You have a name and a rough year — Thomas Sheridan, born about 1839, or a Quinn born in 1843. Here is where someone like that could turn up in the Irish records, which records are free, and where the gaps are real.
New to this? Read the steps in order. The records hub lists every source county by county, and the step-by-step guide covers the method and the common traps in more depth.
Enter a rough year of birth. The county, religion and emigration are optional but sharpen the answer.
Worked out only from the start and end dates in the table below, assuming a marriage between 16 and 50, a landholder of 18 or older and a life of up to 100 years. It says which records could hold someone, not that they do.
Write down what you already have, however rough: their full name, a rough year of birth, a county or a parish, their religion, and when and where they went if they emigrated. Ask the oldest relatives. Look for anything on paper — a gravestone, a mass card, an old letter, a family Bible, an obituary. The National Library's own advice starts here, with a family tree chart and a list of what each relative remembers.
The State registered every birth, marriage and death in Ireland from 1864, and non-Catholic marriages from 1845. The registers are free to search and view on irishgenealogy.ie: births 1864–1925, marriages 1845–1950, deaths 1864–1975 (images from 1871). If your ancestor was born before 1864 you will not find their birth here — but their marriage or death may be, and those name their father.
Sources: irishgenealogy.ie — home page (record coverage) ↗ · National Library of Ireland — Further research ↗ · GRONI — online search (nidirect) ↗
These are the only complete Irish censuses before 1926, and they are free on the National Archives website: every person in every house, with age, religion and occupation. The 1926 census of the Free State is now online too. If your ancestor was alive in 1901 or 1911, start here.
Sources: National Archives — Search the census ↗ · National Archives — Census records 1821–1891 ↗
Before 1864, the church register is usually the only record of a birth or marriage. The National Library has the Catholic parish registers online free at registers.nli.ie, arranged by parish and date. Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodist and Quaker records are held by the churches' own libraries and archives.
With no census between 1851 and 1901, land records fill the gap. Griffith's Valuation (usually dated 1847–1864) lists every occupier of land or a house; the Tithe Applotment Books (1823–37) list landholders who owed tithe. Both are free — Griffith's on askaboutireland.ie, the Tithe Books on the National Archives site.
Sources: Wikipedia — Griffith%27s Valuation ↗ · National Archives — The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823–37 ↗ · Wikipedia — Composition for Tithes (Ireland) Act 1823 ↗
If they left, the records of the country they went to are often more detailed about where they came from than anything in Ireland. Passenger lists, naturalisation papers, death certificates and church marriages abroad can name a county or parish. The Ellis Island Foundation's free database covers arrivals at New York from 1820 to 1957. English and Welsh indexes (from 1837) are free on FreeBMD; Scottish records (from 1855) are on ScotlandsPeople, pay-per-view.
Sources: irishgenealogy.ie — The Irish abroad ↗ · Wikipedia — Ellis Island ↗ · Wikipedia — Castle Clinton ↗
Burial registers and headstone transcripts are online for some counties and cemeteries (irishgenealogy.ie keeps a list). Old newspapers carry death notices, court cases and obituaries; the main archives are subscription sites, free in the NLI reading room. A DNA test can match you with living cousins who have tested with the same company.
Sources: irishgenealogy.ie — Graveyards ↗ · National Library of Ireland — Further research ↗ · Wikipedia — Genealogical DNA test ↗
| Record | Years | Cost | What it covers, and the catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil birth registers irishgenealogy.ie ↗ |
1864–1925 | Free |
Every birth registered by the State: the child's name, date, place, both parents' names (with the mother's maiden name) and the father's occupation.
Registration began in 1864, so nobody born before then has a civil birth record. Births are only opened at 100 years old, with one more year added each year. Source: irishgenealogy.ie — home page (record coverage) · National Library of Ireland — Further research |
| Civil marriage registers irishgenealogy.ie ↗ |
1845–1950 | Free |
Both partners' names, ages (often just ‘full age’), addresses and occupations, and both fathers' names — often the best single record for going back a generation.
