Maureen O'Hara's among Irish birth, marriage and deaths records released

Further online records of Ireland's births, deaths, and marriages were added to IrishGenealogy.ie in early 2021. This genealogist's jackpot now includes records on the births of big names such as Irish Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave, top GAA player Christy Ring, and Hollywood royalty Maureen O'Hara.

An additional year of historic Irish births, marriages, and deaths are now available to view at www.IrishGenealogy.ie. The records being launched are the birth register entries for 1920, included there-in Maureen O'Hara's birth, marriage register entries for 1945, and death register entries for 1970.

The Irish government announced their release stating that "these entries show important information that are often vital in helping people to find out about their ancestry."

The records, now available at www.IrishGenealogy.ie, include:

- Birth register records, 1864 to 1920

- Marriage register records, 1845 to 1945

- Death register records, 1864 to 1970

Among some of the most interesting releases are the birth records for 1920. The Irish government released some of the details:

Maureen O'Hara

Maureen O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons)  -  ( born 17 August 1920 – died 24 October 2015)

The beloved Irish actress Maureen O'Dowd was the star of movies including The Quiet Man (1952), the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and Rio Grande (1950).

Now considered Hollywood royalty and having received an Academy Award for her life's work, it should be acknowledged that the Irish star was born in Rathmines, in the south of Dublin city. Born to an Irish Catholic family in 1920 she started out on her acting career training at the Rathmines Theatre Company followed by the famed Abbey Theatr

Liam Cosgrave

Liam Cosgrave, Fine Gael politician and Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) - ( born 13 April 1920 – died 4 October 2017)

Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977, Leader of Fine Gael from 1965 to 1977, Leader of the Opposition from 1965 to 1973, Minister for External Affairs from 1954 to 1957, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce and Government Chief Whip from 1948 to 1951. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD / Member of Irish Parliament) from 1943 to 1981.

Christy Ring, GAA legend

Nicholas Christopher Michael "Christy" Ring (born 30 October 1920, died 2 March 1979)

Christy Ring was widely regarded as the greatest hurler in the history of the game, with many former players, commentators and fans rating him as the number one player of all time.  His league and championship career with the Cork senior team spanned twenty-four years from 1939 to 1963.  During his playing career, he established many championship records, including career appearances (65), scoring tally (33-208) and a number of All-Ireland medals won (8).

Research on Irish ancestry

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, T.D., welcomed this latest release saying "I know that this annual update is eagerly anticipated and will be of great benefit to anyone carrying out research on their Irish ancestry".

Minister for Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, Heather Humphreys T.D., (which has responsibility for the Civil Registration Service) emphasized: “I am delighted that the Civil Registration Service has provided another year of historic birth, marriage and death register entries to the www.irishgenealogy.ie website.  I trust that this information will be of great use to anyone with an interest in genealogy and may act as a spur to those who would now like to start their own family history research”.

What's in the records? 

The records which have been released are the birth register entries for 1920, marriage register entries for 1945, and death register entries for 1970. 

The births registers include:

-  Childs forename/s;

- Childs surname;

-  Date of birth;

-  Place of birth

- Father's name and address

- Mother's name and maiden name if married

- Father's occupation

-  Signature of the informant (the person who registered your birth)

- Date of registration of the birth.

For marriages these include:

-   Marriage location

- Date of marriage

- Forename/s and surnames of bride and groom

-  Age at time of marriage

- Condition (i.e. bachelor, spinster, or widowed)

- Occupation of bride and groom

- Bride and groom’s father's names and addresses

- Occupations of bride’s and groom’s fathers

- Signature of bride and groom

- Signature of witnesses.

For deaths these include:

- Date and place of death

- Name and surname of deceased

- Male or female

- Condition of deceased ((i.e. bachelor, spinster, or widowed)

- Age at last birthday

- Rank, profession, or occupation of deceased

- Cause of death and duration of illness

- Signature, qualification, and residence of informant

-  Date of registration.

In its entirety, the www.irishgenealogy.ie website provides access to over six million birth register entries, over one million civil marriage entries, and over six million civil death registries. 

*Originally published in February 2021. Updated in October 2022.