Most Irish family records before 1864 are church registers, and most of the rest are census and land records. The civil records start in 1864, and the Irish census is online for 1901, 1911 and 1926. This guide says what exists, from when, and where to search.
Last checked: November 2026. Every fact links to the official page it came from. We give no fees or waiting times; follow the links for those.
Which records exist, and from when?
- Civil birth, marriage and death records: 1864 on, non-Catholic marriages from 1845
- Catholic parish registers: about 1740 to 1880 on microfilm
- Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Quaker and Jewish records: varies; many Church of Ireland records burned in 1922
- Census records: 1901, 1911 and 1926 online; fragments from 1821 to 1851
- Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith's Valuation: c.1823 to 1838, and 1847 to 1864
- Graveyard and headstone records: varies by graveyard; Glasnevin from 1828
- Emigration records: Ellis Island 1820 to 1957, plus records abroad
Where should I start?
Irish Genealogy suggests talking to relatives first, then civil records, then the 1901 and 1911 census, then civil records again for earlier generations, then land records, then parish registers. Source: Irish Genealogy: how to approach family research. Our step-by-step guide walks through it.
Where are the gaps?
- Most local Roman Catholic parishes do not permit research on their original registers; requests are often referred to heritage centres.
- Many Church of Ireland records were lost when the Public Record Office burned in 1922; the Representative Church Body Library holds those that survived.
- On RootsIreland, only a small proportion of records are transcribed for Donegal, Monaghan and Wexford, and none of the transcribed Clare records are online.
- Roman Catholic burial registers often hold very little, and many parishes had no burial register before 1900.
What is free and what is not?
According to Irish Genealogy: the Tithe Applotment Books are free to search at the National Archives of Ireland; the National Library of Ireland microfilm is free to use; FamilySearch is free; the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland microfilm is freely available. Ancestry.co.uk is a subscription site, and GRONI is pay per view. For RootsIreland, check its current access terms. Source: Irish Genealogy: record sources.
Records by county
County pages for all 32 counties are being added over the coming days, starting with the counties our readers ask about most.