IrishCentral's guide on how to get an Irish passport

redwood1957 - Since you're claiming Irish citizenship by descent through your grandmother you won't need her marriage certificate. The current fee for registration in the Foreign Births is $217. (Source: Consulate General of Ireland, New York)

I have my grandmothers birth certificate from Ireland,her death certificate from NY State, my fathers birth certificate from NY State, His death certificated from Maryland, as well as his Baptismal certificate from a church in NYC., I have my birth certificate. I can not locate the marriage certificate for my grandfather and grandmother will it be needed? If I'm using my grandmother as the person as my relative? Also any idea as to costs to complete process? Thanks Mike

walter3ca - Yes, a baptismal certifiate will suffice. My wife's grandfather was born in the 1920s and Dublin couldn't locate a civil registration of his birth. My wife was able to use his baptismal certificate to successfully be entered in the FBR.

My Grandfather was born over 100 years ago. I have his baptismal certificate but no birth certificate. Will that work I wonder?

Just as a follow-up to my earlier post, and in case anyone didn´t believe my advice as to how to get an Irish passport, there´s this in tomorrow Saturday´s Irish Independent:---"A Chinese couple, who had flown here without any passports or legal documentation, were refused permission to land as gardai suspected they were adults pretending to be unaccompanied minors. However, they were later allowed to apply for asylum and remain in Ireland." Score another one for the Mass Immigrationists, another one down for Ireland! Or should I say two gained for Ireland--two more to go on the Irish welfare roll, two more for the few Irish people still working to pay taxes to feed & house. The Irish-are they now the greatest fools on earth?

@GeorgeDillon and FranConnor: It really doesn't matter what passport you use when entering the EU if you go there as a tourist. However, many times the EU lines are shorter at immigration and you don't have to fill out the form for non-EU citizens. I would also rather hold an Irish passport than an US one if my tourist bus gets hijacked lets say by fundamentalist terrorists. The advantage really comes into play if you are an exchange student and/or you want to live and work in Europe for a while or permanently.

aomiller: Did it never occur to you to contact the Irish Embassy in Mexico City? Not exactly rocket science.

aomiller: Did it never occur to you to contact the Irish Embassy in Mexico City? Not exactly rocket science, is it?

FranConnor: What you did was wrong. if you were traveling within the EU you should have used your Irish passport. When you go to the US they insist you use the American passport. Have some respect when traveling in Europe, use your EU country passport.

IT'S SAD BECAUSE I AM A GREAT GRANDCHILD OF 4 IRISH PERSONS BUT MY PARENTS ARE NOT CITIZENS OF IRELAND SO I AM SOL! SAD BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO LOOK THE SUN AND THE MOON AWAY FROM WHAT AN IRISH PERSON LOOKS LOOKS LIKE RUNNING AROUND CLAIMING CITIZENSHIP. I'M SORRY BUT THOSE NIGERIANS ARE NOT IRISH...ONLY SHREWD ENOUGH TO BE SCAMMING THE SYSTEM!!!!

yea, the Irish goons in Galway are more likeable than any American!

Any eligible males? Let me know....I'll be there with bells on and my bridal frills! My great-great grandfather is registered @ Dublin...and I have a picture of his grave stone located in Colorado. How about an aching heart and tears in my eyes every time I leave from a vacation there? Those of you born there and still living there...Oh how I envy you!

You do not need an Irish (or EU) passport to "travel freely" within the European Union. Anyone who is permitted to enter the EU can do that. All other benefits are stated in this article: not residence permit required for students, no work permit, etc.

Why does it take so long to get! Couldn't they speed up the process?

I have both Irish and US citizenship and passports. I'm happy to report that my wife and I were very favorably received all over Europe using our American passport - Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, it didn't matter. Maybe Americans aren't hated quite as much as some people would have us believe.