Well, I made my first visit to PRONI since July today. For once I wasn’t focussed on a specific branch or even a specific tree.

The other morning I found myself looking at the PRONI online catalogue and found reference to a letter from Mrs Mary Ann Brown of Gilnahirk in 1930.

I thought it was likely to be a request to the council for a house on the Rocky Road because this was around the time the family moved from the Ink Bottle in Holywood on account of a doctor recommending that Uncle John be moved way from the sea air.

It turned out to be a two page letter by her to Lady Craigavon of all people (the wife of the then Prime Minister) explaining that her husband was unemployed and could get no job and that everyone was dependent upon her daughter’s income even though she had four children to raise.

I will add the letter and the responses to the relevant page in due course.

I also had a look at three microfilm reels containing information about the Church of Ireland church at Ardkeen. This was in a search for more information about the Hanna family.

A couple of documents were unavailable to me due to a mechanical fault at PRONI. Well, at least the machines were working today!