Ireland Civil Registration

Ireland  Civil Registration

View the 'Ireland Civil Registration online tutorial'from FamilySearch.

Introduction
Civil registration is the government recording and registering of births, marriages, and deaths. Registration began in Ireland in 1864. However, registration of Protestant marriages had begun earlier in 1845. Births, marriages and deaths were registered with district registrars. Registration districts were set up within the boundaries of the existing Poor Law Unions. Because Irish civil registration records are indexed and cover most of the population, they are an important source of genealogical data, particularly of names, dates,relationships,and places.

Table showing the information that can be found in each record type in the civil records of Ireland.

Using Indexes
Indexes provide the information necessary to locate the actual registration record the year or quarter of the year when the event was registered, the registration district, volume number and page number.

The Civil Registration birth records to 1881 and marriage and death records to 1870, as well as the index references to 1958, have been extracted and can be found in the Historical Records database on www.familysearch.org. Extracted records do not cover all areas and do not contain all of the information on the actual registration record, but they should contain enough information that you can determine if you have located the event for the correct person.

Note: The index information for the records at the General Records Office of the Republic of Ireland (GRO) differs from the index information at the General Records Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI). FamilySearch has digitized the indexes. The digital images, available at are based on the GRO index for 1845 to 1921. After 1921, they are based on the GRO index for the Republic of Ireland and the GRONI index for Northern Ireland. You must have the corresponding index information for the source you chose to obtain the complete registration information.

Civil registration records are also indexed online at www.ancestry.com, www.findmypast.ie and www.rootsireland.ie. These are either pay-as-you-go or subscription websites.

Birth Indexes



 * 1) For 1864 – 1958, search the computerized registration indexes at . (The microfilm indexes are also available at the Family History Library or through local Family History Centers.)
 * 2) From 1864 -1921, searches can be made of the indexes at either the General Record Office (GRO) or the General Records Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI). After 1921, the GRO contains the indexes for the Republic and GRONI has the indexes for Northern Ireland.
 * 3) Proceed to the instructions on obtaining certificates or locating the actual registration information.

Marriage Indexes
Note: If you know the surnames of both spouses, search for both spouses. If the index information matches, then you have the correct marriage.


 * 1) For 1864 – 1958, search the computerized registration indexes at . (These indexes are also available on microfilm at the Family History Library or through local Family History Centers.)
 * 2) For all years, searches can be made at the indexes at the General Record Office (GRO) for the Republic of Ireland or the General Records Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI).
 * 3) Proceed to the instructions on obtaining certificates or locating the actual registration information.

Death Indexes

 * 1) For 1864 – 1958, search the computerized registration indexes at . (These indexes are also available on microfilm at the Family History Library or through local family history centers.)
 * 2) For all years, searches can be made at the indexes at the General Record Office (GRO) for the Republic of Ireland or the General Records Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI).
 * 3) Proceed to the instructions on obtaining certificates or locating the actual registration information.

Identifying Registration Districts in each County
To identify the districts in a county, see Ireland, Civil Registration, County/Volume Arrangement.

For more information about the indexes, see also Ireland, Civil Registration: Additional Information About the Indexes.

For tips on searching the indexes, go to Tips on Searching the Civil Registration Indexes.

Identifying Civil Parishes within a Registration District
There are two printed sources which will either identify civil parishes within registration districts or will identify the registration district for each civil parish. These are:


 * Handran, George (ed). Townlands in Poor Law Unions.  Salem, Massachusetts: Higginson, c1997.  ISBN: 0832869937; FHL book 941.5 P32hg.  This source identifies civil parishes, as well as townlands, within poor law unions (registration districts).  It is not available online.
 * General Alphbetical Index to the Townlands, Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland, 1851. Dublin: printed by Alexander Thom for the Registrar General of Ireland, 1861.  ISBN: 0806310529; FHL book 941.5 X22g.  This source lists place names identified in the 1851 census of Ireland and gives their poor law union (civil registration district) and other jurisdictions.  Available online at http://www.thecore.com/seanruad and http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/placenames.

