Genealogy Research Service Ireland by Bruce Chandler Bruce
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CLICK HEADINGS FOR INFORMATION
Probates & Wills Estate Records Deeds & Leases Marriage Licence Bonds
Headstone Inscriptions Church Tithes Catholic Parish Records Protestant Parish Records
Griffith Valuations Civil Births, Marriages, Deaths Censuses Electoral Registers
Newspapers Maps More Dublin Records Dublin Archives & Libraries
Civil Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths
These records are now kept at General Registration Office Joyce House, Lombard Street East, Dublin 2. People who use it regularly call it Joyce House.
Civil registration started in Ireland in 1845 for protestant marriages. In 1864 registration for all births, marriages and deaths followed. After 1921 data for Northern Ireland is only at the General Registration Office in Belfast. Index books for the Republic of Ireland registers are available at Joyce House up to and including 1995. For years after that up to the present, you submit the name of the person you seek to counter staff and they will give you an index printout of data from their computer.
A series of index books -
Red for births - Green for marriages - Black for deaths - lead to the data. You apply to see up to five books at the one time in consecutive years, the books you seek must all be under the same category - births, marriages or deaths. These five books cost euro 2.00 (price increased in Dec. 05 from 1.90) so a day of searching can be very expensive. You get better value by going in the morning and paying for a General Search, which allows you to look at as many index books as you can manage in one day for euro 20.00 (price increased in Dec. 05 from 15.24)
The index books vary in format. Some cover six months, some a year. These types are divided into quarters. Some index books are computerised and give more data within the index. Next year?? the whole lot will be computerised and accessible on line for fee paying searches from a computer centre in Roscommon.
See Civil District Map of Ireland to view where the districts named in the index books are.
I set out below examples of what you might see in a typical index entry. When you spot an index entry that looks promising, you complete an application form for a copy of the certificate entry, using the index references. Some birth index books give the maiden surname of the mother which saves a lot of time. When looking for a marriage cert. entry when you know the names of both spouses, you must match the references, otherwise you will get a wrong marriage when you order a cert. entry.
Each application for a copy entry of either birth, marriage or death costs euro 4.00 (price increased in Dec. 05 from 1.90)
Searching civil registrations at Joyce House is usually the place to start your family history search, especially if you have no idea in which part of Ireland your ancestors came from. It can often be the only way for some marriages, as a man usually travelled to the girl's parish for a wedding. Since introduction of civil registration it is said that all marriages were registered but that birth and death registration was sometimes overlooked. That is my experience. In such an instance, you will have to search parish registers.
Index Books from 1864 to 1921 inclusive were microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints (LDS). These microfilms, including microfilms of the actual registers from 1864 to 1868, are available for viewing at
LDS Family Search Centres worldwide and also in Dublin at Dublin City Library.
Index to Baptisms in Ireland 1904
Quarter 1st January to 31st March
Surname Child's First Name Sex Registration
District
Vol. Page. Qtr.
RYAN BRENDAN M GALWAY 4. 311. 2
RYAN BRIGID F BORRISOKANE 3. 134. 3
RYAN BRIGID F TRALEE 1. 402. 2
VIEW CERTIFICATE INDEXED IN MAROON
Index to Marriages in Ireland 1880
Quarter 1st January to 31st March
Surname First Name Sex Registration
District
Vol. Page. Qtr.
CHAMBERS MARY F DUBLIN SOUTH 2. 145. 2
CHANDLER WILLIAM M TULLAMORE 3. 247. 3
CHARLES JOSEPH M TRIM 3. 211. 4
VIEW CERTIFICATE INDEXED IN MAROON
Index to Deaths in Ireland 1929
Quarter 1st January to 31st March
Surname First Name Sex Age Registration
District
Vol. Page. Qtr.
HASSETT JANE F 23 CORK 1. 143. 2
HASTINGS CHARLES JAMES M 81 TRIM 3. 122. 4
HATTON PETER M 54 CARLOW 3. 82. 1
VIEW CERTIFICATE INDEXED IN MAROON
Copy Birth Cert. Entry
Copy Marriage Cert. Entry
Copy Death Cert. Entry
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