Irish Family History Specialists

Genealogical Archives in Dublin


 

The National Archives of Ireland

Bishop Street, Dublin  8
website

These archives contain historic State records, such as census returns, wills and related documents, departmental records (with lots of information for example about schools from the Department of Education),  court records, and prison records.
 

General Register Office

Werburgh Street, Dublin 2, D08 E277
website

This archive is often called GRO. The General Register Office (Oifig An Ard-Chláraitheora) is the central civil repository for records relating to births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships and adoptions in Ireland. Before going there we would recommend you inspect the online index first. A lot of documents are available for download free of charge. If they are not, or you cannot find the record you are looking for, you will have to go to the archive. Note: for Northern Irish records, go to Groni; they hold transcripts of their records from 1922 and from 1845/1864 for areas now in Northern Ireland. This website works on a pay per view basis, so you will have to purchase credits.

Indexes in relation to the following records of life events are available for inspection at the research facility:

  • Births registered in the island of Ireland between 1st January, 1864 and 31 December, 1921 inclusive, and in Ireland (excluding the six north-eastern counties of Derry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone known as Northern Ireland) from 1922 onwards.
  • Deaths registered in the island of Ireland between 1st January, 1864 and 31st December, 1921 inclusive and in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland) from 1922 onwards.
  • Non-Roman Catholic Marriages registered in the island of Ireland between 1st April, 1845 and 31st December, 1863 inclusive.
  • Marriages registered in the island of Ireland between 1st January, 1864 and 31st December, 1921 inclusive and in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland) from 1922 onwards.
  • Domestic Adoptions registered in Ireland from 10th July, 1953 onwards.

 

National Library of Ireland

Kildare Street, Dublin 2
website

The National Library of Ireland keeps the Roman Catholic Parish Records. Civil registration only started in 1864, some parish records date back to 1740, and the archive contains records up to 1880. It should however be noted that a lot of parish records have not survived, are lost or never existed in the first place (a lot of people were simple not recorded).

Other resources that are held by the Library are:

  • Microfilm copies of the Tithe Applotment Books. There is an online database, but it is not reliable.
  • Archive of Newspapers. There is an online database that does allow you to search and read newspaper articles, but this is far from complete. Free access to this database is available in the dedicated Genealogy Room of the Library (it is a subscription based service).
  • Estate Papers;
  • Manuscripts. The Reading Room for manuscripts is located in a different building, also on Kildare Street, so not far from the main building.
  • Photographs. The National Photographic Archive is based in Temple Bar.
  • Street and Trade Directories.

There is an online catalogue available for most of these collections.
 

Valution Office

Irish Life Centre, Abbey Street Lower, Dublin 1
website

The Valuation Office has a manuscript archive containing rateable valuation information of all property in the state from mid 1850s until the early 1990s; and commercial property only from that time. This archive shows the changes after the revision of properties and is recognised as a census substitute for the period from the 1850s to 1901 (the earliest complete census record for Ireland). The Valuation Office also keeps copies of the Griffith’s Valuation maps and the later Union Maps.
 

Registry of Deeds

Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, D01 EK82
website

The Registry of Deeds records date from 1708 and are held in a combination of manual, micro-film and electronic formats. All records from January 1970 onwards are held electronically. In earlier days it was not compulsory to register and would only be done by those who had property to register. If you are lucky and your family is in the register of deeds, they often contain a lot of genealogical information, as they contain a lot of names, property information, marriage settlements, etc.

The Registry holds the following archives:

  • Names Index. This is an index of people who disposed of a property (which could also be because they had passed away). They were called the Grantor.  The Names Index is available electronically for the period from 1970 to date. For records of deeds prior to 1970 you can search the manual Names Index Records. (A microfilm copy of the Names Index for the period 1708 to 1929 is also available in the National Library, but these are sometimes hard to read.)
  • Memorial or ROD Application Form. This is a full statement of all details of the deed. Memorials registered prior to 1930 (i.e. between 1708 and 1930) have not been microfilmed.
  • Transcript Book. This is basically a copy of the Memorial. From 1708 – 1961 with the exception of 1951 – 1956.
  • Abstract Book. This is a summary of the Memorial. From 1833 – 1969.
  • Townland Index. This is an index of all transactions in a Townland, ordered by name. These records are available from 1708 – 1946.


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