Irish Birth certificates

[English Bloke]

Destruction of the Public Record Office

For anyone wanting to research ancestors in Ireland, there are a number of myths that can be an obstacle. The one most uncomfortably close to the truth is that all the records were destroyed in 1922. What actually happened was bad enough. The strong-room of the Public Record Office of Ireland, repository of the vast majority of administrative records of the island of Ireland from the 14th century on, was used as an ammunition store by the anti-Treaty side in the civil war. Hit by a shell fired by the pro-Treaty forces, the munitions exploded and destroyed all of the records. Only those few records in the PRO Reading Room at the start of the conflict survived.

From a genealogical point of view, the most significant losses were:

the surviving 19th century census returns,
about two-thirds of pre-1870 Church of Ireland parish registers
all of the surviving wills probated in Ireland.

While the loss of the census returns in particular still casts a long shadow over Irish research, any records not in the PRO in 1922 have survived. These include non-Church of Ireland parish records, civil records of births, marriages and deaths, property records and later censuses. And for much of the material that was lost, there are abstracts, transcripts and fragments of the originals. Indeed, with a little straining to see the bright side, the disaster of 1922 can be said to have simplified research on Irish records, though in much the same way that Cromwell’s visit in 1649 simplified Ireland.

Church records

Before the start of civil registration for all in 1864, church records are virtually the only direct source of family information.

Roman Catholic: The vast majority of the population of Ireland were Roman Catholic, and the single most important source of Irish genealogical information is Roman Catholic records. As a result of many years of microfilming, the National Library of Ireland has copies of virtually all the surviving registers. All are open for public research, with the exception of the records of the diocese of Cashel and Emly, covering parts of counties Tipperary and Limerick, which are closed at the behest of the Archbishop. The only access to these is by paid research via Tipperary Family History Research.

The LDS Family History Library has microfilms of around 40% of the registers, available through the Family History Library network and their CD British Isles Vital Records Index, 2nd Edition has transcripts of 12 parishes, mainly in Co. Roscommon.

In addition, the local heritage centre network has database transcripts of about 85% of the Catholic registers, but these are available only by commissioning research. A very basic A list of the centres can be found at www.irish-roots.net

An overview of the various copies of the records can be found at http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/b...ounties/rcmaps.

Quote above comes from "Irish Genealogy" an Irish Government Website.

Lots of interesting stuff.

I might add, records are sketchy all over the British Isles, not just Ireland. I've had a crack at tracing some of mine and it seems the further back you delve the murkier it gets. Poor record keeping abounds though I don't think it was deliberate, it just wasn't particularly structured. I do think though that if you include that factor it's not nearly so emotive. I think we could probably say that it got better after 1864 in Ireland, because that's when they started to properly collate the information?

or maybe not...

And I apologise. "Twaddle" was perhaps a bit strong. But I don't believe there was an organised plot to keep the Catholics down by not giving them Birth Certificates. The Roman Catholic Church already had an efficient method of recording births, marriages and deaths and the majority of the country was Catholic at the time. I think the earlier introduction of of a State system of registration for Non - Catholics was to bring the rest up to the Standard of efficiency that the RC Church had already achieved... 'appen.