GuidedResearch:Why Can't I Find the Record - Ireland Catholic Births

=Ireland Catholic Births - What else you can try =

This page will give you additional guidance and resources to find birth information in Catholic records. Use this page after first completing the birth section of the Ireland Catholic Guided Research page. If researching after 1864, see Civil Records.

Additional Databases and Online Resources

 * 1620-1911:  Ireland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1620-1911  at Ancestry ($)
 * 1655-1915:  Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915  at Ancestry ($)
 * 1742-1881:  Ireland, Selections of Catholic Parish Baptisms, 1742-1881  at Ancestry ($)
 * 1763-1917:  Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1917  at Ancestry ($)
 * 1700s-1800s:  Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI  at National Library of Ireland - search images by Catholic parish and time period
 *  Ireland Church Records  at IrishGenealogy.ie
 *  Search Baptismal/Birth Records for Ireland  at RootsIreland.ie ($)

Additional Records with Birth Information
Substitute records may contain information about more than one event and are used when records for an event are not available. Records that are used to substitute for birth events may not have been created at the time of the birth. The accuracy of the record is contingent upon when the information was recorded. Search for information in multiple substitute records to confirm the accuracy of these records.

Tips for finding births
Successfully finding birth records in online databases depends on a few key points. Try the following search suggestions:
 * Add information. For common names, add more information to narrow the search such as approximate birth date or parent's names if known.
 * Spelling variations. Your ancestor's name may be misspelled. Search with spelling variations for the first and last name of your ancestor.
 * Search parents. Search for the parents, if known, as the child's first name may not be on the birth record.
 * Latin variations. Some records were written in Latin, meaning names were sometimes changed to their Latin variations (i.e. Johannes instead of John). Search for Anglicized and Latin name. Go to Wikitionary to find.
 * Know county. Because of the abundance of common names, knowing the county is important to narrow down the search. Go to Finding the Ireland County or Parish of Origin to learn how to find the county.
 * Know Catholic parish. To further narrow results, search by Catholic parish. Go to Finding the Catholic Parish to learn how to find the parish.
 * Multiple names. Many Catholic parishes go by multiple names. Go to Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI and enter the name of the parish to learn all of the names it may be known as.
 * Date range. Expand the date range of the search by 5 years.
 * Church of Ireland. Because of religious restrictions, some Catholics can be found in Church of Ireland records.

Records Start Mandatory birth registration started in 1864. Before this, births and baptisms can be found in church records. Historically, the majority of the Irish population was Roman Catholic. Although the earliest record is from 1671, most Catholic parishes began keeping records starting in the early to mid-1800s.

Records Published Records Destroyed Catholic church records have had little record loss.