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

Back to Ireland Guided Research.

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  at Ancestry ($)
 * 1655-1915:  Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers  at Ancestry ($)
 * 1742-1881:  Ireland, Selections of Catholic Parish Baptisms  at Ancestry ($)
 * 1763-1917:  Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers  at Ancestry ($)
 * 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 ($)

Finding the Parish or County of Origin
The Roman Catholic Church divided Ireland into Catholic parishes that did not usually align with Ireland's civil parishes. Searching by civil parish will not locate the Catholic record. In order to find a record or narrow results, search by the Catholic parish.

If civil parish or townland is KNOWN:

 * Catholic Parishes and Civil Parish Links - search the civil parish to find which Catholic parish it is in.
 * If only townland known, enter it into The IreAtlas Townland DataBase to find which civil parish it is in. Then search for the civil parish above.


 * Compare Catholic Parish Maps and Civil Parish Maps.

If civil parish and townland are NOT KNOWN:

 * Go to Finding the Ireland County or Parish of Origin to learn how to find the civil parish or townland.

If only county is KNOWN:
Take note: many Catholic parishes have multiple names. Go to National Library of Ireland and enter the name of the parish or click on the parish on the map to learn its variant names.
 * Learn all of the Catholic parishes in the county to help narrow down results. See Catholic Parish Maps.

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.

Finding Town of Origin
Knowing an ancestor’s hometown can be important to locate more records. If a person immigrated to the United States, try Finding Town of Origin to find the ancestor’s hometown.

Virtual Genealogy Consultations
Schedule a free online consultation with a research specialist:

Ask the Community
Select a community research group where you can ask questions and receive free genealogy help.

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 see common variations.
 * 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.

Why the Record may not Exist
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 dates to 1671, most Catholic parishes began keeping records starting in the early to mid-1800s. Records Published by FamilySearch Collection coverage tables show the places and time periods of original records published by FamilySearch. For any FamilySearch collections you did not find your ancestor in, check the coverage table for gaps in the online collection. If the time period or location your ancestor lived in is missing from the collection, it may require searches in records found at original repository or finding substitute records for the event.

Records Destroyed Catholic church records have had little record loss.
 * Ireland Births and Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths, Coverage Table