Local Historical Societies

Local Historical Societies are not only a great community hub, they produce a wealth of material on areas of local history. For more information on local historical societies click on the links below or visit the Federation of Ulster Local Studies website for a comprehensive list of organisations throughout the province –

The Federation for Ulster Local Studies was established in 1974 as a means of bringing together the range of local societies that then existed and helping to co-ordinate the varied interests of the different groups. Organising workshops on best practice and arranging regional seminars on key historical events and issues was seen as a vital part of the Federation’s early programme and much of its promotional work was carried out through its newly established magazine, Ulster Local Studies. Support and guidance was also provided by the universities, the teacher training colleges, the growing museums structure and the Public Records Office and by the year 2000 there were over eighty member societies enrolled in the Federation. Libraries were increasingly seen as vital at local and provincial level for the collection and preservation of local heritage books and source material and providing venues for meetings and research work and thus seen as a vital component of the thriving local studies world. An increasing focus on the vast reservoir of largely untapped local heritage resources in written and other formats incentivized the coming together of local history and the library services, represented in the many and varied resources in places like the Linen Hall Library with its plus 200 years of service to the local community.