Historical Records Dating From 1864-1968 Now Online

Historical Irish records dating from 1864 to 1968 are now available to the public online via irishgenealogy.ie.

The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, and Employment Affairs and Social Protection Minister, Regina Doherty, welcomed the release of a further tranche of Ireland's historical Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths online, which include:

• Births from 1864 to 1918;

• Marriages from 1864 to 1943; and

• Deaths from 1878 to 1968.

The latest tranche of records include those associated with people who were and continue to be highly regarded in their individual fields e.g. the birth record for acclaimed tenor Josef Locke, born Joseph McLaughlin in March 1917.

The Register of Deaths includes that of the novelist, Walter Macken who passed away on 22 April 1967; and renowned Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, who died on 30 November 1967.

This digitisation process is part of a joint initiative by both Departments with records being prepared and uploaded by the Civil Registration Service and officials from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD said: "The addition of further years of historic registers of births, marriages and deaths on the website irishgenealogy.ie is an exciting development in family history research for Irish people here and all Irish descendants around the world. Since this on-line service became available in 2016 over 2.1 million visitors to the website have viewed these records. For many people the big question then was when further images would be added to the website. I am delighted to announce that register images for marriages dating back to 1864 and all the way up to 1943 can now be viewed on-line. Deaths dating from 1878 and up to 1968 and births dating from 1864 up to 1918 are also available.

"Anyone wishing to research their family history now has a veritable treasure trove of records available at the click of a button and I've no doubt that these additional records will continue to help unlock many mysteries that people have been trying to solve for years."

Minister Regina Doherty TD added: "I am delighted that through the co-operation of two Government Departments we can expand the range of records available to those wishing to find out more about their family history. The Civil Registration Service is one of the State's essential services and one of the greatest resources for those establishing their family histories. Providing this open and free access to older records and register entries will further support the efforts of many family historians throughout the world."