Cabinet Papers of the Stormont Administration (Northern Ireland), 1921-1972

The Penn Libraries have acquired the digitized archival collection, Northern Ireland : A divided community, 1921-1972.

The collection presents the Cabinet Conclusion files of the Northern Ireland Government, the devolved executive for British administration in Northern Ireland following the partition of Ireland in 1920. The Cabinet Conclusion files - shelfmarked CAB/4 at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) - contain a full record of every Cabinet debate and transaction for the entire duration of the Stormont administration from its first meeting in Summer 1921 to the imposition of Direct Rule in Spring 1972.

The collection was originally microfilmed by Gale Cengage in 2002, upon the release of the last CAB/4 files under PRONI's 30-year rule. Totalling almost 72,000 pages, the collection is downloadable as separate PDF-format files for each fortnightly Cabinet meeting, including minutes, memoranda, agenda, and associated correspondence. The original microfilm finding aid forms a handy guide to the contents of the digitized collection. Gale Cengage's Archives Unbound platform permits searching within archival metadata and digitized fulltext.