Ireland Church Records

Church records are an excellent source of names, dates, and places. In fact, church records are the primary source for pre-civil registration (pre-1864) Irish research.

Church records include records of births or christenings, marriages, and sometimes deaths or burials. These records were kept in registers, usually called parish registers. Church records may include other types of records such as religious census returns, emigration lists, and session or vestry minutes.

The following book contains information about the history and records of many Irish religious denominations:

Ryan, James G., ed. Irish Church Records. Glenageary, County Dublin, Ireland: Flyleaf Press, 1992. (FHL book Ref 941.5 K27rj.)

The following books also have excellent information about church records:

Falley, Margaret Dickson. Irish and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research. 2 vols. Evanston, Illinois: Margaret Dickson Falley, 1961-62. (FHL book Ref 941.5 D27f 2 vols.)

Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: The Complete Guide. Dublin, Ireland: Gill and Macmillan, 1992. (FHL book Ref 941.5 D27gj.)

Church of Ireland Records
Historically, each parish in Ireland kept its own records. Because the Church of Ireland was the state or established church, these parish records were considered state records. In 1876 a law was passed requiring that Church of Ireland parish registers be sent to the Public Record Office in Dublin for safekeeping. This law was amended in 1878 to allow parishes with good storage facilities to retain their records, so not all parish records were sent to Dublin. Further, some ministers made copies of their records before sending the originals to Dublin. Thus, many Church of Ireland records remain, even though the records sent to Dublin were destroyed in 1922 when the Public Record Office burned.

Church of Ireland parish registers list christenings, marriages, and burials. The amount of information recorded varies from parish to parish and from minister to minister. Later records generally give more information than earlier ones. Because the Church of Ireland was the state church, even people who did not belong to the church were sometimes listed in the church's parish registers. Consequently, it is wise to search Church of Ireland records regardless of your ancestor's religion.

Christenings (Baptisms)
Children were usually christened (baptized) within a few weeks of birth, though some christenings of older children or adults are recorded. Parish registers provide at least the name of the person christened and the christening date. They usually record the name of the father and frequently the first name of the mother. They may also record birth date, legitimacy, father's occupation, and the family's place of residence. In larger cities, registers often provide the family's street address.

Marriages
Pre-1845 parish registers usually provide only the date of marriage and the names of the bride and groom. Beginning in 1845, parish registers also include the place of marriage; the marital status, occupation, and place of residence; both fathers' occupations; and the names of witnesses (possible relatives). If the father was deceased, that fact was sometimes noted.

Couples were usually married in the bride's parish. Permission to marry was obtained in one of two ways:


 * By banns. Couples were required by law to have the minister announce their intent to marry or post notice of their intent on the church door for three consecutive Sundays before the marriage could take place, unless a special license was obtained. This gave others time to object to the marriage.
 * By license. A couple applied to the proper church authority, usually the bishop of the diocese or the Archbishop of Armagh, for a license to marry. An allegation and a bond were drawn up. The allegation listed the names of the bride and groom, their ages, marital statuses, and intended place of marriage. The bond was made to insure that all the information given was valid. The license granted permission to marry. Most Irish allegations, bonds, and licenses have been destroyed. However, some abstracts and indexes of these records for various dioceses remain. The indexes include the names of the intended bride and groom and the year their license was issued. To find the marriage license indexes and abstracts available at the Family History Library, look in the Locality Search of the catalog under the following headings:
 * By license. A couple applied to the proper church authority, usually the bishop of the diocese or the Archbishop of Armagh, for a license to marry. An allegation and a bond were drawn up. The allegation listed the names of the bride and groom, their ages, marital statuses, and intended place of marriage. The bond was made to insure that all the information given was valid. The license granted permission to marry. Most Irish allegations, bonds, and licenses have been destroyed. However, some abstracts and indexes of these records for various dioceses remain. The indexes include the names of the intended bride and groom and the year their license was issued. To find the marriage license indexes and abstracts available at the Family History Library, look in the Locality Search of the catalog under the following headings:

IRELAND - CHURCH RECORDS

Burials
Burial usually took place in the deceased's parish within a few days of the death. Burial records give the name of the deceased and the date of burial. Sometimes they also give the deceased's age, place of residence, cause of death, and occupation. Occasionally a wife's burial entry will provide the name of the husband, and a child's entry, the name of the father. Stillbirths are sometimes recorded in the burial registers. Stillbirths are not, however, listed in christening records.

