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Pay us a Visit
Both members and non members are welcome to visit the Society’s Research Centre at Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey BT36 7LS
Normal opening times are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2pm to 8pm.
Our knowledgeable and friendly volunteers will help you to locate the records that could help you to unlock your family history.
The Research Centre comprises different rooms, each holding specific record sets and providing space for individual research. Scroll down the page for a mini tour!
- Free wi-fi throughout the Centre.
- Dedicated computer allowing access to a full FindMyPast subscription.
- Free car parking.
- On-site café.
Society Members who cannot visit during normal opening hours may request a booking at a time to suit, subject to availability. Further information is in the Members’ area of the website.
If you have questions about the Research Centre, for example you need directions or want to check when it is open, you can ring 07 7460 96014. The phone is only monitored during opening hours so if there is no answer, please leave a message and we will get back to you when we can.
View Research Centre Floor Plan
Randal Gill Library
The North of Ireland Family History Society has named its Library in the Research Centre after the late Randal Gill, who was for many years President of the Society and its Librarian; it was he who was mainly responsible for developing its collection.
The Library holds a large collection of books and records of interest to Members researching families in the North of Ireland. Many books and records deal with individual people and many others can provide invaluable background information regarding historical context, places, occupations, military service and much more.
Irish Journal Room
The Journal Room holds more than 50 Irish Journals, indexed to identify gravestone inscriptions and miscellaneous records.
There is also a complete set of the Society’s twice yearly journal, North Irish Roots.
Past Society newsletters which are regularly sent to its members are held here.
Ordnance Survey Memoirs: 40 volumes plus a comprehensive index of names of people and places. These descriptions of Ulster parishes and their people were compiled between 1821 and 1840 when Ireland was being mapped by the Ordnance Survey.
The Honeyman Room
The North of Ireland Family History Society acquired this room for meetings, presentations and for holding courses for family historians. The room is named after Dr David Honneyman, a founding member of the Society, its first President and a lecturer by profession.
The room contains various directories and registers covering a wide range of dates.
Map Room
The Society maintains a good collection of maps and a large collection of street directories and biographical directories.
There is a wide range of Ordnance Survey maps for Northern Ireland stored in cabinets and comprising virtually a complete set of the 6 Inch to 1 Mile series. These maps were published county by county and so are numbered in squares by the name of the county.
From 1950 maps are based on the Irish Grid with a single reference system for the whole island. We have a good selection of maps for the following scales: 1 : 1,250 1 : 2,500 1 : 10,000 1 : 25,000. Full details of the holdings and their location are held in a file in the Map Room.
There is also a small collection of about 200 items of non-Irish material in the Map Room.
Our online shop stocks Alan Godfrey’s reduced copies of old Ordnance Survey maps of Ulster – half are town maps and half cover wider areas, along with other maps.
