Luckily, finding Irish birth certificates and records can be easy if you know where to look.
If you’re researching your family’s ancestry in Ireland, you’ll want to know how to find Irish birth records. Birth records and certificates typically contain valuable information about your ancestors, including their names, locations and dates of birth, and parents’ names.
Continue reading to learn the best resources for locating and ordering Irish birth certificates. Here at the Irish Family History Centre, on-site at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, we’ll show you several places to start your search, the steps to take, and ways to buy Irish birth certificates online.
Are Birth Certificates Public Records?
In Ireland, birth certificates are confidential, but they eventually become public records. Birth records are open to the public after 100 years, while marriage records are public after 75 years, and death certificates go public after 50 years. Depending on how old the document is, you may need to provide proof of your relationship to the person named on the certificate to obtain a copy of an entry.
Where to Find Birth Records in Ireland
There are several places you can start searching for birth records and certificates in Ireland. We’ll cover some of the most reliable sources we use in our research below. If you’d like more assistance with your Irish ancestry research, we invite you to book a consultation with our genealogy experts.
The General Register Office (GRO)
The best resource for finding Irish birth certificates and records is the General Register Office (GRO). The GRO is the central civil registration service for Ireland’s births, marriages, and deaths. They have an online index of all Irish births dating back to 1864, which you can search for free.
General Register Office of Northern Ireland
For Northern Irish birth records, you’ll want to visit the website for the General Register Office of Northern Ireland. Their database has birth records more than 100 years old, and you can conduct a basic search for free.
The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s Free Website
The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has a website called irishgenealogy.ie where you can search for your ancestors’ birth records for free. The site has records from the Irish birth register from 1864 to 1920.
How Do I Get an Irish Birth Certificate?
While there are many online databases for searching Irish birth records, you may want to order a copy for yourself. Luckily, the institutions that house these databases make it easy to order a certified copy of a birth certificate or record.
The General Register Office (GRO)
Ordering through the GRO is an excellent option for family history researchers located outside of Ireland. If you want to obtain an original Irish birth certificate, you’ll need to contact the GRO directly. You can order and pay online, by mail, or in person. The cost is €20 for a full standard certificate or €5 for an uncertified copy.
General Register Office of Northern Ireland
The GRO of Northern Ireland offers similar services for obtaining copies of birth records. After searching through the site, you can order a copy of an entry in the register for £15. If you’re ordering more than one copy of a birth record, each additional copy after the first will cost £8.
Your Local Health Service Executive (HSE) Office
You can also order copies of GRO records through your local Health Service Executive (HSE) office. A certified copy of a birth record will cost €20, while uncertified copies cost €5 each.
Civil Certificates.ie
Civil Certificates.ie is a government-run website that provides a quick and easy way to order Irish birth records. You can order online, by post, or in person. The cost of ordering a civil certificate through this service is €20.
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