The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is the official place of deposit for public records in Northern Ireland and holds the most extensive range of private archives in Northern Ireland.
Dating mainly from the 17th century to the present, the archives fall into three general categories: those from government departments (back to the early 19th-century); those from courts of law, local authorities and non-departmental public bodies, some of which also go back to the early 19th century; and archives deposited by private individuals and families, churches, businesses and institutions. Archives are that provide a legal or historical record of the past are selected, preserved and made available to the public for consultation and research.