. The Open University in Ireland hopes that these lectures will enable people to develop their passion for local history and to give them the skills they will need to access the fascinating sources and documents within PRONI and other local archives.”

The lectures, which are free of charge (but booking is essential), will start at 6.30pm in the Lecture Theatre of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. They will take place on the last Thursday of each month, apart from December, and will run until April 2012. The series is as follows:

29 September: What is Irish Local History?
27 October: Poverty.
24 November: Industrialisation.
26 January: Crime.
23 February: Religion.
29 March: Urban History.
26 April: Families.

For more information visit at www.proni.gov.uk or call 028 90 534800. Bookings for the lecture series can be made by sending an email to proni@dcalni.gov.uk

Keeper of the Records Carál Ní Chuilín, the OU's Dr Janice Holmes & PRONI's Stephen Scarth

(Picture: Michael Cooper)

(With thanks to Janet Campbell at PRONI)

Chris