About Us

The General Register Office (Oifig An Ard-Chláraitheora) is the central civil repository for records relating to Births, Deaths and Marriages in Ireland . It is concerned with civil registration matters only, and does not engage in Genealogical/Family History research.

Our records of marriages other than Roman Catholic marriages date back to 1st April 1845 . Records of Births, Deaths and Roman Catholic Marriages date back to 1st January 1864 . See also the Research Page on this site.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A CERTIFIED COPY/PHOTOCOPY OF A CIVIL BIRTH/DEATH/ MARRIAGE RECORD.

This office will supply a Certified Copy or a photocopy of an entry in the Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages provided sufficient information is furnished by an applicant to enable the records to be identified. Please note that a photocopy of an entry will contain exactly the same details as a Certificate. A photocopy is not suitable for administrative or legal purposes but is ideal for genealogical purposes.

Apply in writing, by fax or in person to this office, giving as many details of the event in question as you can, i.e. full name/s, date and location of event, names and occupations of parents and mother's maiden names. Obviously, the more information you can give us the more chance we have of finding the records you are looking for.

The fee which includes postage is €10.00 for a full (long form) Certificate or €6.00 for a photocopy of the microfilm record (which contains exactly the same information but is only of use for research purposes). See the Fees Page on this site for details of payment methods.

Our postal address is General Register Office, Government Offices, Convent Road , Roscommon. Fax: +353(0) 90 6632999, +353(0) 90 6632988

The postal backlog in the General Register Office varies depending on the volume of applications on hand. Every effort is made to process all applications as quickly as possible.

CHURCH RECORDS
For the period before 1864, parish registers recording details of baptisms, marriages and burials provide the only source of information relating to births, marriages and deaths. Prior to making use of these records, it is of course necessary to be aware of an ancestor's religious affiliation and often the name of the parish in which the baptism, marriage or burial occurred.

Roman Catholic parish registers are normally still held by the parish priest, but there are microfilm copies of most of them for the period up to 1880 in the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 (Website: http://www.nli.ie/ ) In some instances, the written permission of the parish priest must be obtained before the microfilms can be seen.

Church of Ireland parish registers for the period up to 1870 are public records. Registers are available for about one third of the parishes. Most are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the

Irish National Archives, Bishop Street , Dublin 8. (Website: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ ) and others are in the

Representative Church Body Library, Braemor Park , Dublin 14 (Website: http://www.ireland.anglican.org/library ) and still others in the

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY (Website: http://proni.nics.gov.uk/index.htm )

Presbyterian church records are arranged by congregation and any enquiries should be directed to the Presbyterian Historical Society, Church House, Fisherwick Place, Belfast BT1 6TW (Website: http://www.presbyterianireland.org/ )