The Irish and Local Studies Collection in Belfast Central LibraryAuthor(s): Roger DixonSource: North Irish Roots, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1988), pp. 46-47Published by: North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27696687 .

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THE IRISH AND LOCAL STUDIES COLLECTION IN BELFAST CENTRAL LIBRARY

Roger Dixon (Irish and Local Studies Librarian)

The Irish and Local Studies Department has been an integral part of the Belfast Central

Library since its inception one hundred years ago Although we are a constituent part of the Belfast Public Library Service our collecting field has never been governed by the city boundary for we are, as our title suggests, an Irish Library as well as a Local Studies one Throughout the past century we have been acquiring as comprehensive a collection as possible of material

relating to Belfast and its surrounding area, while at the same time acquiring a representative collection covering the whole of Ireland The result of these policies has been the creation of what is probably the largest Irish and Local Studies Library in Northern Ireland containing some 50,000 books and pamphlets as well as numerous periodicals, newspapers and other

special collections

The Local Studies area in particular has seen rapid expansion both in stock and in use over the past ten years Local History has moved from being the special interest of the researcher to being the interest of a much wider section of the public The GCSE Examination

with its emphasis on local history has contributed to this expansion This increase in use

obviously delights us but it does put a strain on staff and stock We are a closed access library, and by that we mean that books are held in our stack area behind the scenes and are brought out to the public on request, so that each reader requires individual attention With a staff of two professionals and five library assistants there is, as you can imagine, a constant tug of war between the immediate demands of the public and the need to maintain bibliographical and other standards behind the scenes It is often difficult for the public to appreciate that

without the behind the scenes work of ordering, cataloguing and conservation there would be no collection We do try to answer all requests for books and information immediately but in the case of complicated subject requests advance warning to the Department will achieve better results for all concerned

In an article of this kind it is impossible to do justice to such a multifaceted collection However in the following paragraphs I would like to describe certain areas of the collection that should be of particular interest to the genealogist and the local historian

BIOGRAPHY AND GENEALOGY The 6,500 volumes covering biography and genealogy range in scope from short pamphlets

to multi-volume works In the case of major historical figures we can provide, not just a

biography, but a comprehensive selection of biographies, thus we have thirteen works on the life of Wolfe Tone and more than thirty on the life of St Patrick

The collection also includes a fine selection of family histories, immigrant lists and more

general works of genealogy such as Burke's Irish Family records

ELECTORAL REGISTERS The Library acquires all current Belfast Electoral registers Complete sets are available

from 1946 on, and there are substantial holdings back to the 1890's Earlier poll books such as for the Belfast Electors of 1833 are available, and also list how the various electors voted

DIRECTIONS AND CALENDARS The Library currently takes more than 100 titles in these categories These provide up

to date information on all aspects of Local and Irish life and include for example, Business directories, Street directories, Religious directories and University Calendars Retrospective runs of these publications also represent a major source of information Street directories are of particular importance to the genealogist and the Library has extensive holdings for Belfast and Dublin

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS The Library holds the publications of the respective governments of the Republic of Ireland

and Northern Ireland from 1921, and the publications of the Irish Parliament prior to 1800 British Government publications cover the whole of Ireland from 1801 - 1 921 and the library has many of these in their original form as well as having the Irish University Press reprint of British Nineteenth Century Parliamentary Publications A departmental publication of outstanding importance to the genealogist was Griffith's Valuation carried out during this period

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under the auspices of the Board of Work Relief Department The library has the Valuation for the whole of Ireland on microfiche

MAPS The map collection includes approximately 50 general maps of Belfast and the same

number of specialised maps relating to the city We also have a fine collection of early Irish maps dating from the sixteenth century to the early nineteenth century and the main Ordnance

Survey Series listed below

1832 Ordnance Survey of Ireland, 6 in to 1 mile (We have the complete set on microfiche as well as a fine selection of the original maps), 1947 Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland, 6" to 1 mile, 1962 Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland, 1 2500 (25 in to 1 mile), 1 10000 (6 ins to 1 mile)

We also have a series 1 1250 (50 in to 1 mile) covering towns in Northern Ireland

PHOTOGRAPHS The Photographic collection is expanding rapidly in response to an increasing awareness

of its potential in Local Studies The collection is particularly rich in nineteenth and early twentieth century photographs and includes copies of the work of Lawrence, Hogg, Fngh and Welch For the more recent period we have photographs by well known professional photographers such as Robert Kirk and a collection of some 1500 slides of Belfast commissioned by the library in 1976 In addition to photographs the library also holds an extensive collection of postcards and prints covering the whole of Ulster

NEWSPAPERS Belfast Central Library now has one of the largest collections of Irish Newspapers in the

world comprising over 500 titles half of which are in the original format, with the rest stored on microfilm At present, approximately 70 current titles are taken and all these are held

permanently on file The collection includes long runs of the Belfast and Dublin dailies and a comprehensive selection of provincial newspapers for Northern Ireland

In February 1985 we took the step of opening the Newspaper Library to the general public on three and half days per week and this move has proved enormously popular It puts an additional strain on staff and stock but I believe that this greater access to an indigenous source of information has been very worthwhile

ARCHIVES The archives and manuscript collection contains over 100,000 items It includes the

correspondence and personal papers of our major benefactors, literary manuscripts, and a wide range of non book material such as theatre bills which require specialised treatment and

cataloguing The correspondence files in the F J Bigger Collection should be of particular interest to the genealogist

If there are any areas of the collection that you would like more information on or if you are interested in gathering a party together to tour the department, please contact me and I or my staff will be delighted to help

Collections on the scale of those held by Belfast Central Library are very rare indeed and

they are there for the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland so do come and take advantage of them

The Newspaper Library Key Information

Address: Irish and Local Studies Section, Belfast Central Library, Royal Avenue, Belfast BT1 1EA

Telephone: 243233

Opening Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9 30 am - 4 30 pm Saturday 9 30 am -12 30 pm

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