Ireland, Selections of Catholic Parish Marriages and Banns, 1742-1884

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Selections of Catholic Parish Marriages and Banns, 1742-1884 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Click to view a more complete list of included parishes.

Original data: Parish Registers. Dublin, Ireland: National Library of Ireland (NLI).

About Ireland, Selections of Catholic Parish Marriages and Banns, 1742-1884

This database contains an index extracted from marriage registers and banns from Roman Catholic parishes in Ireland.

Though the Church of Ireland, a Protestant denomination, was the established state church from 1536 to 1870, Ireland’s population remained overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. According to the 1861 census, almost 78 percent of the population was Catholic; by 1891, this had risen to 89 percent. This fact makes Catholic parish registers, when available, particularly valuable sources for Irish family history, both before and after civil registration began in 1864.

This collection includes selected records. Approximately 35% of the records are from County Meath and 15% are from County Roscommon.

Most records are from:

  • Athboy
  • Blackwater, Killala
  • Boyle
  • Delvin, Crowinstown, Kellalagh, Killeagh
  • Dunboyne, Kilbride, Rathregan, Ballymaglasson
  • Gallen, Reynagh
  • Kilcloon, Batterstown, Kilcock
  • Killeen, Kilmessan, Dunsany
  • Kingscourt, Enniskeen
  • Lisanuffy, Cloonfinlough, Kiltrustan, Strokestown
  • Navan
  • Nobber, Cruisetown
  • St Mary´s, Athlone

Roman Catholic marriage register entries typically include

  • marriage date
  • bride (including maiden name)
  • groom
  • witnesses
      • EnglishLatin
      andEt
      birth, bornnati, natus
      burial, buriedsepulti, sepultus
      christening, christenedbaptismi, baptizatus
      daughterFilia
      dayDie
      death, deceasedmortuus, defunctus
      fatherPater
      godparentspatrini
      given nameNomen
      husbandmaritus, sponsus, conjux
      marriagematrimonium, copulatio, copulati, conjuncti
      marriage bannsbanni, proclamationes, denuntiationes
      monthMense
      motherMater
      parentsParentes
      sonFilius
      surnameCognomen
      wifeuxor, marita, conjux, sponsa
      witnessesSponsores
      yearAno

      Source: Ouimette, David S. Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide (Provo, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2005), 69.

      To learn more about Catholic parish registers and other Irish records, see David S. Ouimette’s Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide (Provo, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2005).