Non-Catholic marriages were registered from 1845; Catholic marriages only from 1864. A Catholic couple married before 1864 is in the church register, not here. Marriages are opened at 75 years old. Source: irishgenealogy.ie — home page (record coverage) · National Library of Ireland — Further research |
| Civil death registers irishgenealogy.ie ↗ |
1864–1975 | Free |
Name, date and place of death, age, occupation, cause of death, and who was present.
The index runs from 1864 but the register images online start in 1871. The age at death is the informant's guess and is often years out. Deaths are opened at 50 years old. Source: National Library of Ireland — Further research · irishgenealogy.ie — home page (record coverage) |
| GRONI — Northern Ireland civil records General Register Office Northern Ireland ↗ |
1864–1975 | Paid |
Births, marriages and deaths for the six counties. From 1922, Northern Ireland's registrations are made by GRONI rather than the Dublin office.
Paid: you buy credits to view index entries and images. The free name search only tells you how many matches exist. The same 100/75/50-year rules apply (births over 100 years old, marriages over 75, deaths over 50). Source: GRONI — online search (nidirect) · National Library of Ireland — Further research |
| 1901 census National Archives of Ireland ↗ |
1901 | Free |
Every person in every household in all 32 counties on census night: age, religion, occupation, whether they could read, whether they spoke Irish, county of birth.
Ages were given by the household and are often wrong by years. Search with the age range set wide. Source: National Archives — Search the census · National Library of Ireland — Further research |
| 1911 census National Archives of Ireland ↗ |
1911 | Free |
The same questions as 1901, and married women were asked how many years they had been married, how many children they had borne, and how many were still living.
Compare with 1901: an age that rose by 15 years in a decade is normal. Source: National Archives — Search the census · National Library of Ireland — Further research |
| 1926 census (Irish Free State) National Archives of Ireland ↗ |
1926 | Free |
The first census of the Free State, searchable on the National Archives site alongside 1901 and 1911.
The 26 counties of the Free State only. Source: National Archives — Search the census · National Library of Ireland — Further research |
| 1821–1851 census fragments National Archives of Ireland ↗ |
1821–1851 | Free |
The handful of original household returns that survived the 1922 fire, for a few counties and years only (see the list). The 1841 and 1851 returns also named family members who were away or had died since the last census.
Most returns for 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 were destroyed in the Four Courts fire in 1922. Nothing survives for 1861 or 1871 (destroyed in 1877 after the counting was done) or for 1881 and 1891 (pulped in the First World War paper shortage). Source: National Archives — Census records 1821–1891 |
| Catholic parish registers National Library of Ireland — registers.nli.ie ↗ |
Varies | Free |
Baptisms and marriages, recorded by the priest: the child, the parents and the sponsors (godparents); the couple and their witnesses, who were often relatives.
Start dates vary a great deal from parish to parish — check the parish's own dates on registers.nli.ie before you search. The images are arranged by parish and date and are not name-searchable on the NLI site; the NLI points to free accounts on the big genealogy sites for a name search. You need to know (or guess) the Catholic parish, which is not the same as the civil parish. Source: National Library of Ireland — Further research |
| Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodist and Quaker registers Several holders (see the NLI's list) ↗ |
Varies | Free and paid |
Baptisms, marriages and burials for the Protestant churches and the Society of Friends.
Scattered: the NLI lists the Representative Church Body, the Presbyterian Historical Society, the Friends' Library and the Methodist Historical Society. Many Church of Ireland registers sent to the Public Record Office were lost in the 1922 fire. Source: National Library of Ireland — Further research · Wikipedia — Public Record Office of Ireland |
| Tithe Applotment Books National Archives of Ireland ↗ |
1823–1837 | Free |
Landholders in each parish who owed tithe to the Church of Ireland, with the size of the holding.
Only occupiers of agricultural land over one acre owed tithe, so labourers, cottiers and town-dwellers are mostly absent. Not finding someone proves nothing. Source: National Archives — The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823–37 · Wikipedia — Composition for Tithes (Ireland) Act 1823 |
| Griffith's Valuation Ask About Ireland ↗ |
1847–1865 | Free |
Every occupier of land or a house in Ireland, townland by townland, with the landlord's name and a map reference to the plot.
