The Registry of Deeds - Finding Deeds
For deeds registered prior to 1930, the following advice applies whether you are using the finding aids in situ at the Registry in Dublin or whether you are consulting them online via FamilySearch - Transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929. It's worth taking your time over learning how to do this as it's a little tricky to start off with and you don't want to miss anything. If you want to see the process in action, then John Grenham's Registry of Deeds YouTube video essentially goes through the same steps.
Once you have found the deed you are interested in, go to Registry of Deeds - Deciphering and Citing Deeds for more practical advice.
For deeds registered from 1930 right up until 2018, you will have to visit the Registry of Deeds in Dublin and view them on microfilm. This is not something I have done personally yet, so I can't offer any advice.
Once you have found the deed you are interested in, go to Registry of Deeds - Deciphering and Citing Deeds for more practical advice.
For deeds registered from 1930 right up until 2018, you will have to visit the Registry of Deeds in Dublin and view them on microfilm. This is not something I have done personally yet, so I can't offer any advice.
Transcript Books in the Search Room
What finding aids exist to help you find a deed?
Apparently there are approximately 5 million historical deeds in the Registry, so you are going to need a bit of help locating any that might be important to your research. There are 3 main finding aids to help you do this;
All of them should help you to obtain the all important reference information that you will need to be able to look up the deed in one of the Transcript Books.
The Grantor and Townland Indexes were maintained from the inception of the Registry as this was the main way in which legal clerks and other interested parties of the day would hope to be able to locate any deed they were interested in. Both of these aids were theoretically cross referencing the same physical deeds and I have gone into some detail on each of them below. But firstly, a brief word about the 3rd finding aid.
Abstract Books
As the volume of deeds grew and perhaps the same people and same townlands were prone to cropping up in complex ongoing transactions, then I'm sure it became more difficult to track down the right historical deed easily. Therefore, it is my understanding that in 1833, the Abstracts Books, were created.
They apparently contain an index entry for each deed registered in the given year with much more abridged information than either of the other 2 finding aids. I'm afraid the link in blue above will just take you to a PDF document that lists years and volume numbers and where to find them onsite, but that is all there is on the Registry of Deeds website about them - no descriptions or pictures. Bizarrely, I also cannot find very much documented about them anywhere else, even in my favourite Irish research reference books? If you know any more about them, be sure to get in touch.
Sadly, there are also no digital images of these books as it would appear they were not included when the LDS teams microfilmed all the other books many decades ago. I emailed the Heritage team to see if there were any plans to digitise them but I got no response (NOV 2021.) I really hope they do make them a key component of their digitisation strategy, but no news as yet.
Apparently there are approximately 5 million historical deeds in the Registry, so you are going to need a bit of help locating any that might be important to your research. There are 3 main finding aids to help you do this;
- The Grantor Indexes
- The Townland Indexes
- The Abstract Books
All of them should help you to obtain the all important reference information that you will need to be able to look up the deed in one of the Transcript Books.
The Grantor and Townland Indexes were maintained from the inception of the Registry as this was the main way in which legal clerks and other interested parties of the day would hope to be able to locate any deed they were interested in. Both of these aids were theoretically cross referencing the same physical deeds and I have gone into some detail on each of them below. But firstly, a brief word about the 3rd finding aid.
Abstract Books
As the volume of deeds grew and perhaps the same people and same townlands were prone to cropping up in complex ongoing transactions, then I'm sure it became more difficult to track down the right historical deed easily. Therefore, it is my understanding that in 1833, the Abstracts Books, were created.
They apparently contain an index entry for each deed registered in the given year with much more abridged information than either of the other 2 finding aids. I'm afraid the link in blue above will just take you to a PDF document that lists years and volume numbers and where to find them onsite, but that is all there is on the Registry of Deeds website about them - no descriptions or pictures. Bizarrely, I also cannot find very much documented about them anywhere else, even in my favourite Irish research reference books? If you know any more about them, be sure to get in touch.
Sadly, there are also no digital images of these books as it would appear they were not included when the LDS teams microfilmed all the other books many decades ago. I emailed the Heritage team to see if there were any plans to digitise them but I got no response (NOV 2021.) I really hope they do make them a key component of their digitisation strategy, but no news as yet.
How do you find a deed reference in the indexes?
You will need 4 pieces of information in order to find a copy of any deed, namely;
Genealogists, past and present, often write the last 3 components like this, 542-313-358870. If you see this type of number in any notes then be on the look out for a registered deed. For example, you will see a lot of these notes in the Crossle Genealogical Abstracts on FindMyPast which you can read all about under the entry of Crossle on Chefs - Irish Genies. Here is an example of what I mean, resplendent in Crossle's challenging handwriting!
