The Registry of Deeds - Deciphering and Citing Deeds
The language of the deeds is going to be challenging to decipher, so I recommend that you tackle this task in small bursts of enthusiasm! Also, don't beat yourself up too much if you really don't understand what is being described. Although people were keen to have their legal rights to land registered, these documents were open to public scrutiny and therefore there is a lot of coy subterfuge in the language to avoid giving too much information away! For example, you will see the phrase "For the considerations therein mentioned" used a lot which probably covers a multitude of financial detail in the original deed.
Read on for my experiences and advice, gained from mostly studying deeds registered up to the 1860's. The format and language was fairly consistent over these years, but this may have changed with later deeds - let me know what you may have noticed changing.
Read on for my experiences and advice, gained from mostly studying deeds registered up to the 1860's. The format and language was fairly consistent over these years, but this may have changed with later deeds - let me know what you may have noticed changing.

How do you decipher and transcribe a deed?
The deeds were usually paraphrased and copied into the transcript books in one long uninterrupted stream of legalese, no punctuation and no gaps, so no room for misinterpretation or adding bits later. The copied deeds are also full of abbreviations that you will boggle at to begin with, but once you've got your eye in, so to speak, you'll start to fly through the text. There are also some standard phrases and, certainly in the ones I've looked at, a sort of "top" and "tail" to them as follows;
- They usually open with the phrase "To the Registrar appointed by Act of Parliament for registering Deeds Wills and so Forth"
- This is usually followed with an opening description of something like "A Memorial of an {article} bearing date ..." , the date being spelled out in words. Note, this is the date on which the original deed was drawn up. The actual date of registration may appear in the margin or more likely at the end of the deed, also spelled out in words. The interval between the 2 dates could be days but several years are not unusual, so check all dates very carefully.
- What do I mean by {article}? There will be a form of words that ought to describe the type of transaction that is being registered, but this is not always consistent or quite frankly understandable. Here are some types I've come across - probably best to consult Jacob's (see below);
- "Lease"
- "Lease and Release" - this is very common and its part of that subterfuge as it legally allowed very little to be recorded up to 1845.
- "Indented Deed"
- "Deed Poll" - statement made by only one party to the transaction I believe?
- "Mortgage"
- "Marriage Settlement"
- The parties to the deed are then listed in order i.e. "of the first part", "of the second part" etc. This is where you should be able to verify your relations by their addresses and/or occupations perhaps. Married women were often referred to by both their married and maiden names thus "Jane Jones otherwise Barker" (otherwise often being abbreviated to "other.", "owise" or even just "o/w".)
- Clerks loved their abbreviations too - here are a few that seem to crop up regularly in the deeds I've worked with (last letters often appear as superscripts);
- "afsd" = Aforesaid - name or place already spelled out higher in the document. Often cropped to just "said" or "sd" too.
- "ye" = the (often the e will be a small superscript above the y)
- "yt" = that (the t as a small superscript above the y)
- "wch" = which (the ch may appear as a superscript)
- "Coy." = County
- "decd." = Deceased
- "Esqr." = Esquire i.e. Gentleman. Not sure it there were rules for styling yourself thus e.g. must be a landowner or perhaps educated?
- "Exors." = Executors
- "Admors" = Administrators
- "Asgns" = Assigns
- "mentd." = mentioned
- "Survr." = Survivor
- There may be the odd stray bit of Latin too, so if you come across a phrase that you really just cannot make sense of, try lobbing it into a search engine to see if it might be Latin. For example, "cestuis que trestent" which translates as those who benefit from a trust.
- Thereafter, you will find details of the land parcels in various townlands referenced, perhaps by current tenant or maybe by reference to an earlier deed.
- You may get luckier and there will be acreages expressed in acres, roods & perches and possibly a description of the location of the land with reference to other landmarks. Often these land parcels were preserved in their entirety or new portions were described in relation to older descriptions of acreage. So, make sure you make a careful note of the acreage (e.g. 60a. 2r. 10p.) as this might be a crucial differentiating clue in later or earlier deeds. However, there is a bit of a complication to note - there were 2 different systems of measurement over time - just make sure you note carefully which one applied in your deed.