Other Church of Ireland Records
Vestry Minutes

The vestry is the presiding council of a parish. Minutes of vestry meetings often mention parishioners, appointments of parish officers, and other items related to the parish. Occasionally records of births, christenings, marriages, deaths, and burials are included in the minutes. They were divided between the Select Vestry and the General Vestry, these minutes detail the workings not only of the religious business of the parish, but also the civil functions since they were the State Church. The Select Vestry were a group of Protestants who paid rates and levied small local taxes to support the maintenance of the Church and its officers. The General Vestry imposed a local tax (cess) to maintain local services such as road building/repair, street cleaning, fire brigades, and parish constables. The surviving lists provide a nice census substitute for the civil parish. Records for the poor of the parish and for those who are involved in the administration of the parish are also to be found among the Vestry Minutes.

Bastardy Bonds

These were records of unwed mothers who were interviewed by the Churchwardens to determine the name of the father. In many instances, this may be the only clue to the parentage of an illegitimate child. In a number of cases, the Churchwardens were unable to persuade the mother to name the father and one can only suspect that there were instances when the wrong father was named.

Pew Schedules 

These often provide a map of the location of the pews in the chancel and give the names of the parishioners who paid a fee for the pew and identify which pew they were assigned to for services.

Parish Deeds

The parish deeds are to be found both in the parish and in the Registry of Deeds, Henrietta Street, Dublin, Ireland. These are particularly useful for the tracing of prominent families prior to the beginning of the parish registers themselves. They are less significant for the general lay member. In some instances, parish property was sublet to tenants and the deeds in some rare examples may identify the names of tenants.

Locating Church of Ireland Records
Many Church of Ireland registers were destroyed in the fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin in 1922. To protect against further loss or deterioration, most existing records have been filmed or photocopied and the originals or copies deposited in national repositories in Ireland. Some of the deposited church records are closed to the general public. To search these records, you must obtain written permission from the minister of the parish or the bishop of the diocese over that parish.

Ministers were never required to send vestry minutes to Dublin for safekeeping. Consequently, most vestry minutes are in local custody, though some have been deposited at the National Archives, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, or other repositories.

To obtain information from a Church of Ireland record in Ireland, follow these suggestions:

Request a copy of the record from the Representative Church Body Library. A list of this library's parish records is found in:

Ryan, James G. Irish Records: Sources for Family &amp; Local History. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 1988. (FHL book Ref 941.5 D23r.)

The library also has biographical sketches of Church of Ireland ministers. The address is:


 * Representative Church Body Library Braemor Park Rathgar Dublin 14 IRELAND (EIRE) Internet: http://www.ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=about&amp;id=5

Request a copy of the record from the National Archives or the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. To determine whether the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has a copy of the record, consult the descriptive catalog of the office's holdings. To locate filmed catalogs for the National Archives at the Family History Library, look in the Place Search of the catalog under the following headings:

IRELAND - ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES - INDEXES

IRELAND - ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES - INVENTORIES, REGISTERS, CATALOGS

Write to the minister of the appropriate parish to see if he will search his parish registers or vestry minutes for you. Ministers' addresses and jurisdictions are listed in the Church of Ireland Directory at:


 * http://www.churchofireland.net/directories/resources/resourcedir_param.asp?category=parish.

To find Church of Ireland records at the Family History Library, consult the Place Search of the catalog under:

IRELAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - CHURCH RECORDS

Catholic Records
Catholic parish registers for most rural areas were not kept until the 1820s or later. Records for urban areas started earlier. Each parish kept its own records.

