Discover early footage from Lisburn on the digital film archive

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Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive (DFA) is a free public access resource containing hundreds of hours of moving image titles, spanning from 1897 to the present day, with footage from the Down Royal Racecourse being just one of the visual treats on offer.

With a mass of footage available, a simple search for ‘Antrim’ throws up some fantastic hidden gems.

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Explore footage from Balmoral Show in 1955, construction of the M1 at Stockman’s Lane and a clip from the 1967 Ulster Grand Prix. Take yourself back to the 1960s with some footage of a horseracing event at Down Royal Racecourse in Lisburn.

Racing has taken place on the current course at Maze near Lisburn, since the early 18th Century but the history of Down Royal goes further back to 1685 when King James II issued a Royal Charter and formed the Down Royal Corporation of Horse Breeders.

You can watch this clip on our website at www.lisburntoday.co.uk and relive the good old days as punters and viewers alike use their binoculars to see every single second of the race.

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This material was digitised as part of the UTV Archive Partnership Project (ITV, Northern Ireland Screen and PRONI).

The Digital Film Archive can be accessed from the comfort of your own home at www.digitalfilmarchive.net or via special terminals at DFA partner sites across Northern Ireland - including library branches, museums, art centres and universities.

In Co. Antrim there are 12 terminals; the closest are at Lisburn City Library and the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum.

Do you have any old photographs of Lisburn that you would like our readers to see? If you would like to share some of your photographic memories, email [email protected].

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