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County Antrim

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"Antrim, a county of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, 46 Irish miles long, and 27 broad; bounded on the E and N by the sea, W by Londonderry and Lough Neagh, and S by Down. This county contains 605 Irish or 972 English square miles, 387,200 Irish plantation acres, equal to 622,059 English ones, 21,222 houses and 261,601 inhabitants. In it is situated a great natural curiosity called the Giant's Causeway, consisting of lofty pillars of basaltes, all of angular shapes. The linen manufacture is carried on very extensively in this county. It sends five members to parliament. The principal rivers are the Bann and Lagan. The principal towns are Belfast, Carrickfergus, Antrim, Lisburn, Ballymena, and Ballymoney. The assizes are held at Carrickfergus."

[From The New London Gazetteer (1826)]

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Archives & Libraries

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Cemeteries

A list of the cemeteries & church graveyards on the Find-A-Grave website.

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Census

The 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 census returns were almost all destroyed in a fire in 1922, whereas the 1861 1871 1881 and 1891 census returns had earlier been destroyed on the orders of the government.

A transcription of some extracted fragments of the 1851 Census for Dunaghy (County Antrim) are viewable free of charge on this website.

Transcripts of full details from the 1901 and 1911 census returns, and for what remains of the earlier census returns (for the whole of Ireland), are available and fully-searchable free-of-charge on-line on the National Archives of Ireland website.

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Church Records

  • A guide to the parish records held at PRONI in Belfast can be found in this PDF file.
  • The National Library of Ireland (in Dublin) holds many Catholic Parish Registers, including those from County Antrim. Many of these have been digitised by the National Library of Ireland and can be searched online here.
  • This webpage lists the Roman Catholic parishes within County Antrim, indicating the earliest known existing parish registers and also where copy registers are held. Note that it does not claim to be a complete list.
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Description & Travel

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Directories

Many Ulster Directories held at PRONI have been scanned and are searchable on-line.

  • Belfast and Province of Ulster Directories for 1852, 1858-59, 1863-64, 1865, 1866, 1870, 1877, 1880, 1884, 1887, 1890, 1892, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1899 and 1900.
  • Bradshaws General and Commercial Directory for 1819.
  • Belfast Directory for 1831-32.
  • Martins Belfast Directory for 1835-36, 1839, 1841-42.
  • Hendersons Belfast Directory and Northern Repository 1843-44, 1846-47, 1850 and 1852.

According to Fianna, there are Slater Directories for 1846, 1856, 1870, 1881 and 1894.

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Gazetteers

The transcription for this county from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.

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Genealogy

Family History & Historical Societies

Genealogy Forums and Message Boards:

Other Online resources:

  • Ulster Covenant (PRONI website).
  • Freeholders Records (PRONI website).
  • Will Index (PRONI website).
  • The Fianna website's pages for County Antrim provide important addresses and extensive information about online and other genealogy resources.
  • The Ireland Genealogy Project's County Antrim page, and its listing of the Project's available Antrim Records.
  • The Irish Ancestors website (subscription) has the following types of records: State Registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths, Census returns, Land records, Church records, Genealogical Office records, Gravestone inscriptions, Directories, Newspapers, Wills, Deeds, and Occupations.
  • Irish Ancestors' extensive County Antrim website.
  • Roots Ireland (subscription) "offers access to a unique database of more than 20 million Irish records". Its Antrim coverage includes Baptismal/Birth Records, Marriage Records, Burial/Death Records, Gravestone Inscriptions, Griffith's Valuation (Free Access), and Census Substitutes.
  • ORDNANCE SURVEY MEMOIRS OF COUNTY ANTRIM VII: Ballymena and West Antrim -- VOLUME 23: Statistical R
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History

 

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Land & Property

REGISTRY OF DEEDS:

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Names, Personal

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Newspapers

A list of Newspapers available at PRONI (Belfast) is shown in this pdf file.

The British Library (London) has digitised issues of the Belfast Newsletter (1800-1949) and Belfast Morning News (1857-1882) and these are available to search/view for free in the British Library in London, the British Library at Boston Spa (Yorkshire) and in any library or County Archives that has a British Newspaper Archive subscription. You can also search the index for free from any location on the BNA web page; though there is a charge to view the actual pages.

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Periodicals

From Fianna:

  • Carrickfergus and District HIstorical Society Journal (annual): Mrs. D. Corcoran, 64 Knocksallagh Gardans, Greenisland, Carrickfergus BT38 85P
  • East Belfast Historical Society(twice yearly), The Hon. Treasurer, 1 Sydenham Drive, Belfast BT4 2AX
  • Lisburn Historical Society Journal (annual), The Editor, Town Hall, Castle Street, Lisburn, Co. Antrim
  • The Local History Directory - Ireland, Federation of Ulster Local Studies. The Administrator, 18 May Street, Belfast, BT1 4NL