Ireland’s General Register Office’s birth, marriage and death indexes are now available online. The 27 million records are among the largest online Irish genealogy resource to come online to date.

Available on the Irish government’s genealogy site, IrishGenealogy.ie, the records cover deaths, births and marriages in Ireland right up to 2013. The death indexes date back to 1966 and record marital status and age at death. The marriage index, from 1903 on, shows both parties’ names and the birth index, from 1900 on, gives the mother’s maiden name. The database can be refined by period, registration district and event.

Speaking at the launch of the site the newly elected head of the Labour Party, and Irish government deputy head, Joan Burton announced the “Civil Registration Amendment Bill 2014”. This will removed all legal obstacles to public access of full records. This will mean access to Irish births over 100 years old, marriages over 75 and deaths over 50.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan , said “Genealogy is an important way of connecting with those abroad who wish to trace their roots and also permitting those here in Ireland to establish their family history. It can also be of significant economic benefit to the country in the development of cultural tourism and in attracting visitors to Ireland to trace their ancestry, visit their ancestral homes etc. In addition, genealogy is also immensely important from a social history perspective".

"I am delighted that through the cooperation of our two Government Departments we can expand the range of records available to those wishing to find out more about their family history".