Obtaining Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificates
'''When ordering certificates with index information, it is important that you use the index information for the repository from which you are ordering the certificate. '''For example, you cannot use The General Register Office index to order certificates from The General Register Office of Northern Ireland and vice versa. If using the Family History Library or FamilySearch computer index, please see the note under the Section: "Using Indexes" to see which register office these indexes cover.

For all of Ireland, The General Register Office in Roscommon, Ireland has records of:

Births •1864-1921 Marriages •1845-1921 Deaths •1864-1921

And for the Republic of Ireland:

Births, marriages and deaths •1921-present

Birth records from 1864 may also be ordered online at www.certificates.ie.

For Northern Ireland (the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanangh and Tyrone only) The General Register Office for Northern Ireland has records of:

Births •from 1864 to present - district or full address of birth must be supplied Adoptions •from 1931 to present Marriages •from 1845 for registered non-Roman Catholic marriages and all registered marriages from 1864 Deaths •from 1864 to present - district or full address of death must be supplied

Local Registrars can be contacted through this website.

Filmed certificates are available through the Family History Library system. See the table below.

Locating the Actual Registration Information


There are two index systems used to catalog the civil registration information; the GRO index and the GRONI index. If you have GRO index information, you must obtain the registration from a repository that catalogs the information based on this index and vice versa for the GRONI index information. GRO indexed information is shown in bold and GRONI indexed information is shown initalic.

Step 1: Determine where to obtain the actual registration information.

Below is a table showing the civil registration information available at the Family History Library or through Family History Centers, the GRO and the GRONI. Determine whether your index information is based on the GRO or the GRONI catalog system and then identify where you want to obtain the actual registration information.

Step 2: Obtain the actual registration information.

a. Obtaining Civil Registration Information at Family History Library or Family History Center:

The Family History Library (FHL) has microfilms of the actual registration information the years shown above. Click on the link in the above table to see the Family History Library microfilm number that contains the certificate you are looking for based on the index information you have. These microfilms can also be ordered through the local Family History Center. Then find the certificate by looking at the microfilm. First find the appropriate year or quarter of the year and then proceed to the page number found in the indexes to locate the registration information.

b. Obtaining Civil Registration Information at the GRO:

With the GRO index information, you can obtain the registration information through the GRO. Click on this link to see the GRO ordering information.

c. Obtaining Civil Registration Information at GRONI:

With the GRONI index information, you can obtain the registration information through the GRONI. Click on this link to see the GRONI ordering information.

Naval Records: Marriage Certificates
Research use: Used to locate marriages where location is hard to establish.

Record type: Transcripts of marriage certificates. Note: A regulation required married officers to submit marriage certificates as a condition of eligibility of their wives for widow's pensions.

Time period: 1801-1902.

Contents: Name of bride and groom, date and place of marriage, information about navel service (PRO-classes Adm. 30/57, Adm 13/70-71 and Adm. 13/186-192).

Location: The National Archives, Ruskin Avenue, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, England.

Population coverage: 4 %.

Reliability: Good.

Accessibility: Through a researcher or a professional genealogist.

Additional Information
For more information about the indexes, see Ireland, Civil Registration: Additional Information About the Indexes.

For tips on searching the indexes, go to Tips on Searching the Civil Registration Indexes.

For additional information on death registration records, go to Ireland, Additional Civil Registration Information.

For additional collections available at the Registrar General's Office, go to Ireland, Additional Civil Registration Information.

Selected Bibliography
1. Falley, Margaret Dickson. Irish and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research. Evanston, Illinois: privately printed, 1962.

2. Grenham, John. “Civil Records” in Tracing your Irish Ancestors, 3rd ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2006.

3. Ó Dúill, Eileen and Steven C. ffeary-Smyrl, Irish Civil Registraion – Where Do I Start?, Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations Exploring Irish Genealogy Series. Dublin, Ireland: Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, 2000. [The definitive guide on the subject.]

4. Radford, Dwight A. and Kyle J. Betit. “Civil Registration” in A Genealogists Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2001. [Includes a list of the Superintendent Registrar’s Districts.]