- Irish or Plantation measure - older form and you ought to see these words used to identify it.
- Statute measure - the more modern form and again you ought to see this word used to differentiate it from the former.
- If the land was the subject of an earlier deed, this is where it gets very interesting and can take you further back into earlier generations of your family. However, whilst a particularly detailed deed may contain lots of references to previous deeds to set you off on this hunt, remember not all deeds were registered so you may not find them all. Additionally, I don't think for one minute that the clerks dragged out the old books and checked all the cross references and probably wrote what they were told by the parties and so the previous deeds may be hidden from you in the Grantor indexes under a different name. This is why double checking via the Townland Indexes is always a good idea.
- You may get luckier and there will be acreages expressed in acres, roods & perches and possibly a description of the location of the land with reference to other landmarks. Often these land parcels were preserved in their entirety or new portions were described in relation to older descriptions of acreage. So, make sure you make a careful note of the acreage (e.g. 60a. 2r. 10p.) as this might be a crucial differentiating clue in later or earlier deeds. However, there is a bit of a complication to note - there were 2 different systems of measurement over time - just make sure you note carefully which one applied in your deed.
- The last couple of paragraphs are usually taken up with lots of swearing ... no, not profanities, but all the witnesses saying who they were and yes, they were there and saw with their own eyes everyone sign and seal the deed.
As the memorials are one long string of text, transcribing them can be a bit daunting to begin with. I've learned to look out for certain phrases that I think suggest a natural new paragraph to help break up the text e.g.;
- "All that and those" usually precedes any description of a parcel of land, of which there may be several described in any deed.
- "And reciting" usually precedes the description of a related deed that has a bearing on the current deed.
It can be very useful to design a simple template document to use every time you embark on a transcription. Mine has a set of headings on the first page to summarise all the key details (dates, people, townlands) followed by headings for images, transcript and finally a narrative interpretation.
I would also encourage you to build up your own customised index of family deeds as once they start multiplying you are quickly going to become mired in them! I use a spreadsheet, naturally, as you can sort the columns in different ways to reveal any patterns e.g. the same townland appearing over many years. I also use my spreadsheet to record 2 useful hyperlinks as invaluable shortcuts in ongoing research;
- FamilySearch image link to the first page of the deed on the relevant microfilm
- Document hyperlink to my transcript document on my computer
Who might you find in the deeds?
Deeds were usually drawn up between a number of different parties, mainly Grantor(s) bestowing the lands to Grantee(s). However, there were often many others who were named in supporting or descriptive roles e.g.
Deeds were usually drawn up between a number of different parties, mainly Grantor(s) bestowing the lands to Grantee(s). However, there were often many others who were named in supporting or descriptive roles e.g.
- Named individuals i.e. "Lives" on which the length of leases depended. These were often relations, especially younger sons or nephews who might be described as such, or bizarrely to our modern eyes perhaps but prudently loyal for the times, they may have been prominent members of the British Royal family. Whoever they were, they were chosen for their hoped-for longevity as costs were incurred when a lease had to be redrawn on the death of a named life.
- Tenants of the lands that were the subject of the deed or local residents who enjoyed certain rights in relation to the lands e.g. the right of passage to reach their own fields or the right to draw water from a shared source.
- Past Grantors and Grantees named in older deeds or wills that may cover the lands mentioned in the current deed - this can be a particularly good way of identifying previous generations of a family when land has been passed down through generations as leases were renewed.
- Other Parties who were included to safeguard the interests of one of the grantees e.g. brothers of a married woman named in marriage settlements as trustees who were expected to ensure her rights to promised income if she were widowed.
