Ireland Land and Property

Land records are a particularly valuable genealogical resource. These records may reveal where and when your ancestor lived and where they previously lived. Often, family relationships and information may be stated or inferred such as the names of spouses, children, heirs, other relatives, and neighbors. Additionally, the occupation and social status of your ancestor may be gleaned from these records. It is not uncommon to trace multi-generations in land records. Estate ownership and tenancy from one generation to another was an integral part of the Irish land system.^[1]

Registry of Deeds[edit | edit source]

After the accession to the throne of William III & Mary II (1689) control of land ownership by Roman Catholics was tightened. It is important historically to see this in the context of the time such measures were set. Ireland had been in turmoil since the beginning of the Cromwellian period in the 1640s. And although the country was generally much unsettled and there was much public anxiety, land ownership, whether by Protestants or Catholics, was an issue to only a tiny fraction of the population.

A system of registration of deeds began in 1708 and although it was not compulsory, it was generally held that the courts would be more favourable when issuing decrees and judgements where title had been registered. However, for those who were not wealthy enough to ever consider court proceedings the need to register was not an issue particularly as a fee was required. In addition to land deeds, marriage settlements, leases, mortgages, and wills involving the transfer of land are also found within the deed registrations. These records can be very helpful, especially for time periods prior to the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths.

The Registry of Deeds is located at:

Henrietta Street
Dublin 1
Ireland

For an excellent overview of records at the Registry of Deeds, see:

Begley, Donal F., ed. "The Registry of Deeds for Genealogical Purposes." In Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder. (FamilySearch Library book 941.5 D27i.)
Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: The Complete Guide. 3rd ed. Dublin, Ireland: Gill and Macmillan, 2006. (FamilySearch Library book Ref 941.5 D27gj 2006.)

The deeds may be obtained by visiting (or mailing to) the Registry of Deeds in Ireland or by using microfilms or online records at the FamilySearch Library or a FamilySearch Center. These deeds and indexes are listed in the FamilySearch Library's catalog under the following title:

Transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929

Indexes for the Registry of Deeds[edit | edit source]

There are several indexes available to assist in finding the deeds you are interested in.

Indexes made by the Registry of Deeds. This set of indexes consists of a Grantor Index as well as a Land Index. The Grantor Index lists the Grantors and one or two of the Grantees. The grantors are those demising the property (selling, mortgaging, leasing etc.) and the grantees are those who are receiving property rights. The Grantor Index does not include all of the names contained in the memorial of the deed. The Land Index is a list memorials by each place (city, town or townland) which are arranged by county or barony. When the Registry of Deeds was established in 1708, memorials of the deeds were numerically assigned a number. Until the year 1832, there is no year in the grantor index to denote which memorials align with which year. Use the table below to determine the year of the event from the memorial number found in the index.

Year	Memorial No.	Year	Memorial No.	Year	Memorial No.	Year	Memorial No.	Year	Memorial No.
1708	1	1733	50409	1758	126844	1783	234490	1808	405512
1709	374	1734	52948	1759	130618	1784	239259	1809	414034
1710	1070	1735	55535	1760	134355	1785	244364	1810	423260
1711	1926	1736	58041	1761	137761	1786	249255	1811	432995
1712	2768	1737	60768	1762	141305	1787	254454	1812	441899
1713	3766	1738	63162	1763	144945	1788	260116	1813	451113
1714	4935	1739	65906	1764	148922	1789	266221	1814	461003
1715	6126	1740	68393	1765	153653	1790	272621	1815	470166
1716	7336	1741	70947	1766	158296	1791	279229	1816	478191
1717	8865	1742	73630	1767	163500	1792	287009	1817	485883
1718	10757	1743	76147	1768	168744	1793	295396	1818	493695
1719	12915	1744	78676	1769	173713	1794	303185	1819	501441
1720	15270	1745	80929	1770	178991	1795	311177	1820	508717
1721	18046	1746	83068	1771	184290	1796	319103	1821	515020
1722	20304	1747	85403	1772	189327	1797	327783	1822	520896
1723	22912	1748	88034	1773	194195	1798	333212	1823	526573
1724	25702	1749	90771	1774	198733	1799	337550	1824	532593
1725	28390	1750	94261	1775	202855	1800	342980	1825	539182
1726	31316	1751	98168	1776	206752	1801	349705	1826	545748
1727	34297	1752	101353	1777	210522	1802	357276	1827	551949
1728	37233	1753	106140	1778	214408	1803	365048	1828	558549
1729	40166	1754	111150	1779	218257	1804	372665	1829	564602
1730	42925	1755	115700	1780	222072	1805	380858	1830	570728
1731	45533	1756	119510	1781	226204	1806	389283	1831	577001
1732	47916	1757	123171	1782	230321	1807	397471	1832	583046

