Irish citizenship/ passport through Irish born grandparent

[Lisajb]

Good morning
Would anyone know, if you apply for Irish citizenship through an Irish born grandparent - is the fee refunded off your application is unsuccessful?

My husband is considering it, but I can see problems along the way as his mother and grandmother weren't exactly known for regularising their relationships, and there have been one or two undocumented changes of name down the years.

Thanks
Lisa

[alpinecottage]

This reply isn't going to fully answer your question, but it illustrates that poor paper trails are not uncommon.
My brother wants an Irish passport, and has enlisted my help to get it.  Our grandfather's birth wasn't registered but he was baptised (in 1882).  The Irish GRO have issued a late registration of birth certificate (only 137 years late  ) and we have all of the other birth, death and marriage certificates required.  There are some inconsistencies in Christian and surnames eg Ellen/Helen, Donlon/Donellon and even my mother's maiden name is misrecorded on my brother's birth certificate.  However we do have circumstantial and supporting evidence eg on 1939 register and fairly unusual names in the family so we are hopeful the application will go through. 
There have been so many applications for registration of foreign-born Irish births, that a special office has recently been set up in Dublin to deal with them all.  Here is a useful link, in case you haven't already seen it  https://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenship/citizenship/born-abroad/registering-a-foreign-birth/  There are phone lines and a webchat line and someone there will be able to answer your specific enquiry if you contact them.

[Lisajb]

Thanks for your post. I think I may have to contact them.

My husbands situation goes something like this.  His mother was born a Maher/Meagher. Father not known, so she takes her mothers surname.  Her mother later enters into a relationship with a chap, and gives birth to a son. This child is born in Ireland and she claims to be married to the child’s father, although I have never managed to find a marriage for them - I suspect he was already married to someone else. The son grows up with his fathers surname, which is also adopted by his sister, my mum in law, although there’s no documentation to say why.

My husbands grandmother later did marry, and claimed to be a spinster at the time.

My husband is also born with this surname, although he later changed his name- we do at least have a solicitors document for this!

Any my husband’s great grandmother used the maiden names Grey/Gray or O’Hara variously.

We really are up against it!

[alpinecottage]

Yes, I see your problem(s)!

I'd suggest you get the best paper trail sorted out, with supporting information like the 1901/1911/1939 register and solicitor's document.  Then you will be able to see where the weak links are before you phone or webchat the office.

We're expecting this application for foreign birth registration to take about 6 months, but it looks like they will accept supporting information as the application can take up to 12 months in complex cases.  If it goes through, the issue of an Irish passport is automatic.