- Witnesses of which there were usually two groups. Witnesses to the original deed which is likely to have been drawn up locally, and witnesses to the memorial when it was registered in Dublin. They may have been members of the extended family (look out for the family names who may have married into your family line in previous generations, making witnesses cousins who may have reciprocated the favour for each other across a number of deeds.) Equally, they may have been other local landowners in the area or as has been suggested at one presentation I went to, they might have been respectable and crucially, literate members of the local community e.g. clergy, schoolteachers or law clerks. Witnesses in Dublin were often law clerks associated with the Registry but usually at least one of the witnesses to the original deed also witnessed the memorial and may have been responsible for physically transporting it to Dublin. Whomever they were, they had to have a pulse in order to witness the deed on the date stated, so this can be a good way to narrow down death dates for them!
- Members of the legal profession such as the Registrar or his Deputy and the solicitors who drew up the deed were also likely to be named.

Confused by legal terms?
I must confess I'm no expert on 18th century law ... but I know a man who was! Jacob's Law Dictionary published in 1739 was the seminal work of one Giles Jacob and therein you will find just about any archaic term you come across explained ... in equally archaic terms!
OK, it's never going to be a bit of light reading but actually it's not too difficult to get a sense of the logic of the legal language which may help you to understand a bit more of what was being communicated in the deeds you find.
Expect quite a bit in Latin too, or at least be based upon Latin words. For example, you will see lots of mentions of "Indentured Deeds", which is a term based upon the Latin root for "tooth or teeth". Apparently copies of the deed where torn along irregular lines leaving indents and each side of the deal held one half each, so that if they needed to prove they were the genuine parties to the deed at some later date, then they would be able to match up their unique pieces along the imperfectly torn edges - quite clever really!
The University of Nottingham also has a Glossary of common English legal terms, several of which I recognise from Irish deeds, so have a quick look on their list first before you take the plunge into Jacob's Law Dictionary. They also have a couple of online learning modules that might help explain by example the various different types of land transactions you might come across - see Deeds and Deeds in Depth.
Another recent find that contains some clear short explanations of various legal terms is Byrne's Dictionary of Irish Local History - see my Histories Bookshelf for more information.
Tailte Eireann (Registration) have also published a short free guide to the language of the deeds entitled "Introduction to the Memorials and Transcription Books at the Registry of Deeds" by Dr. Patrick Walsh, who is one of the speakers on one of the online talks I recommend at the bottom of my Registry of Deeds - History and Future page. Having viewed the talk and read this guide, the latter is, in my opinion, a fairly academic write-up of the language clues they uncovered in the course of their project. Useful, but perhaps not the first thing I would recommend you read if you are new to Irish deeds (see my last mentioned page link for more recommendations.)
I must confess I'm no expert on 18th century law ... but I know a man who was! Jacob's Law Dictionary published in 1739 was the seminal work of one Giles Jacob and therein you will find just about any archaic term you come across explained ... in equally archaic terms!
OK, it's never going to be a bit of light reading but actually it's not too difficult to get a sense of the logic of the legal language which may help you to understand a bit more of what was being communicated in the deeds you find.
Expect quite a bit in Latin too, or at least be based upon Latin words. For example, you will see lots of mentions of "Indentured Deeds", which is a term based upon the Latin root for "tooth or teeth". Apparently copies of the deed where torn along irregular lines leaving indents and each side of the deal held one half each, so that if they needed to prove they were the genuine parties to the deed at some later date, then they would be able to match up their unique pieces along the imperfectly torn edges - quite clever really!
The University of Nottingham also has a Glossary of common English legal terms, several of which I recognise from Irish deeds, so have a quick look on their list first before you take the plunge into Jacob's Law Dictionary. They also have a couple of online learning modules that might help explain by example the various different types of land transactions you might come across - see Deeds and Deeds in Depth.
Another recent find that contains some clear short explanations of various legal terms is Byrne's Dictionary of Irish Local History - see my Histories Bookshelf for more information.
Tailte Eireann (Registration) have also published a short free guide to the language of the deeds entitled "Introduction to the Memorials and Transcription Books at the Registry of Deeds" by Dr. Patrick Walsh, who is one of the speakers on one of the online talks I recommend at the bottom of my Registry of Deeds - History and Future page. Having viewed the talk and read this guide, the latter is, in my opinion, a fairly academic write-up of the language clues they uncovered in the course of their project. Useful, but perhaps not the first thing I would recommend you read if you are new to Irish deeds (see my last mentioned page link for more recommendations.)

