For the second meeting of the season Bellaghy Historical Society had as speaker Ms Yvonne Hirst, Local Studies Development Officer at Ballymena Library.

Ms Hirst gave a very comprehensive outline of the aims and resources of her Local Studies Department, which heldan Open Day in April to allow those involved with Local History Groups to see the extra resources now available in Ballymena

She illustrated these by showing how a visitor from another country, trying to trace ancestors, could do a successful search by providing name, townland or any small piece of information. She demonstrated this by choosing a common Bellaghy name and indicating how much could be learnt from the resources held in the Local Studies department. Further documents relating to Bellaghy citizens in the early 1800s proved an extremely interesting topic for her appreciative audience. Ms Hirst also brought with her old maps and many old records relating to Bellaghy

Thanking her for her most interesting talk, the Chairperson Mrs Mary Breslin expressed the appreciation of the members for the trouble she had taken to bring such a wealth of information relating to Bellaghy and district. She also reminded those present of the Christmas meeting on Tuesday 11th December when Ms Fionnuala Carragher will speak on Christmas Past in the home.