Record Atlas
4 eras · 1534–2026 · 2,445 places

Ireland — the whole island

Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Galway. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Where researchers lose records here

1922–2026 — On 30 June 1922 the Public Record Office in the Four Courts burned with almost every Irish census before 1901, most Church of Ireland registers deposited there, and the wills. Researchers are still told to «look for the census» — there is no census to look for. What survives is what was never sent in: the Catholic parish registers, PRONI's copies in the north, Griffith's Valuation, and the Tithe Applotment books. Start there, not with the census.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1534–1801 Kingdom of Ireland, under the English crown National Archives of Ireland · PRONI — Public Record Office of Northern Ireland · FamilySearch

Church of Ireland registers from 1634 where they survive; Catholic registers almost nowhere before 1750. The penal laws are the reason, and they are a records fact as much as a political one.
1801–1864 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland National Library of Ireland — Catholic Parish Registers · National Archives of Ireland · PRONI — Public Record Office of Northern Ireland · FamilySearch · Findmypast

The Catholic parish registers begin in earnest — the National Library's microfilms are free and cover nearly every parish. Protestant marriages registered from 1845.
1864–1922 United Kingdom — civil registration IrishGenealogy.ie · National Archives of Ireland · PRONI — Public Record Office of Northern Ireland · FamilySearch

Civil registration of all births, marriages and deaths from 1864, free and photographed on IrishGenealogy.ie. The 1901 and 1911 censuses survive in full and are free at the National Archives.
1922–2026 Irish Free State and Republic in the south; Northern Ireland in the six counties IrishGenealogy.ie · National Archives of Ireland · PRONI — Public Record Office of Northern Ireland · Findmypast

THE TRAP. On 30 June 1922 the Public Record Office in the Four Courts burned with almost every Irish census before 1901, most Church of Ireland registers deposited there, and the wills. Researchers are still told to «look for the census» — there is no census to look for. What survives is what was never sent in: the Catholic parish registers, PRONI's copies in the north, Griffith's Valuation, and the Tithe Applotment books. Start there, not with the census.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1534–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

2,445 places on this ground

The 200 carrying the most collections are listed; 2,245 more stand on this ground. Every place has them all.

233 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 173 more.

All record regions · The map