Church Records
There is a wide variation both between and within the different Churches as to starting dates, information given and the actual physical condition and legibility of the registers.
Roman Catholic Records.
The Penal Laws were viciously enforced against the Catholic
Church and resulted in a reluctance by the Catholic clergy to keep records for
fear of compromising members of their flock, particularly in the early years, and for this reason,
Catholic records generally start much later than Protestant records.
They mostly start around the 1820s and, by and large, consist of baptism and
marriage records, though a few burial records do occasionally occur, giving the
name of the deceased and the date of burial, and sometimes a townland address. Often entries in Catholic
registers are very tightly written and are hard to read, plus the fact that
many are in Latin, does not make the task any easier. Baptism registers
normally give the date of baptism, child's name, father and mother's names,
sponsors names and in some cases townland or street address. Marriage registers give
date of marriage, names of bride and groom and the names of the witnesses. Occasionally
the bride and groom's parents names and townland or street addresses
will be given. Church of Ireland Records.
Until 1871 the Church of Ireland was the State or Established Church in
Ireland. After it was disestablished, an 1875 Act of Parliament declared that
all baptism and burial registers prior to 1871 and all marriage registers prior
to 1845, to be public records, and as such, should be lodged in the Public
Records Office of Ireland in Dublin, for safe keeping. There was widespread opposition
to this
and another Act of Parliament the following year permitted local Churches to hold on
to their registers provided that they had adequate provision for their
safe-keeping. By 1922, of the 1,643 Church of Ireland Parishes in Ireland, 1006
had unfortunately, lodged their records in the P.R.O. in Dublin, where they were
destroyed in a fire during the Irish Civil War in 1922. Fortunately, 637 Parishes retained
their records in local custody and only the records of 4 parishes survived the
fire, giving a total of 641 Church of Ireland Parishes whose records survive intact.
This tragedy was and is, an absolute disaster, not only for those descendants whose ancestors were of the Church of Ireland persuasion, but also for those of
Catholic and
Presbyterian background, because during the Penal Laws, the Church of
Ireland had exclusive rights to administer baptism, marriage and burial ceremonies. Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials in the Church of
Ireland date from the
late seventeenth century but most of these records start between 1770 and 1820. Marriage
License Bonds
were issued by the Bishops of the Church of Ireland, and some date from the mid
1590s to 1857, however, the original Bonds were destroyed in Dublin during the
Irish Civil War in 1922, but the indices for the Bonds survive, and give the
bride and groom's names and the date of the Bond.
Presbyterian Records.
Presbyterianism came to Ireland from Scotland in the 17th century but, like
the Catholics, were discriminated against, by the Penal Laws. It was illegal for
a Presbyterian Minister to marry two members of his flock until 1782, and not
until 1845 was he permitted to perform a mixed marriage between a Presbyterian
and a member of the Church of Ireland. There were very few Presbyterian burial
grounds and therefore there are few Presbyterian burial records. There are
a few Presbyterian registers that start in the seventeenth century, but
most are after that. There were frequent disputes in the Presbyterian Church and
we often get two or three Churches in the same area which are referred to as
1st, 2nd and 3rd. Many of these churches began as seceding congregations which
broke away from the original Synod of Ulster in 1733. The Seceders took a strong
evangelical stand and objected to an Act of Parliament in 1712 which accepted
patronage as an accepted method of appointing ministers. Over time however, the
Synod of Ulster and the Secession Synod, resolved their differences and reunited
in 1840. Besides baptism and marriage records, Presbyterians have other records
that can be very important to genealogy, including, session minutes, communicant
rolls, transgression hearings, transfer certificates, subscription lists,
stipend books and pew rentals. Non-Subscribing Presbyterian (Unitarians) Records.
The Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church has its origins back
in 1725 when a number of congregations refused to subscribe to the Westminister
Confession of Faith and formed themselves into a separate Presbytery of Antrim.
It retained links with the General Synod of Ulster until the 1820s when the
issue of subscription came to a head and the Non-Subscribers were forced out of
the Synod of Ulster and formed the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster. Some of the
early Non-Subscribing Presbyterian records that were recorded before the split
are in fact Presbyterian records. Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanters) Records.
The Reform Presbyterian Church has its origins in the 17th
century, when a minority of Presbyterians wished to adhere more strictly to the
Covenants of 1638 and 1642, but it was not until the mid-18th century that
congregations were formed with their own ordained ministers. In 1763, the first
Irish Reformed Presbytery was set up. By 1800 it had 28 congregations in
Counties Antrim, Armagh, Tyrone, Donegal and Monaghan. Their earliest records
begin in the mid-19th century. Methodist Records.
The Methodist Church grew out of the Established Church, or Church of Ireland.
John Wesley came to Ireland in the mid 1700s, and people joined the Wesleyan
Methodists from all denominations, but were encouraged to remain members of
their own Church. In 1804, the Methodist Church ruled that no Methodist
preacher in Ireland should perform the office of baptism. Methodists went
to their own Church to be baptized and it is for this reason that many
Methodists find their baptisms in the Church of Ireland records. In 1816 the
Methodist Church split in to the ''Primitive Methodists'' who retained their
connection with the Church of
Ireland, and the ''Wesleyan Methodists'', who allowed their preachers to
administer baptism. These two branches of Methodism reunited in 1878. Another
splinter of the Methodist Church in Ireland was the Methodist New Connection
whose attitude to the Church of Ireland was even more extreme than that of the
Wesleyan Methodists. They had Churches in Zion at Newtownards and Priesthill in
Co Down and Broomhedge in Co Antrim. They united with the Irish Methodist
Conference in 1905. Most Methodist baptism records do not start until 1830 and
their marriage records in 1845. There are very few Methodist burial records
because most Methodist Churches did not have burial grounds. Quaker Records.
The Quakers or The Religious Society of Friends, as they were known, came to
Ireland in the mid 1600s and settled mostly in the Lisburn and Lurgan
areas. George Fox, the founder of the Society, emphasized the importance
of good record-keeping and at each meeting they meticulously recorded their
business, including all births, marriages and burials. Their records are almost
complete from the time that they first came to Ireland. It is worth noting that Quarkers do not
practice baptism. Moravian Church.
The Moravian Church was formed in what used to be the Czech Republic in the
1700s and was introduced into Ireland by John Cennick, who arrived in Dublin in
1746 and founded the first Moravian Church there. By 1748 there were Churches in
Counties Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Down and Monaghan. These congregations
made up the Moravian Church in Ireland: Ballinderry, Cliftonville Road, Belfast,
Dublin, Gracefield, Gracehill, Kilwarlin and University Road Belfast. The
Moravians were also excellent record-keepers, and some of their records continue from the time of their origin. They also keep lists of members,
including their date of birth, previous denomination and date of death.
Congregational Church.
The Congregationalists Church was set up in Ireland in the 17th century but
didn't make much headway until the early 19th century. After the establishment of the Irish Evangelical Society in 1814, a lot of new Churches were built.
There are some baptism and marriage records from this time but most are from the
1880s.
Baptist Church.
The Baptists came to Ireland in the mid 17th century but it was the early 19th
century before they made their mark. There are about 55 Baptist Churches
in Ireland but only 10 have records that pre date 1900. The earliest Baptist
records start in 1862 and contain marriages in the minute book. The Baptists do
not practice baptism so there are no baptism records, nor do they have burial
grounds, and so, no burial records.
© Bob Murray 2003