Registry of Deeds (Land Leases, Marriage Settlements & Wills)
You can find out everything you need to know about these wonderful documents and where to access them via my Registry of Deeds pages.
How do you work forwards or backwards from a Memorial Deed?
The Memorial Deeds can potentially date from anywhere on the timeline as the Registry of Deeds dates from the first decade of the 18th century and historical deeds are accessible online right up until the early decades of the 20th century. The very earliest deeds may even reference earlier events and people from the end of the 17th century. However, whilst deeds were drawn up and registered at the Registry of Deeds in relation to specific events e.g. expanding a farm or business, settling lands on a bride or to recognise a specific bequest following probate of a will perhaps, remember that the date of the deed and the date of its registration could be separated by many years. So, take the date of the deed as your starting point and depending upon when that date is, consider following it up along the land records timeline in both directions by;
How do you work forwards or backwards from a Memorial Deed?
The Memorial Deeds can potentially date from anywhere on the timeline as the Registry of Deeds dates from the first decade of the 18th century and historical deeds are accessible online right up until the early decades of the 20th century. The very earliest deeds may even reference earlier events and people from the end of the 17th century. However, whilst deeds were drawn up and registered at the Registry of Deeds in relation to specific events e.g. expanding a farm or business, settling lands on a bride or to recognise a specific bequest following probate of a will perhaps, remember that the date of the deed and the date of its registration could be separated by many years. So, take the date of the deed as your starting point and depending upon when that date is, consider following it up along the land records timeline in both directions by;
- Finding older Memorial Deeds that might be referenced within this deed - it was very common for the same lands to be continually referenced by older agreements and these can take your family back several more generations when you discover the parties to the early deeds. Note the names of the parties to the deed and the townland referenced. Use the Townland Indexes to see if you can find the earlier deeds but remember that deeds could be registered some time after they were drawn up, so you may have to search the entire gap between your initial deed and the earlier referenced one ... if indeed it was registered as not all deeds referenced were also registered. You might get lucky by picking out the name of the first party to the earlier deed and finding them indexed in the Grantor Indexes but I have had less success with that route.
- For deeds dating close to the very end of the 18th century, check the 1798 Claimants and Surrenders to see if who was named was possibly affected with respect to those townlands.
- Find the same townlands in the Tithe Applotment Books to see who was listed as being liable for the Church of Ireland tithe in the 1820's and 1830's Were they opposed to paying the tithe - check the Tithe Defaulters database?
- Similarly find the same townlands to see who was listed as both tenants and immediate lessors in Griffith's Valuations - be careful to note when the survey was published for the county in question as remember the data could have been collected over several preceding years. Was it the father or the son named for him who was recorded for instance?
- For deeds drawn up after the publication of the county survey, you will need to look up the townlands in successive Valuation Revision books to see what happened to the land.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2025