Names the occupier only — usually the head of household — not the family. Usually dated 1847–1864; Wikipedia gives the printed county valuations as running from Dublin (May 1853) to Armagh (June 1865), so the date for any one county depends on when it was surveyed. Source: Wikipedia — Griffith%27s Valuation |
| New York arrivals (Ellis Island Foundation database) Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation ↗ |
1820–1957 | Free |
Passengers arriving at the Port of New York, about 65 million records. Arrivals before 1892 came through Castle Garden (1855–1890) and earlier piers; Ellis Island itself processed immigrants from 1892 to 1954.
The lists were filled in at the port of departure, not by officials at Ellis Island. Earlier manifests often say only ‘Ireland’. Source: irishgenealogy.ie — The Irish abroad · Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation — Passenger search · Wikipedia — Ellis Island · Wikipedia — Castle Clinton |
| England and Wales civil registration FreeBMD (indexes) ↗ |
1837–2026 | Free and paid |
Births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales from 1837 — where many Irish emigrants went first, or stayed.
The indexes are free on FreeBMD; the registers themselves are not online, and certificates are ordered (and paid for) from the General Register Office. Source: irishgenealogy.ie — The Irish abroad |
| Scotland civil registration ScotlandsPeople ↗ |
1855–2026 | Paid |
Scottish births, marriages and deaths from 1855. A Scottish death record gives the full names of the spouse and both parents — sometimes the only place an Irish emigrant's parents are named.
Pay-per-view. Source: irishgenealogy.ie — The Irish abroad |
| Burial registers and headstones irishgenealogy.ie — Graveyards (a list of local databases) ↗ |
Varies | Free and paid |
Two kinds: cemetery burial registers and headstone transcripts. Glasnevin's registers (Dublin Cemeteries Trust) start in 1828; Belfast City Council's from 1869.
Coverage is local and uneven — some counties are well transcribed, many are not. Older and poorer graves often had no inscribed stone. Source: irishgenealogy.ie — Graveyards · National Library of Ireland — Getting started |
| Newspapers Irish News Archive / British Newspaper Archive (free in the NLI reading room) ↗ |
Varies | Free and paid |
Notices of births, marriages and deaths, court cases, inquests, emigrant letters, obituaries — mostly for families with some standing until the late 1800s.
Both archives are subscription sites; the NLI gives registered readers free access on site. Source: National Library of Ireland — Further research |
Surviving 1821–1851 census returns (National Archives list): Antrim: 1851 (and one ward of Belfast city); Cavan: 1821, 1841; Cork: 1841; Dublin: 1851, Dublin city: an index to heads of household only; Fermanagh: 1821, 1841, 1851; Galway: 1821; Offaly: 1821 (as King's County); Derry / Londonderry: 1831, with 1834 revisions; Meath: 1821; Waterford: 1841.
Someone born before 1864 has no civil birth record, so look for their baptism in the parish register (registers.nli.ie for Catholics; dates vary by parish), their civil marriage if they married in 1864 or later (1845 or later if not Catholic), their civil death record, and Griffith's Valuation if they held land by the 1850s–60s. If they lived to 1901 or 1911, they are in those censuses, free on the National Archives site.
Yes: irishgenealogy.ie has free civil birth registers from 1864 to 1925, marriages from 1845 to 1950 and deaths from 1864 to 1975. Northern Ireland's GRONI service charges credits to view records.
Because almost none survive. Most of the 1821–1851 returns were destroyed in the Four Courts fire in 1922, 1861 and 1871 were destroyed by the government in 1877, and 1881 and 1891 were pulped during the First World War. Small fragments survive for a few counties, listed by the National Archives.
Get a place first. Irish records are arranged by townland, parish and county, so a name and year alone will give you many candidates. Look for a county or parish on the emigrant side — passenger lists, death certificates, church marriages abroad — or in family papers and gravestones.
Sometimes, but not usually. The fire destroyed most 19th-century census returns, original wills and many Church of Ireland registers. Civil registers, the 1901 and 1911 censuses, Catholic parish registers, Griffith's Valuation and the Tithe Books were not in it. Most missing ancestors are a spelling, a different parish, or a record that was never made.
No. A DNA test can match you with living cousins who tested with the same company, which can help when the paper trail stops, but it cannot give you a townland or a name on its own. The paper records come first, and most of them are free.
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