How best to construct a citation for a deed?
Yes, I know, citation style is a thorny issue / can of worms and there are whole books and rants on blogs devoted to the subject, but these deeds do need to be referenced carefully. Of course you should download images of the deeds when you find them but you will also want to be able to reliably find them again online or perhaps tell someone else exactly where they can find them - the only true test of a good citation in my opinion.
These deeds are actually a good example of what Diana Elder calls a layered source (see my blog article for a link to her Rootstech talk.) The original source are the entries in the day books or even a purchased copy of the memorial deed from the Registry of Deeds in Dublin with the named parties and reference numbers as described above. However, if you have actually accessed the digitised image online via the LDS, then the second "layer" is their unindexed online image file. So, here is what I do, copy if you like;
I use Family Tree Maker (FTM) software so I set up a source that looks like this;
I then construct a source citation with the following format (fictitious example);
RD: 1859 RD for Registered Deed, Year of Registration
JONES to BROWN & COOKE Grantor was Jones, Grantees were Brown and Cooke
Dated: 9 JUL 1859 Date of deed as found in document
Registered: 5 SEP 1859 Date deed was registered
Bk:26, Pg:123, Deed:269 Book number, page number and deed number
LDS FHL Film No: 561233 LDS Family History Library Film number
Image No: 266 Image number in online file
If you adopt this style, then FTM should construct a reasonably comprehensive source citation in generated reports and you will always be able to reliably return to the image you found online. For good measure, I include the URL of the 1st page of the deed in the web address box on the FTM citation screen.
Incidentally, I've come up with my own nomenclature for source titles when using Family Tree maker as I find it hugely frustrating that you cannot classify them by geography and type. All my Irish sources start with IRL: so that they sort together in the Source List. The next component is my code for the type of record - in this case LTV: stands for Lands, Tenancies and Valuations. Again, by having this as the second component, the list sorts by geography and record type - simples!
Yes, I know, citation style is a thorny issue / can of worms and there are whole books and rants on blogs devoted to the subject, but these deeds do need to be referenced carefully. Of course you should download images of the deeds when you find them but you will also want to be able to reliably find them again online or perhaps tell someone else exactly where they can find them - the only true test of a good citation in my opinion.
These deeds are actually a good example of what Diana Elder calls a layered source (see my blog article for a link to her Rootstech talk.) The original source are the entries in the day books or even a purchased copy of the memorial deed from the Registry of Deeds in Dublin with the named parties and reference numbers as described above. However, if you have actually accessed the digitised image online via the LDS, then the second "layer" is their unindexed online image file. So, here is what I do, copy if you like;
I use Family Tree Maker (FTM) software so I set up a source that looks like this;
I then construct a source citation with the following format (fictitious example);
RD: 1859 RD for Registered Deed, Year of Registration
JONES to BROWN & COOKE Grantor was Jones, Grantees were Brown and Cooke
Dated: 9 JUL 1859 Date of deed as found in document
Registered: 5 SEP 1859 Date deed was registered
Bk:26, Pg:123, Deed:269 Book number, page number and deed number
LDS FHL Film No: 561233 LDS Family History Library Film number
Image No: 266 Image number in online file
If you adopt this style, then FTM should construct a reasonably comprehensive source citation in generated reports and you will always be able to reliably return to the image you found online. For good measure, I include the URL of the 1st page of the deed in the web address box on the FTM citation screen.
Incidentally, I've come up with my own nomenclature for source titles when using Family Tree maker as I find it hugely frustrating that you cannot classify them by geography and type. All my Irish sources start with IRL: so that they sort together in the Source List. The next component is my code for the type of record - in this case LTV: stands for Lands, Tenancies and Valuations. Again, by having this as the second component, the list sorts by geography and record type - simples!
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2021