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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Topic started by: onlooker on Friday 24 November 17 13:24 GMT (UK)

Title: Letter from GRO confirming a birth was not registered
Post by: onlooker on Friday 24 November 17 13:24 GMT (UK)
A family member wants to apply for Irish citizenship, to which she is entitled because her grandfather was born in Ireland. The difficulty is that her grandfather's birth appears not to have been registered. I read (in a recent copy of Irish Roots magazine) that she should get a letter from the Irish GRO confirming that the birth was not registered.

Does anyone have experience of obtaining such a letter?
Title: Re: Letter from GRO confirming a birth was not registered
Post by: aghadowey on Friday 24 November 17 13:36 GMT (UK)
About 30 or so years ago it was possible to obtain confirmation of baptism record from church register but I've not hear of a letter from GRO stating no such record being acceptable proof (unless also accompanied by church record?). Census records used to also be considered proof for pension claims.

When was the grandfather supposed to be born? It's possible that the birth was much earlier (or later) than supposed or under another name.
Title: Re: Letter from GRO confirming a birth was not registered
Post by: onlooker on Friday 24 November 17 13:44 GMT (UK)
We have a certified copy of the baptism (made in 1946), so the date of birth (1897) is not really in doubt. I suppose it could be under another name, but I have checked all births matching either Christian name or surname, in 1987 and 1898.
Title: Re: Letter from GRO confirming a birth was not registered
Post by: aghadowey on Friday 24 November 17 13:46 GMT (UK)
I would do a much, much wider search before assuming no birth registered.

If you post any of the following details you know we can have a look for it-
1) name
2) date of birth/baptism
3) place of birth
4) names of parents

Have you found him in 1901 and 1911 census yet? (if so, please post links)
Title: Re: Letter from GRO confirming a birth was not registered
Post by: Wexflyer on Thursday 30 November 17 17:19 GMT (UK)
We have a certified copy of the baptism (made in 1946), so the date of birth (1897) is not really in doubt. I suppose it could be under another name, but I have checked all births matching either Christian name or surname, in 1987 and 1898.

I presume you mean 1897, rather than 1987. But apart from that, that is not nearly a wide enough search. Registrations could be years later. I have a great-aunt who was born in the mid 1880s. Her birth was registered in 1901. A vital point that many people overlook is that the indexing is by year of registration, not by year of birth!
Title: Re: Letter from GRO confirming a birth was not registered
Post by: Elwyn Soutter on Thursday 30 November 17 21:05 GMT (UK)
As Wexflyer & Aghadowey have both said, births were sometimes registered years late. I recently came across a family in Belfast where 6 childrens births were all registered together, the eldest being 16 years old at the time. So search widely.

Ultimately you are going to have to satisfy the Irish Passport Office’s requirements as to entitlement to a passport, so it might be worth contacting them to discuss alternative documentation that might be acceptable proof, if you can’t find that key birth certificate. I have known cases in the UK where a sworn affidavit supported by good quality evidence (eg a baptismal certificate) has persuaded the authorities to register a birth late and then you can apply for a passport. But whether that’s the same in Ireland I really cannot say.

I assume you also know that, if someone is claiming Irish citizenship through a father or mother who was not themselves born in Ireland, they need to apply to get that relative's birth registered as an Irish Foreign birth. They have to do that before they can apply for an Irish passport. (The fee is €278). So you’ll also possibly need to persuade them to register it without an Irish birth certificate.

Fuller information on the Irish Embassy website:

https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/great-britain/passports/top-passport-questions/how-much-does-an-irish-passport-cost/