CofI parish registers (online) updated

In 2014 the RCB Library compiled a list of original parish registers (baptisms, marriages and burials) together with surviving copies of same in Church of Ireland parishes. This catalogue, which includes originals and copies of registers held in the RCB Library and the National Archives of Ireland, has now been updated and amended to account for original registers in PRONI (the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, in Belfast).

In an extensive project, all of the data in the original list has now been reviewed by Dr Susan Hood of the RCB Library who has overseen its evolution as a digital record, and one that is purely alphabetical arranged by parish name (with additionally parishes within the main cities alphabetically listed under the name of each city).

Furthermore, the list has been colour–coded. The new colour–code for originals in PRONI is a light purple, making it possible for researchers to see at a glance what collections are available in this format at the principal repository for Church of Ireland records in Northern Ireland. The colour–coding further explains what has been transferred to the RCB Library (currently accounting for 1101 collections); the small number of additional collections available in NAI (just nine); as well as what materials were destroyed; and finally what collections continue to be held in local custody.

The online updated list may now be considered to be definitive as far as all original collections are concerned. The electronic list will continue to be maintained, amended and updated on a regular basis by the RCB Library and permanently available here, where it is expected to be extensively consulted by those pursuing ancestral research.

For further information about the table of parish registers and how to access the online registers, please visit the RCB library website at: http://ireland.anglican.org/about/128