The Quaker movement was brought to Ireland by William Edmundson (born in 1627 in Westmoreland, England) when he established a business in Dublin in 1652. Several years later he moved north to Lurgan in Co. Armagh and by the mid-seventeenth century settlements were established in Lurgan and around Lisburn in Co. Antrim.

From the beginning, there was a strong emphasis on record-keeping. These records included registers of births (not baptisms, as baptism is not practised by the Society of Friends), marriages and burials. Minute books record in great detail the work and organisation of meetings.

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland holds copies of all the records at the Lisburn Meeting House, which include not only those of Lisburn but also those of Lurgan, Ballyhagen and Richill in Co. Armagh, Grange near Charlemont in Co. Tyrone and Antrim (MIC/16).

The Society of Friends’ Library holds extensive collections of wills, letters and family papers.

The Church of Latter Day Saints also holds microfilms of the records.