Birth
| Document | Type | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | Photocopy / Scan | €50.00 | Order Offline | Order Online |
Birth Record
State/Civil registration of Births began in Ireland in 1864. If your ancestor was born from this date forward we can search for their birth record at the General Register Office in Dublin. If your ancestor was born before this date click here.
An Irish Birth record provides the following details on the person to whom it relates:
- Their date of birth
- The location in which they were born – if born in a city or town the street address is given - if born in the countryside the name of the townland is given (this is the smallest administrative division in Ireland and consists in effect of a small village or group of farms).
- The name of their father, his address at the time of the birth and his occupation.
- The name of their mother together with details of her maiden (pre-marriage) surname.
- The name, address and (if applicable) the relationship of the person who informed the authorities of the birth together with a note of when the information was given
Additional Information and Advice
Irish birth records can be found in the General Register Office (GRO) which is located in Dublin. An annual index is available in the GRO which allows us to search for a particular birth record on the basis of the information you can supply. The index includes the name of each child and the District in which they were born. From 1903, the index also includes details of the mother's pre-marriage surname. Once a relevant entry is located in the index the full record can be taken up.
After obtaining an ancestor’s birth record, a useful exercise is to search the records for the births of any siblings they may have had. Aside from learning about your ancestor's place in the family, this search can also reveal changes in the circumstances of the family through the years eg. a change in address or a change in the father’s occupation.
The relevant church baptismal register can also be searched following receipt of the details of birth from the State record. The main additional information contained in a baptismal entry consists of the sponsor details which can suggest wider family relationships.
Perhaps the most valuable piece of information from the birth record (if unknown at the time of the search) is the ‘maiden’ surname of your ancestor's mother. This detail can help in locating the parents' marriage record.
