Ireland Civil Registration

Ireland

View a Familysearch online tutorial on Ireland civil registration by clicking here.

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.

Below is a 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.

For early births and marriages, extracted information from the Civil Registration records can be found in the International Genealogical Index (IGI). Extracted records do not contain all of the information on the actual registration record, however extracted records contain all or a portion of the index information as well as some information that will make it is easier to 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). For the IGI, Family History Library and Center and are based on the GRO index information for 1845 to 1921. After 1921, they are based on the GRO index for the Republic of Ireland and the GRONI index information for Northern Ireland. You must have the corresponding index information for the source you chose to obtain the complete registration information.

Birth Indexes

 * 1) For 1864 -1875, search the IGI to locate person. If the IGI contains the registration index information, proceed to the instructions on locating the actual registration information.
 * 2) 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. The Family History Library or Centers' microfilm indexes are the GRO indexes for . After 1921, they are based on the  (1922-1958) for the Republic of Ireland and the  1922-1959) information for Northern Ireland.)
 * 3) 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.
 * 4) Proceed to the instructions on 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 1845 -1870, search the IGI to locate person (from 1845-1863; only Protestant marriage are recorded). If the IGI contains the registration index information, proceed to the instructions on locating the actual registration information.
 * 2) 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. The Family History Library or Centers' microfilm indexes are the . After 1921, they are based on the for the Republic of Ireland and the  information for Northern Ireland.)
 * 3) 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).
 * 4) Proceed to the instructions on 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. The Family History Library or Centers' microfilm indexes are the . After 1921, they are based on the for the Republic of Ireland and the  information for Northern Ireland.)
 * 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 locating the actual registration information.

See also Ireland Civil Registration Indexes.

Tips on Searching the Civil Registration Indexes

 * If you want to narrow your search by using the registration district, you must choose the option of "exact, close &amp; partial matches" otherwise this narrow search will not work.
 * If you don't know the registration district, then the search can be narrowed by using the county. The next section explains how to determine the registration district.
 * When you enter a place for your search, sometimes there are more than one spelling for the same place and you will get different results for a search on each place. If you enter a place and do not find the person, try a different spelling for the place.  For example, if you enter Leix, then the drop down window will give you other spellings for this county, i.e. Laois and Laoighis.  You may need to try all of these spellings for this county.
 * To search again, choose refine search. If you choose new search, you will return to the home page and have to go to the Ireland Civil Records search page again.
 * The search engine is not picking up all of the name variants. For example, if you search on Hanora, then you get a different set of results than if you searched on Honora.  Thus, you should manually try other name varriants if you do not find the person you are looking for.
 * Surnames beginning Mc may have been typed M' in the compilation of the GRO Ireland index. You may need to enter M' in the surname search field on FamilySearch Historical Records (formerly Record Search) to disclose all surname entries with a Mc prefix. Indexers have typed what they see in the GRO index literally. The GRO index originals are typed in this way!

Additional Information about the Indexes

 * Before 1878, registration indexes were arranged alphabetically by year. Since 1878, indexes have remained alphabetical but have been divided by each quarter of the years (e.g. 'January, February &amp; March' etc.).
 * Most registration indexes list only the name of the individual registered and the district, volume, and page number of that person's registration entry. The death indexes also list the individual's age at death.
 * In the Family History Library films of the indexes, the Republic of Ireland post-1927 birth indexes include the mother's maiden name. However, since that filming was done, the mother's maiden surname has been added to the Birth Index beginning with 1903.
 * In searching for an index entry, knowing the name of the district and at least an approximate year in which the birth, marriage, or death occurred will reduce your search time.
 * Place-names in the indexes are for districts. In rural areas, many villages and parishes belong to one district. In urban areas, a city may be divided into several districts.
 * The registration districts are the same as the poor law unions. If you know the parish name where the event occurred, then you can find the registration district by going to the county map for Ireland on the main Ireland Wiki page. Just click on a county and you will see a table showing a list of the parishes and their poor law unions.
 * If you know the townland, you can look up the poor law union by using www.seanruad.com. This website will let you search on partial names and is especially helpful if the townland name is mispelled.  The Poor Law Union or civil registration district will be shown for the townland.
 * If you do not know the parish name, then use the following sources to identify the parish or the district in which your ancestor lived: You can also find more information on locating places in the gazetteers' section.
 * Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland, (1871 Census), lists Irish localities and the districts that served them in 1871.
 * Ireland, Census Office, General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland, (1901 Census, [London, England: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1901?]; Family History Library book Ref 1901; film # lists Irish localities and the districts that served them in 1901.
 * Civil Registration Districts of Ireland, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1983; Family History Library book Reg ; film #, which provides maps and districts' names as they were in 1871.

Tips If You Cannot Find an Individual in the Index
If you cannot find an index reference, consider the following reasons:


 * Late registrations of births and deaths are indexed separately at the end of each index volume.
 * Surnames are often spelled differently than expected.
 * Surnames with prefixes, such as O'Brien or McDonnell, may be listed without their prefixes (Brien, Donnell).
 * Events are filed by the date they were registered, not the date they occurred and may therefore be indexed in a later volume. (For example, a birth on 20 December 1879 which was registered on 6 January 1880 will be listed in the January-March volume of 1880.)
 * Indexes were hand-prepared and may contain errors, such as copying mistakes (for example, the interchange of T and F) and missed entries.
 * Occasionally, people were registered under a variation of their first name, other than that recorded at the time of their birth or death. For instance Ted for Edward or Molly for Mary.
 * In error, some marriages have been indexed by the name of only one party.
 * If a woman was married previously, then her surname in the marriage index might at a later marriage be her surname from a previous marriage and not her maiden surname.
 * Vital information provided by the family (particularly age at death) is often incorrect.
 * People with prolific first names or surnames are sometimes difficult to distinguish in the index.
 * Children born before their parents were married may be listed under the mother's maiden name.
 * Some children are simply listed as male or female if they were not named by the time of registration.
 * Some events were not registered, even though registration of births, marriages and deaths was required by law.

If, after considering the above factors, you cannot find a civil birth, marriage, or death certificate for your ancestor, you may want to search church or other records.

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.

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

Additional Collections in Registrar's Office
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.]

Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes (FamilySearch Historical Records)