Catholic parish registers mainly include christening and marriage records. Few registers contain death or burial records. Occasionally a register will contain a parish census. Some Catholic registers are in Latin.

Christenings (Baptisms)
Children were usually christened (baptized) within a few weeks of birth, though some christenings of older children or adults are recorded. Parish registers provide at least the name of the person christened and the christening date. They usually record the name of the father and frequently the first name of the mother. They may also record birth date, legitimacy, father's occupation, and the family's place of residence. In larger cities, registers often provide the family's street address.

Marriages
Catholic marriage records normally provide the date of the marriage, the names of the bride and groom, and the names of the witnesses. Occasionally, places of residence are listed. If the bride and groom are related, the degree of relationship is often given as well.

Locating Catholic Records
Original parish registers are in local custody. Sometimes a priest will search parish records for you. Names, addresses, and parishes of priests are listed in the Irish Catholic Directory and Diary.

Filmed copies of almost all pre-1880 parish records are held by the National Library of Ireland. Filmed copies of pre-1880 parish registers for Northern Ireland are also kept by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Some of the filmed parish registers at the National Library are restricted. To search these registers, you must have written permission from the priest of the parish or the bishop of the diocese in which the registers were kept.

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of many Catholic parish registers. These are listed in the catalog under IRELAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - CHURCH RECORDS, where [PARISH] is the civil parish in which the Catholic parish is located. Maps showing Catholic parish boundaries for every county in Ireland can be found in:

Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: The Complete Guide. Dublin, Ireland: Gill and Macmillan, 1992. (FHL book Ref 941.5 D27gj.)

Presbyterian Records
In 1605 Scottish Presbyterians began a massive migration into Northern Ireland. Congregations were organized at that time, but only a few congregations, mostly in County Antrim, kept early records. Most congregations started keeping records in the early 1800s.

In the 1700s and early 1800s several groups split off from the Presbyterian church. Seceding, non-subscribing, and reformed congregations were formed in many areas of Northern Ireland. These congregations kept their own records. In 1840 most of these congregations rejoined the main body of Irish Presbyterians. For a discussion and the names of the seceding, non-subscribing, and reformed Presbyterian congregations in Ireland, see the following book:

Stewart, David. The Seceders in Ireland. Belfast, Ireland: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1950. (FHL book 941.5 K2ste.)

The following book lists Presbyterian congregations in Ireland and their ministers:

A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 1610-1982. Belfast, Ireland: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1982. (FHL book 941.5 K2h.)  A more current list of Presbyterian congregations can be found online at:  http://www.presbyterianireland.org/congregations/index.html.

Records kept by Presbyterian ministers include birth, baptism, and marriage records. These records are similar in content to Church of Ireland records except that mothers' maiden names are often given in the birth and baptism records.

Session Minutes

The session is the presiding council of a Presbyterian congregation. Minutes of session meetings often mention members of the congregation, appointments of committee members, and other items of congregational business. Occasionally records of births, christenings, and marriages are included in the minutes. Most session minutes are in local custody.

Locating Presbyterian Records

Presbyterian ministers have custody of original Presbyterian records. See:

Ryan, James G. Irish Records: Sources for Family &amp; Local History. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 1988. (FHL book Ref 941.5 D23r.) This book

lists the Presbyterian records in local custody.

The jurisdictions and addresses of local ministers can be found in The Presbyterian Church in Ireland: Directory and Statistics. (FHL book 941.5 K24pr.)

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland at http://www.proni.gov.uk/ has microfilm or paper copies of most of the Presbyterian registers for Northern Ireland and for the counties of Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan. For a list of the office's Presbyterian records, see James G. Ryan, ed., Irish Church Records referenced above. Further, if you get a permission letter from the local minister, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland will make a copy of the film for you for a reasonable cost. See http://www.proni.gov.uk/index_to_presbyterian_records-2.pdf. This is only available for Presbyterian parish films at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

The Presbyterian Historical Society has copies of some of the Presbyterian and seceding Presbyterian records for Northern Ireland. The society's holdings are not complete. To determine which records the society possesses, contact the society at the following address:


 * Presbyterian Historical Society Room 218 Church House Fisherwick Place Belfast BT1 6DW NORTHERN IRELAND Internet: http://www.presbyterianireland.org/phsi/

The Family History Library also has copies of some Presbyterian records. These are listed in the Place Search of the catalog under:

IRELAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS

Methodist Records
In 1746 a Methodist society began in Dublin. The following year, John and Charles Wesley, the founders of Methodism, visited Ireland. John Wesley urged his Irish followers to attend the Church of Ireland. Some followed his counsel; others chose to worship with the Quakers or Presbyterians instead.

