This Irish Genealogy site offers the Irish descendant (from New York, Canada, UK, Australia...) the chance to trace their Irish family tree and search for their surname origins and the records of their Irish ancestor's birth, marriage or death.

Kyle J. Betit is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kyle specializes in Irish and immigration research. Kyle Betit is Research Director of ProGenealogists, Inc., in Salt Lake City and the author of the Irish Genealogy Pages at http://ireland.progenealogists.com

Registration of non-Catholic marriages in Ireland began in 1845, and the registration of all births, marriages and deaths began in 1864. This was later than other parts of the United Kingdom (England and Wales, 1837; Scotland, 1855). In the early years, Irish civil registration tends to be somewhat incomplete.

In 1922, Ireland became politically divided between the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland (six counties). The pre-1922 records for all of Ireland are at the General Register Office at Joyce House in Dublin. Those dating from 1922 onwards are at the General Register Office at Oxford House in Belfast for the Northern Ireland counties or at Joyce House in Dublin for the Republic of Ireland counties.

The Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City holds a very extensive collection of microfilm copies of Irish civil registration. These include all of the indexes to births, marriages and deaths (1845-1959) for both the Republic and Northern Ireland. The actual records in the FHL collection include:

registers of births, 1864-1881, 1900-1913
registers of births, Northern Ireland, 1922-1959
registers of marriages, 1845-1870
registers of marriage, Northern Ireland, 1922-1959
registers of deaths, 1864-1870, 1922-1959

For full details of the FHL collection see the on-line catalog at http:://www.familysearch.org. These microfilms circulate to the associated Family History Centers worldwide, whose addresses may be found on the same web site. There are Family History Centers in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork, as well as throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and many other countries.

Many of the earliest Irish civil registration of births (1864-1881) and marriages (1845-1863) have been indexed in two readily available sources, one available on the Internet and the other on CD-ROM, both produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which operates the FHL in Salt Lake City. Usually a particular Irish civil registration entry appears in one or the other source, so it is important to check both:

1. The International Genealogical Index (IGI), available on-line at http:://www.familysearch.org

2. Vital Records Index - British Isles (2nd Edition) CD-ROM, published by Intellectual Reserve, Salt Lake City, and available for purchase at http:://www.familysearch.org

These sources can each be searched for the name of the person born or married, or for the names of a set of parents to get all of their children's births. There are also some Irish church registers (Catholic and Protestant) indexed in each of those two sources.

For further details about the contents of the IGI and the Vital Records Index - British Isles, see the web site http://ireland.progenealogists.com/civilregistration.htm

You may also request a search of the indexes and a copy of the original civil registration entry from ProGenealogists, Inc. at that web site.


Addresses

Family History Library, Salt Lake City
35 North West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84150-3400
Public phone number: 801-240-2331 or 800-453-3860 x22331
FAX: 801-240-1584
E-mail: fhl@ldschurch.org
http:://www.familysearch.org

General Register Office, Dublin [Oifig an Árd Chláraitheora]
Joyce House, 8-11 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2, Ireland;
Tel: 353 1 6711000; Fax: 353 1 6711243
http://www.groireland.ie/.

General Register Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast
Oxford House, 49/55 Chichester Street, Belfast BT1 4HL, Northern Ireland
Tel: 44 28 90 252000
http://www.groni.gov.uk/index.htm

Kyle J. Betit is Research Director of the professional genealogy research firm ProGenealogists, Inc., in Salt Lake City. He is a widely recognized speaker, author, and educator in the field of Irish Genealogy. He is co-author with Dwight A. Radford of A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors (Betterway Books, 2001). He makes frequent trips to Ireland to conduct research for clients. You may contact Kyle by e-mail at roots@irishancestor.com or visit his Irish Web Pages at http://ireland.progenealogists.com .