Archive & Genealogy
The Archive & Genealogy service is responsible for the preservation, interpretation and creation of access to the civic records of the Council and its predecessor, the Londonderry Corporation.
The collection constitutes an extremely valuable source of information both for the history of the City and the Council. The collections provide a comprehensive record of the city’s development from the latter half of the seventeenth century to the present day.
The extensive archive collection consists of minute books, legal documents, architectural drawings and plans and private collections. This material ranges from business collections, and items relating to industry, shirt factories, railways, political movements and social history. The Genealogical collections includes a database of over one million records including traditional family history records such as birth, marriage and death records.
Online resources
The archive currently has a variety of resources available online in partnership with various stakeholders which can be accessed directly through the following links:
The Built Heritage Architectural Project
Supported by the Challenge Fund and in partnership with Guildhall Press, this project has made available a small but stunning selection of architectural drawings submitted for by-law approval to the old Londonderry Corporation and the Londonderry Development Commission.
Londonderry Corporation Minute Books from 1673 to 1901 (in partnership with PRONI)
Registers of the Freemen of Londonderry Corporation dating from 1675 to 1945 (in partnership with PRONI)
War Memorial Records of the City of Londonderry (in partnership with PRONI)
Opening Hours
Monday - Friday 10am to 4pm
Public access to the archive collection is presently by appointment only. Members of the public should note that whilst collections are in the process of being listed, they will be unavailable for consultation.
ARCHIVE CONTACT DETAILS
For further information contact:
Bernadette Walsh
Tower Museum
Union Hall Place
Derry
Telephone: (028) 71372411
Email: bernadette.walsh@derrystrabane.com
Genealogy
There are an estimated 70 million people worldwide claiming Irish ancestry and we are currently in partnership with Irish Family History Foundation to offer a Genealogy service. A database of over one million records, dating from 1642 to 1922, created, between 1982 and 2007 as a project of the Inner City Trust, from the major civil and church registers of the city and county of Derry~Londonderry and Inishowen, County Donegal is now available at www.derry.rootsireland.ie
Records include:
- Pre-1922 civil birth and marriage registers
- The early baptismal and marriage registers of 97 churches
- Headstone inscriptions from 118 graveyards
- Census returns and census substitutes from 1663 to 1901
Contact Details
For further information contact:
Brian Mitchell
Tower Museum
Union Hall Place
Derry
Telephone: (028) 71372411
Email: genealogy@derrystrabane.com