Will Indexes for the Registry of Deeds. There are two indexes that provide the memorial index information for each testator whose will is contained in the registry. There are also indexes containing abstracts of each will in the registry. These can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog by clicking on Wills in the Registry of Deeds. The three volumes are available in the Irish Manuscripts Commission out-of-print collection:
Online Index. Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland has over 278,000 index entries from nearly 30,800 Memorials of Deeds in the registry and continues to grow. This is the only index where you can search for any person mentioned in a deed; no matter what a person’s role is in a memorial. Each index record gives the names of each person mentioned in the deed as well as any relationships that are stated. It also mentions the type of memorial, i.e. lease, marriage settlement, mortgage, etc. While it is not complete, it is a good place to begin a search of the deeds.

Estate Records[edit | edit source]

Ireland Estate Records Wiki page

Estate records are a valuable set of property records to identify commoners in Ireland. Most Irish lived on large landed estates owned by a minority of the population. Landowners usually hired overseers to keep records of transactions involving their leases for families who were their tenants. Estate records vary in content and duration and may include deeds, leases, rent rolls, maps, correspondence, and account books, among other records. A brief explanation of estate records is found in "Land Records" in John Grenham, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: The Complete Guide.

There is the Landed Estates Database It has family names, associated Family Names, Names of estate records, Archival sources. The CONNACHT LANDED ESTATES PROJECT. This has Maps of where the estates are located (Townland, Civil Parish, Barony, County, etc.) This is a valuable website for Estate records in Connacht Province.

To locate estate records you need to know the name of the estate owner. If you can locate your ancestor in Griffith's Primary Valuation, you may also find the name of the owner of the estate on which your ancestor lived.^[1] A helpful Web site that explains what information is in Griffith's, searchable by place or surname, is found at Ask About Ireland.

Estate Records of the Irish Famine is an important book detailing a significant period of intense emigration as a result of the devastating potato famine of the 1840's. The book is arranged by county and then alphabetically by surname of the proprietor of the estate. Each entry includes the time period of the records, what the records include (rentals, tenancy returns, lists of evicted tenants, maps, etc.), the repository where the records are held, and the archival reference numbers. FS Catalog book 941.5 J73ea

Books[edit | edit source]

Estate owners often lived away from their estates. Some lived in England. Many of the records of owners living in England have been deposited in English archives. The following sources identify some estate records and where they are deposited:

Irish Manuscripts Commission. Analecta Hibernica. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1930-. (FamilySearch Library book 941.5 B2ah.)

Grenham, John. "County Source Lists." InTracing Your Irish Ancestors: The Complete Guide. Dublin, Ireland: Gill and Macmillan, 1992. (FamilySearch Library book Ref 941.5 D27gj.)

Hayes, Richard J. Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilization. (FamilySearch Library book 941.5 A5h.) Now fully searchable online (with additions & corrections) as part of Sources.
Index to the National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United Kingdom and Ireland. (FamilySearch Library fiche 6341118.)
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Records.Belfast, Ireland: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1924-. (FamilySearch Library book 941.5 A5rn.)

The FamilySearch Library's copies of estate records are listed in the Place Search of the catalog under the following headings:

IRELAND - LAND AND PROPERTY

IRELAND, [COUNTY] - LAND AND PROPERTY

Valuation Office Revision Books[edit | edit source]

For information on the records of the Valuation Office pertaining to land records, see Valuation Office Revision Books.

The FamilySearch catalog lists these records by electoral division. The District Electoral Divisions are the same as those used for the Ireland censuses. To find out the name of the electoral division for a townland, type the townland into the census search on the National Archives of Ireland website. The place under the column labeled DED is the electoral division used in the FamilySearch catalog.

References[edit | edit source]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Research outline: Ireland. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2000.

[Ireland_Research_Outline-1] 1.0 ^1.1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Research outline: Ireland. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch Library, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2000.

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