Record Sources

Civil Records – The General Register Office (GRO)

Records available offline

The General Register Office (Oifig An Ard-Chláraitheora) is the central civil repository for records relating to births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships and adoptions in Ireland. A family research facility is available in the GRO Research Room at Werburgh Street, Dublin 2, where you can search the indexes to the registers and buy photocopies of records.

The GRO operates under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection and has responsibility for the administration of the Civil Registration Service in Ireland. The GRO office is located at Government Offices, Convent Road, Co. Roscommon.

The Registrar General is responsible for managing and controlling the system of registration in Ireland, however, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is responsible for the day to day delivery of theCivil Registration Service through a network of local civil registration service offices across the State.

Records available online:

The General Register Office (GRO) holds all official records of Irish births, deaths and marriages from 1864 and of non-Catholic marriages from 1845, the historic indexes of which can be viewed locally.

The General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) allows access to full a database of the transcripts of their records from 1922 onwards (from 1845/1864 for areas now in Northern Ireland) on a pay per view basis.

Church Records

Online Church Records:

On this site:

Transcripts of the baptism and marriage records of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry up to circa 1900 – this diocese includes parishes in western and north-western areas of Co. Cork.
Transcripts with record-images for all surviving 19th century Church of Ireland marriage, baptism and burial records in Co. Kerry.
All Roman Catholic baptism, marriage and burial registers for Dublin City. The registers for some parishes are in transcript only up to circa 1900, and some transcripts have the record-image to circa 1880. The records of St. Paul’s, Arran Quay are not included. A transcript of its records can be found at RootsIreland.ie.
All surviving Church of Ireland baptism, marriage and burial registers for Dublin City. Most of the transcripts up to circa 1900 have record-images.
All surviving Church of Ireland baptism, marriage and burial registers for Co. Carlow. Most of the transcripts up to circa 1900 have record-images.
All Roman Catholic baptism, marriage and burial registers (transcripts with record-images to circa 1880) for the diocese of Cork and Ross, which covers the south and west of the county and Cork city. Some of the records of Cork city (for the parishes of St. Mary & St. Anne, St, Patrick’s and Blackrock) are not available online.
A small number of Presbyterian records relating to a congregation in Lucan, Co. Dublin (transcript only).

Available elsewhere online:

The National Library of Ireland have digitised microfilm copies of the original parish registers from (circa 1740 – 1880) online.
RootsIreland.ie have transcripts (without record-images) of most of the Roman Catholic records on the island of Ireland, for areas other than those listed above. However, only a small proportion of records are transcribed for counties Donegal, Monaghan and Wexford. None of the transcribed records for Clare are online. Each geographical area on the site has a ‘sources list’ and it is necessary to consult this in order to ascertain what records are being searched. The site also includes transcripts of Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian registers for some counties.
FamilySearch is a free site run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The site has transcripts, without record-images, of approximately 30 Roman Catholic parishes, mostly in counties Kerry, Cork and Roscommon.
Ancestry.co.uk is a subscription site that has transcripts, without record-images, of the registers of the diocese of Meath (up to 1880) with approximately 40 parishes, along with a copy of the LDS transcripts.
Irish Jewish Roots have a large collection of Jewish records available online.

Offline Church Records:

The National Library of Ireland have microfilm copies of almost all pre-1880 Roman Catholic parish registers on the island of Ireland. Access is free and print-outs of the records are allowed.
The LDS Family History Library have microfilm copies of approximately 40% of Irish Roman Catholic parish registers. Some are copies of National Library of Ireland microfilms. These films can be ordered via the Family History Centres attached to most Mormon temples.
Most local Roman Catholic parishes do not permit research on their original records. Requests are often referred to heritage centres, the records of which are mostly available on Rootsireland.ie. Contact details for local parishes are available at CatholicIreland.net.
The Representative Church Body Library is the official archive of record for Church of Ireland records that survived the burning of the Public Record Office in 1922. A full list of its holdings is available at Ireland.anglican.org. All records are searchable if not too fragile to be handled.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland have freely available microfilm copies of almost all surviving records, of all denominations, for areas now in Northern Ireland. PRONI also holds records for the border counties Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, Monaghan and Louth.
Quakers in Ireland have comprehensive records available dating back to the 17th century, with microfilm copies in the National Library of Ireland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland have records available but most Presbyterian records are only available locally.

Census Records

The National Archives of Ireland have Census of Ireland records for 1901 and 1911 available online. Census fragments and substitutes for 1821-51 are also available.
The Leitrim-Roscommon Genealogy website has transcripts from the 1901 Census for counties Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Galway, Donegal and Longford.

Property Records

Online Property Records:

Griffith’s Valuation (1847-1864) is a comprehensive property tax survey published for different years in each county. Transcripts and record images are available at ‘Ask about Ireland’. Detailed maps accompany the valuation and images.
The Tithe Applotment Books (c.1823-1838) record the names of those liable to pay tithes to local Church of Ireland clergymen. The tithes were payable by members of all denominations, but only on some types of agricultural land. The Tithe Books are free to search (including transcripts with record images) on the National Archives of Ireland website.
Landed estate records provide one of the richest sources of archival material available to local historians.

Offline Property Records:

Tailte Éireann have revision books of all changes in the status of each piece of property recorded in Griffith’s Valuation. Many records detail changes until the 1960s and 1970s, when the property tax was abolished for private householders. They also hold the land registry records and information on the registry of deeds, which was established in 1707.
The National Library of Ireland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland have the largest holdings of records from 1700 to 1900 relating to tenants on landed estates, including rent books and tenant lists.
The Landed Estates website gives details of estates and their surviving records for the provinces of Munster and Connacht.