Benefits of Membership

Help from the Education & Development Officer

Help from the former Education & Development Officer.

Robinson Library

Visiting Armagh Public Library, built in 1771 by Archbishop Robinson.

Visiting Greyabbey after the AGM

Visiting Greyabbey after an AGM

The North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS) provides its Members with the following benefits.

As an Associate or Branch Member:

  • You may attend Meetings of all of the Branches. The personal interaction at meetings can be invaluable for exchanging information.
  • You receive copies of the Society’s Journal, North Irish Roots, twice a year in late spring and late autumn.
  • You receive the Society’s E-Newsletter, normally twice a year, if you have given an email address.
  • You have free access to the online JSTOR Ireland Collection of many digitised journals, including back numbers of our journal.
  • You may have your Research Interests and Queries listed on our website and in our Newsletter by completing a Member’s Profile Form.
  • You are invited to submit a Record of Ancestors Chart and your Family Tree.
  • Indexes to Members’ Interests and Ancestor Charts are placed online with your membership number so that others with similar interests may contact you via the Society.
  • You are encouraged to use the Society’s well stocked Research Centre at Newtownabbey; for members who cannot visit there is a Look Up Service.  The collection includes record transcriptions, books, journals, directories, maps and more.
  • A number of Resources are being placed online, many of them available only to Members.
  • You may wish to use the online Shop, which sells a variety of Books & CDs by the Society including transcriptions of records and also Research Booklets to help with your research; we also sell Alan Godfrey’s reproductions of old Ordnance Survey Maps of Ulster.
  • You may participate in the North of  Ireland DNA Project with special discounted rates.
  • Whether local or far away, you may participate in the Transcribing & Indexing Projects.
  • You may submit an entry for the Biennial Competition organised by the Belfast Branch for all Members of the Society.

As a Branch Member, in addition to the above Benefits

  • You may vote at General Meetings of your Branch.
  • You may vote at General Meetings of the Society.
  • You may contribute by serving on your Branch Committee.
  • You receive copies of any Newsletters produced by your Branch.

Operational Costs

Your membership fee goes towards covering the operational costs of the Society including the rent of the Research Centre, the annual insurance and the cost of printing and posting the journal twice a year.  If you join as a Branch Member, part of your fee goes towards covering the cost of running the Branch, principally room hire and speakers’ expenses.  The Society has no paid employees and relies on the voluntary activities of its Members to deliver its many services.

Membership Options

  • Go for Branch Membership if you want to  get involved with local Branch Meetings and events and have voting rights.
  • Go for Associate Membership if distance prevents you getting involved with local Branch Meetings and events.