At the 1816 Methodist conference in Ireland, the presiding body decided that Methodists should be baptized, be married by, and receive communion from their own ministers rather than from ministers of other churches. This proposed change resulted in a schism within the movement. Those who chose to continue affiliating with the Church of Ireland became known as the Primitive Methodists. The Wesleyan Methodists, the larger of the two groups, started their own church, kept their own records, and set up congregations throughout Ireland. Other splinter groups included the New Connexion and the Primitive Methodist Connexion. In 1878 the Primitive Methodists and the Wesleyan Methodists united. The two Connexion groups rejoined the main body in 1932.

Methodist records consist mainly of baptism and marriage records that are similar in content to Church of Ireland records. Occasionally a circuit minute book or vestry book was kept. Since there were few Methodist cemeteries, Methodist death or burial records are rare. Methodists were usually buried in Church of Ireland cemeteries and their burial records kept in Church of Ireland registers.

Locating Methodist Records

Primitive and Wesleyan Methodist records are in local custody. You may obtain information from these records through correspondence with individual ministers. Names, addresses, and jurisdictions of Methodist ministers can be found in the 1992 Minutes of Conference.

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has microfilm copies of Methodist records for several congregations in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. James G. Ryan, ed., Irish Church Records lists the Methodist records held by the office and gives their Public Record Office accession numbers.

The New Connexion and Primitive Methodist Connexion groups were administered from England. Their records were kept by various British circuits (districts presided over by travelling ministers). Consequently, pre-1905 New Connexion records and pre-1910 Primitive Methodist Connexion records are held in the Methodist archive at the following address:

The John Rylands University of Manchester Manchester M13 9PP ENGLAND Internet: http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/

Records for either of the Connexion groups after 1905 and 1910, respectively, are held by individual churches in Ireland.

Smith's Inventory of Genealogical Sources: Ireland (FHL book Ref 941.5 D23s) lists Methodist records published in Irish periodicals that are available at the Family History Library.

Other Methodist records available at the Family History Library are listed in the Place Search of the catalog under the following headings:

IRELAND - CHURCH RECORDS

IRELAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - CHURCH RECORDS

Quaker (Society of Friends) Records
Around 1653 Quakers emigrated from England to Ireland. If you are not sure your ancestors were Quakers, consult the list of chief Irish Quaker surnames found in the appendix in:

Harrison, Richard S. A Biographical Dictionary of Irish Quakers. (FHL book 941.5 D36hr.)

Quakers held both weekly and monthly meetings. Births, marriages, and deaths were reported in the monthly meetings. Around 1655 Quakers began keeping records of their meetings. Irish Quaker records are held in two regional Quaker repositories: the Dublin Friends Historical Library and the Religious Society of Friends. The Dublin Friends Historical Library only has records for the Republic of Ireland. The Religious Society of Friends, Ulster Quarterly Meeting mainly has records for Northern Ireland. Both repositories contain minutes of meetings; birth, marriage, and death records; diaries; pedigrees; wills; and other records. The address is:


 * Dublin Friends Historical Library Religious Society of Friends in Ireland Swanbrook House Morehampton Road Donnybrook Dublin 4 IRELAND (EIRE) Internet: http://www.quakers-in-ireland.ie/archive/indexarc.htm


 * Religious Society of Friends Ulster Quarterly Meeting Friends Meeting House Railway Street Lisburn County Antrim BY28 1EP NORTHERN IRELAND Internet: http://www.quakers-in-ireland.org/

