Irish Timeline of Church Records

1541 Henry VIII becomes King of Ireland

1560 Episcopalian Church becomes state Church of Ireland under Elizabeth I

1605-9 Ulster plantation. Many Scotch Irish Presbyterians into Ulster.

1619 Earliest known Church of Ireland Parish Registers (St. John, Dublin).

1634 Law passed requiring Episcopalian registers to be kept.

mid1600 Quakers, Congregationalists, Baptists start movements.

1674 Oldest known Presbyterian Registers (Antrim, Co. Antrim)

1695 Penal Laws against Catholics

1703 More penal laws. Catholics forbidden to keep registers.

1750s Some urban Catholic registers begin. Many Episcopalian registers begin. Methodist movement gets underway.

1800-1 Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1819 Presbyterian records required to be kept.

1829 Emancipation of Catholics. Many Catholic records begin.

1871 Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland.

1876 Law passed requiring Anglican registers be turned into the Public Record Office in Dublin.

1878 Law of 1876 amended allowing those with suitable storage facilities to retain their records.

1922 Separate records repositories set up for Northern Ireland. Public Records Office at Four Courts, Dublin is burned. Many Episcopalian records destroyed.

Content

A. Christenings and/or births: name, christening and/or birth place and date, parents' names, including mothers maiden names (Church of Ireland records do not give maiden names), residence and occupation, witnesses or sponsors.

B. Marriages: name of both parties, date and place of marriage, residence of both parties, witnesses.

C. Burials: names, burial place and date, residence and age, (parents' names for infants only).

Availability

Church of Ireland

(Episcopalian) About 50 percent of these records are extant today as many were destroyed in 1922. Many Northern Ireland parishes never sent theirs in. Records usually begin about 1750-1800. A fairly complete listing of those registers now extant and their place of deposit will be found in Falley's book.

1. Most records are in local custody. (See "Crockford's Clerical Directory" for addresses.)

2. Some records or transcripts are available at the Public Record Offices, Fourt Courts, Dublin, Eire; and Law Courts Building, May Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

3. LDS Genealogical Society has some printed copies.

Roman Catholic.

Records from about 1750, with most starting about 1830, are all extant. Some of these records are in Latin.

1. Originals are in local custody.

2. Microfilm copies of originals, except those from Dublin Diocese, are on film at the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin, Eire. Access to these records is only through the staff at the Genealogical Office., Inquiries should be addressed to the Chief Herald, Genealogical Office, Dublin Castle, Dublin, Eire.

3. LDS are obtaining copies of those records at the National Libraty.C. Records generally start about 1800 and all are extant

Presbyterian

1. Originals are mostly in local custody with some of the very early ones at the Presbyterian Historial Society, Church House, Fisherwick Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

2. Some microfilm copies are available at the Public Record Office in Belfast.

3. LDS has some printed copies.

Society of Friends.

Records date from c.1670 and are quite good.

1. Records and indexes from Eire are housed at the Friends House Library, 6 Eustace Street, Dublin. (See "Guide to Irish Quaker Records" by Olive C. Goodbody.)

2. Records and indexes for Northern Ireland are at the Friends' Meeting House, Railway Stret, Lisburn.

3. LDS has many transcript copies of the original records arranged in alphabetical order.

Methodist (Wesleyan).

Records exist after 1878. Before that time, Methodists were mostly recorded in the Church of Ireland or Presbyterian registers. Methodist records after 1878 are in local custody.

Other Denominations (Baptists, Congregationalists).

Many of these groups came to Ireland about 1640 as soldiers with Cromwell. Records are generally in local custody.