The Research Centre and the Society office are located in two rooms within the Mount Masonic Centre at 45 Park Avenue, Belfast, BT4 1PU. The Research Centre and Office are on the upper floor, turn right at the top of the stairs and the library is on the right hand side of corridor.
The Research Centre is staffed by members of local branches who have volunteered to help members. Use of the Research Centre is restricted to branch and associate members. Both are welcome, although it is always advisable to check ahead of a visit. Enquiries by post about accessing the Research Centre should be addressed to the address listed here or by e-mail to the address listed here.
It is possible to arrange visits outside these hours and within the opening hours of the building, but as much notice as possible should be given to ensure access. The Research Centre is locked unless a Society member is present and Masonic Centre staff do not have access to the Research Centre.
(Please note that the Research Centre is no longer open on Saturday mornings.)
* NB. HOLIDAY ARRANGEMENTS: the office may be shut in weeks containing Easter, 12 July, Christmas etc. At holiday times, before you visit, check by emailing nquire@nifhs.org
The main sections of the books in the Research Centre are Irish Genealogy, Journals and Directories. There are also books on Periodicals, Rest of the World, A5 information books and genealogical CD’s.
Each of these main sections are further divided into subdivisions, based on the subject of the material e.g. Church Directories or the title of a periodical e.g. 'The Ancestor' or a series e.g. 'My Ancestors'.
Each item in the Research Centre has a shelfmark/accession number in the format AA999-999, which indicates where the item is shelved.
For an explanation of the shelfmark system and a full list of shelfmarks click here.
- in pdf format, click
here.
(To view the contents of this pdf file you will need Adobe Reader which allows viewing and printing of PDF files and is
available as a no-charge download from Adobe's web site Adobe reader.)
Shelfmarks in this section have an alphabetical prefix. This is the letter M, the numerical subdivision is then used to indicate a series e.g. My Ancestors... or a subject e.g. the Poor Laws.
To view a complete list of shelfmark headings for this section click here.
Other material not included in the above sections are the the Society's collection of maps and indexes.
The map collection is stored in the map drawers and comprises virtually a complete set of 6 inches to a mile maps dating from the 1930s to 1950s, and a good selection of the following scales 1:1,250, 1:2,500, 1:10,000 and 1:25,000.
In the Research Centre are indexes for:- Memorial Cards; Family Trees; Ancestor Charts; Lateral Links; Solicitors’ Boxes; Index of Gravestone Inscriptions, Rent Rolls, Hearth Money Rolls, Census etc. found in NIFHS Library Books and Journals.
The Research Centre also holds Genealogical Research Directories from 1985-2005.