The National Library of Ireland in Dublin and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland have microfilm copies of some Quaker records. The Family History Library also has microfilm copies of some Quaker records. These are listed in the Place Search of the catalog under the following headings:

IRELAND - CHURCH RECORDS

IRELAND, [COUNTY] - CHURCH RECORDS

IRELAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - CHURCH RECORDS

IRELAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS

Jewish Records
Ireland has only a few Jewish synagogues. Jewish records have been deposited in the Irish Jewish Museum. The museum contains records from synagogues and from Jewish communal institutions. These records include registrations of births, marriages, and deaths. For more information about these records, write the museum at the following address:

Irish Jewish Museum 3/4 Walworth Road South Circular Road Dublin 8 IRELAND (EIRE) Internet: http://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~zblocker/ijm/

The Family History Library does not have any Jewish records for Ireland.

Other Churches
Many other denominations have established churches or congregations in Ireland. In the mid-1600s Congregationalists and Baptists first came to Ireland as soldiers under Cromwell. Huguenots, seeking religious freedom, also came in the 1600s. Most Huguenots affiliated themselves with the Church of Ireland or with the Presbyterian Church. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established branches in Ireland by 1850.

Records of other churches are primarily in local custody (except for Latter-day Saint records, which are mainly in Salt Lake City, Utah). Huguenot church records have been published in:

The Publications of the Huguenot Society of London. N.p.: Huguenot Society of London, 18--. (FHL book 942.1/L1 B4h.)

Copies of records for other churches can be found at the Family History Library. These are listed in the Place Search of the catalog under:

IRELAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - CHURCH RECORDS

Locating Church Records
Church records are in local custody. Many church records have also been filmed or photocopied and the originals or copies stored in repositories.

Hayes's Sources can be used to determine if and where church records were deposited before 1977. Look in the subject indexes of:

Hayes, Richard J. Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilization. (FHL book Ref 941.5 A5h.) Look under the headings "Parish Registers" and "Vestry Books" for Church of Ireland records, and look by denomination (Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.) for other churches' records. In the place indexes, look for church records by county and then town, city, or parish.

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has published:

An Irish Genealogical Source: Guide to Church Records. Belfast, Ireland: Ulster Historical Foundation on behalf of PRONI, 1994. (FHL book 941.6 A3gc.) This is a guide to locating church records in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. It also indicates which records are still in local custody.

The descriptive catalog of holdings of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland details that archives' holdings of church records. The Family History Library has a filmed copy of the descriptive catalog. The sections describing church records are found on films 1,701,904-5; 1,701,989; 1,736,433 items 5-9; 1,736,434 items 1-2.

The appendices in James G. Ryan, ed., Irish Church Records give some names and addresses of church record archives. The appendices also provide details about Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, and Methodist records held in local custody or deposited in national archives.

Local heritage or genealogical centres throughout Ireland are currently indexing church records. To determine if a centre has indexed the records you need, consult:

Irish Family History Society. Directory of Parish Registers Indexed in Ireland. (FHL book Ref 941.5 K23dp.)

Additional church records have been indexed since the directory was published. Contact the appropriate centre for more current information and to determine the fees charged for searching and copying index entries.

To see if the church records you need are available at the Family History Library, check the library catalog. To identify transcripts or abstracts of church records found in Irish genealogical periodicals available at the Family History Library, consult Smith's Inventory of Genealogical Sources: Ireland.

Search Strategies
As you or your agent search church records, use the following strategies:


 * Search all parish registers and other available church records of the appropriate locality for the time period you are researching.
 * Search surrounding localities if you cannot find records in the expected locality.
 * Note all entries, including burials, for the surname you are searching (unless the name is very common).
 * Note gaps or missing pages in the record. You may want to search alternative records for the missing time periods.
 * If you find little or no mention of your family in parish records, search other records.
 * Use the additional information (residence, occupation, etc.) given in parish registers to find other records to search.
 * Use the additional information (residence, occupation, etc.) given in parish registers to find other records to search.