The confusion within the thread over the existance of duplicate registers is perhaps due to the differences between Protestant and R.C. marriage proceedures.
From the start of civil registration 1845 duplicate register books were maintained by all Church of Ireland and Presbyterian Churches (+Jewish and Quaker). Bride and Groom signed both books and they were supposed to be identical. ALL other Protestant denominations required the attendance of a Registrar who registered the marriages in his own local book up to late 1863.
Each quarter the church made quarterly marriage copies which were sent to Dublin. These copies may have been made by the curate reading is elder ministers handwriting. The local Registrar made copies of the Registrar Office/Registrar Attended marriages and sent those to Dublin.
When a churches pair of books were full (they came in various page lengths with pre-printed numbers eg 1-50, 1-100, 1-240, 1-500) they sent one copy to the GRO District office and retained one. Urban churches went through several ledgers a year, whereas in rural churches a ledger might last decades, some only had eg 2 marriages a year.
So initially if someone wanted a copy of an entry they got it from the church or a quarterly copy from Dublin.
Later they had 3 options church (they still had a filled book), the District Office (a filled book) & Dublin (quarterly copy).
After the Marriage Law & Registration of Amendment Acts June/July 1863 Methodist, Baptist and various other Protestant denominations (those that had applied to be licensed and were officially recorded as Places of Worship), were also issued duplicate books and attendance by the registrar was no longer required. His attendance was still required at non-licensed venues such as Congregational / Pentecostal Churches & Mission Halls, taking his local book with him.
By the original Acts the District's filled marriage books along with the filled Birth and Death registrars were never to leave the local District Office, then the Workhouse. Workhouses are no more and civil offices have replaced them (with longer opening hours, it was originally just a hour morning and late afternoon several days a week by the local sub-district registrar who was also often the doctor and responsible for vaccinations too).
With a few exceptions the Dispensary Districts constitute Registrars' Districts, and the Dispensary Medical Officer is the Registrar. Poor Law Unions constitute Superintendent Registrars' Districts, and the Clerk of the Union is the Superintendent Registrar, with whom the filled [Birth & Death] registers are deposited.
The Church's retained original may now be found housed in the RCB Library, NAI, PRONI, or by the respective denomination's central archive (eg Quaker, Presbyterian, Methodist Historical Society), some are still retained locally in the church safe.
On irish genealogy we can see the original Church of Ireland registrars for Dublin and some other areas via 'church records'. There were only TWO marriages to a page.
https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/display-pdf.jsp?pdfName=d-511-3-2-007vs the quarterly copies which had space for 4 marriages and handwritten entry number #13.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1866/11553/8249527.pdfROMAN CATHOLIC churches were not licensed, they were not issued with GRO books or expected to perform a role as a surrogate registrar.
R.C. Registration was by return of a signed certificate/form to the GRO following the marriage, hence the additional marginal column seen on irish genealogy recording the date of registratrion by them. It was supposed to be within 3 days but was sometimes many weeks or months later (eg 1st Feb 1879 registered 29 Aug for St Peter's, Belfast & a registration 16 Aug 1879 for a marriage 25 Dec 1877) - or sometimes never - if you cross reference the NLI's R.C. parish records to the irish genealogy quarterly copies.
The R.C. registrations were kept in books at the GRO SUB-District and each book contained entries for all the chapels in the sub-district, sometimes just 1 sometimes 5 chapels. Each quarter he sent copies to Dublin. When full he sent his book to his boss at the Workhouse the Superintendant Registrar - the Districts we search.
The GRO commented on the imperfections of R.C. marriage proceedures half way down page 5 in his 1881 report.
so much depends upon the manner in which the 'husband’ discharges his duty as conveyer of the certificate of marriage to the Registrar, and, in fact, his action as informant of his own marriage, that in spite of the desire of the clergy and the care of the Registrar, many marriages are imperfectly registered
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