Foreign birth registry
-
Assuming they were born in Ireland itself, here’s a step-by-step guide tailored to Irish records:
Step 1: Determine the Birth Details:
Full name (including alternate spellings or Irish versions)
Date or approximate year of birth
County or town of birth
Parents’ names (if known)Step 2: Use Ireland’s Civil Registration Records
Ireland has an excellent free online database for civil records. This official government website provides free access to Birth records (from 1864 onward for all of Ireland; from 1864–1922 for Northern Ireland; 1864–present for the Republic). You can view and download actual scanned birth certificates (where available).Go to https://www.irishgenealogy.ie
Click “Civil Records”
Enter the grandparent’s name, year of birth (or range), and county if known
Browse the results and open the scanned PDFs
Use wildcards or alternate spellings if you don’t get results.Step 3: If Not Found, Check Parish Registers
If your grandparent was born before 1864, civil birth records won’t exist — look in church records. The National Library of Ireland Catholic Parish Registers covers baptisms and marriages up to 1880s, for most Roman Catholic parishes. Search by parish, then browse page images manually.You can also try www.RootsIreland.ie – subscription-based, but has indexed parish and civil records. Ancestry.com and FindMyPast.ie both have extensive Irish collections
Step 4: Order an Official Certificate
If you want a certified copy, and have located the record, You can order from the General Register Office (GRO) at: https://www.gov.ie/en/service/124a56-order-certificates/