Civil Records consist of Births, Marriages and Deaths from 1 April 1845 for non-Catholics, and 1st January 1864 for Catholics. The records are held in the General Register Office (GRO), to see where it's located in Dublin click here .

Before beginning to use the records you will need to understand how the country was divided up for Civil Records. During the  Famine   the Poor law was introduced. And to facilitate distribution and management, the country was divided up into Poor Law Unions centred around the local Workhouse. These in turn were subdivided into Dispensary Districts in each Union. This is the Poor Law Union

Prior to 1878 records were held in a single volume, but after this date they were broken down into quarters per year.

The records can be searched in a number of different ways outlined below, and an index is also available.

• Births

These will provide the date of birth, both parents' names, names of anyone present at the birth, address of the couple, and the father's occupation

• Marriages

These give date and place of marriage, names of those being married, their age, name and occupation of both fathers of those marrying.

• Deaths

Give name of deceased, date and place where death occurred, cause of death, length of illness leading to Death, marital status and age upon death.

Fees

The following are the fees for obtaining a copy of a particular Certificate. All prices in Irish Pounds.

Birth Certificate £5.50 (€6.98) US$8.69

Death Certificate £5.50 (€6.98) 

Marriage Certificate £5.50 (€6.98)

Short Birth Certificate £3.50 (€4.44) US$5.53

Up to 5 year search for a particular entry  £1.50 (€1.90) US$2.37

General Search  £12.00 (€6.98) US$18.96

Opening Hours

Monday - Friday 9:30am - 12:30pm, 2.15pm - 4:30pm (except bank holidays)

You can see where the General Register Office is located in Dublin by clicking here . Or link direct to their own web site here .