Births, Marriages & Deaths

Civil Registration

The official recording of births, marriages and deaths by the government, known as civil registration, began in Ireland on:

• 1 April 1845 for non-Catholic marriages
• 1 January 1864 for all births, marriages and deaths

When the system was introduced, the country was divided up into registration districts and it became compulsory for people to inform their local registrar when a birth, marriage or death took place. It is worth noting, however, that some people were slow to comply with the new law. Under this system, registrars forwarded details of births, marriages and deaths to the General Register Office in Dublin until the division of Ireland in 1922.

For a more detailed look at civil registration in Ireland see
Irish civil registration: where do I start?
An introduction to British civil registration
Ireland - Civil Registration Familysearch Wiki

Partition of Ireland

In 1922 Ireland was divided into Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland. This division meant that there were two different systems of civil registration operating from 1922 onwards and two separate General Register Offices; one in Dublin for the Republic of Ireland and one in Belfast for Northern Ireland.

The Counties in Northern Ireland

Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.

The Counties in the Republic of Ireland

Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Offaly, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.

Online Indexes

FamilySearch
Irish births, marriages and deaths appear on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' website. Please note that records are incomplete and also that dates of birth have often been estimated from age at death.

Other Indexes

The Irish civil registration indexes are also available on microfilm through FamilySearch Centres.

Ordering Certificates

Certificates for some date ranges have been microfilmed and are available through FamilySearch Centres. See the FamilySearch Ireland Civil Registration Research Wiki for full details of microfilms available.

Certificates can also be ordered through the two General Register Offices:

General Register Office - Republic of Ireland
Apply here for copies of birth, marriage and death certificates for the whole of Ireland prior to 1922 and for the Republic of Ireland after 1922.

General Register Office - Northern Ireland (GRONI)
Apply here for copies of birth, marriage and death certificates in Northern Ireland after 1922. Some earlier certificates are also available through GRONI. See their website for details.

What information will I find?

Irish birth, marriage and death certificates contain much less information than those for Australia. For a detailed breakdown of information recorded, see our guide:
Information found on certificates for Australian states, New Zealand and the British Isles
Please note that the information recorded on certificates depends on the knowledge of the person who was informing the registrar. Therefore, some information may be missing or incorrect.

How do I find births, marriages and deaths before civil registration?

Our Parish Registers page explains how to find baptisms, marriages and burials in church records.