Church records of over two million baptisms and marriages in Kerry, Cork, Dublin and Carlow have been published online by IrishGenealogy.ie.

Minister for Culture, Mary Hanafin launched the site's new information on Wednesday evening. She also presented a copy of the completed records to Reverend Doctor John R.W. Neill, Archbishop of Dublin on behalf of the Representative Church Body Library. The ceremony took place at St Werburgh’s Church, in Dublin City.

The records include much of Dublin City’s details and all of the Church of Ireland records. It also contains Kerry’s Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland Diocese of Ardfert records. From Carlow, the site holds the Church of Ireland records for the diocese of Leighlin. It also had the Roman Catholic records for South and West Cork, the dioceses of Cork and Ross.

The site is also being updated with further records. The remaining Catholic records for Dublin City and the rest of Cork are now being added.

Another million records are to be added to the site by the end of the year.

The 1901 census is already online on the site. This gives the public access to more than 4.5 million records.

At the launch Minister Hanafin said “Users on this website will now be able to view the original registers where their ancestors’ baptism, marriage or burial was recorded and, just like the availability of the original census records online, will provide users with another important link to their past.”

“This website brings the past to life for its users and should help generate interest in genealogical research into family histories.”

Visit www.irishgenealogy.ie to explore your families past.