Just when I think I have found out everything that I can about Irish genealogy, I realize that there is more than I ever thought out there. I just discovered a new site. IrishGenealogy.ie This site lets you check the civil records of Ireland. Now before you get too excited, civil records don’t go back much before the 1860s but if your family was still around Ireland at that time period, this is the equivalent of the English BMD.
I tried to locate a death record for my first known ancestor Geoffrey Donoghoe but so far no luck. This could mean that the Geoffrey I have seen in Boston is my Geoffrey. Who knows? Maybe father and son came to the U.S. together.
Now back to what this website has to offer. In addition to the civil records, the site also has searchable church records. Searching is free. This is an amazing free tool to add to your arsenal and those of us who are struggling with Irish genealogy know that we need every tool that we can find.
This website holds a large searchable volume of pre-20th Century Church records of Baptism, Marriage, and Burial that in many instances pre-date the Civil Registration.
Transcriptions included:
Transcripts of the baptism and marriage records of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry to c. 1900 - this diocese includes parishes in western and north-western areas of Co. Cork.
Transcripts with record-images for all surviving nineteenth-century Church of Ireland marriage, baptism and burial records in Co. Kerry.
All Roman Catholic baptism, marriage and burial registers for Dublin City, some parishes in transcript only and some transcripts with record-image (to c. 1900).
All surviving Church of Ireland baptism, marriage and burial registers for Dublin City, most of them transcripts with record-images to c. 1900.
All surviving Church of Ireland baptism, marriage and burial registers for Co. Carlow, transcripts with record-images to c. 1900.
All Roman Catholic baptism, marriage and burial registers (transcripts with record-images to c.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 currently online.
A small number of Presbyterian records relating to a congregation in Lucan, Co. Dublin (transcript only).
Indexes to the Civil Records:
The Indexes to the Civil Records of Irish Births, Deaths and Marriages date from 1864 with non-Roman Catholic Marriages recorded from 1845.
The indexes to Births over 100 years old, the indexes to Marriages over 75 years old and the indexes to Deaths over 50 years old.
To get a copy of a certificate, what do you do?
1. If you would like to request a photocopy of the Birth/Marriage/Civil Partnership/Death entry (for genealogy and research purposes),
A photocopy of an entry in any register can be purchased from the General Register Office by downloading the form here and submitting it by fax or post as outlined on the form, or
The General Register Office also operates a research facility at Werburgh Street, Dublin 2 where members of the public may search the indexes to the registers held by General Register Office and purchase photocopies of entries in the registers. See Research page.
2. Options to purchase an official certificate
A certificate can be purchased online on the official Civil Registration Service website at www.certificates.ie (Death records before 1924 and marriage records before 1903 are not currently available online), or
A certificate of an entry in any register, regardless of the year involved, can be purchased from the General Register Office by fax or post by completing the relevant application form which can be downloaded at Apply for Certificates. Click here for the link to Apply for Certificates page.
What church records are available online?
Under the first phase of the project, church records for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry were made available as were a subset of the Church of Ireland parishes in Kerry. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry includes parishes in western and north-western areas of County Cork. The church records for a subset of the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland parishes in Dublin City were also available as were a small number of Presbyterian records relating to a congregation in Lucan.
Under the second phase, the remaining Church of Ireland records of Dublin City, County Kerry and County Carlow have been added. Also, a subset of the Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Cork & Ross were also added. In addition to these records, digital images of the originals of these church records are also available to view on this website.
Under the third phase, the remaining Roman Catholic records of Dublin City and County Cork (Cork and Ross except most of Cork City) have been added. In addition to these records, digital images of the originals of these church records are also available to view on this website.
You can search by name, date, location. You can be specific or general, sometimes you will something in a more general search that you wouldn’t have caught in a specific search.
If your county is not included, you will still need to use Rootsireland.com to search, (this site is subscription) but Irish Geneology.ie is an amazing site that offers lots of great information and help to Irish genealogists.