You will need 4 pieces of information in order to find a copy of any deed, namely;
- The Year the deed was registered i.e. the year indicated by the index within which you find the reference,
- The Number of the Book into which the transcript was copied (generally prefaced with the words "Bk" or "Lib"),
- The Page Number of the book (not always given though),
- The Memorial or Deed number, generally a 5 or 6 digit number.
Genealogists, past and present, often write the last 3 components like this, 542-313-358870. If you see this type of number in any notes then be on the look out for a registered deed. For example, you will see a lot of these notes in the Crossle Genealogical Abstracts on FindMyPast which you can read all about under the entry of Crossle on Chefs - Irish Genies. Here is an example of what I mean, resplendent in Crossle's challenging handwriting!
The Grantor or Name indexes
These were arranged by year(s) and then alphabetically by the surname of the first Grantor named i.e. the person(s) granting the lease. So, if your ancestor was a landholder/landlord or worked as an agent, then searching the Grantor indexes alphabetically might prove fruitful. There was also a lot of sub-letting of leases and in a time before cheques, they were often used to pay debts too, so well worth exploring.
These were arranged by year(s) and then alphabetically by the surname of the first Grantor named i.e. the person(s) granting the lease. So, if your ancestor was a landholder/landlord or worked as an agent, then searching the Grantor indexes alphabetically might prove fruitful. There was also a lot of sub-letting of leases and in a time before cheques, they were often used to pay debts too, so well worth exploring.
The indexing style changed slightly over years, which is something to bear in mind when you are searching. For example, the earliest grantor indexes often took one or more letters and indexed deeds for grantors whose surnames started with those letters over a period of registration years.
For these indexes, you should note how many years are covered and be sure to find the very start of the alphabetic section for your surname of interest. Then page forward carefully in the images as the names are arranged alphabetically by year. When each year ends, you should see something like this, before the next year for that surname letter begins. Be sure to search forward through all the years covered on any one film like this or you risk missing out on entries.
Later multi year indexes did away with this convention and instead noted the year of registry as part of the index entry, like in the larger example above. However, rather more unhelpfully, with even later indexes they did away with page numbers in the index entry, as illustrated below. So you may find yourself doing quite a bit of paging forwards and backwards to find the right deed by sequential number in the memorial books.
For these indexes, you should note how many years are covered and be sure to find the very start of the alphabetic section for your surname of interest. Then page forward carefully in the images as the names are arranged alphabetically by year. When each year ends, you should see something like this, before the next year for that surname letter begins. Be sure to search forward through all the years covered on any one film like this or you risk missing out on entries.
Later multi year indexes did away with this convention and instead noted the year of registry as part of the index entry, like in the larger example above. However, rather more unhelpfully, with even later indexes they did away with page numbers in the index entry, as illustrated below. So you may find yourself doing quite a bit of paging forwards and backwards to find the right deed by sequential number in the memorial books.
What can you expect to find noted on the pages?
Unfortunately there is no index to the Grantees, who are probably the people whom we are all most interested in. The Grantors I've come across for my family were not surprisingly big landowners, landed gentry or their middlemen who might be listed hundreds of times over and over again as they made money from their estates through granting new leases. So, if you are hunting for leases or marriage articles taken out by your named ancestors, you are going to have to pick a relevant year and page through it all, scanning the Grantee column for their surname. Time consuming I know, but quite frankly, this is what you would be doing in the lovely big room at the top of the Registry of Deeds in Dublin too. Hopefully, the inclusion of the county after 1833 will make searching a bit easier.
- The surname of the Grantor.
- The surname of the first Grantee i.e. the person taking out the lease, is usually in the next column of each entry.
- You may also see a cryptic but regularly occurring phrase after any name in either of these columns that looks like "& Ors" which means "and others" - a good clue as to there being other named individuals in the deed.
- In some index books you may see all the names listed out which is a bonus - in the example above from the first decade of the 19th century, you can see the same deed reference repeated on the right hand side e.g. 542-313-358870. So, John and Dorothea Revell were the grantors to a deed granted to someone named Braddell and others. In fact, this was Dorothea's marriage settlement, so look out for both the bride's and the groom's surname in either of these name columns if you are also hunting for a marriage settlement. Incidentally, you might see "Marr. Arts." noted somewhere in the index too, which is short for "Marriage Articles".
- You may also see "do" which is short for "ditto" so refer to the preceding entries. This is often used when there are many deeds granted by large landholders, often members of the gentry indexed by their title e.g. Marquis of Drogheda.
- The entry should then be followed by a book number, a page number and lastly the all important memorial number, all of which should help you locate the correct day book within which you will find the copy of the deed.
- And that's it, until 1833 when the county was added to the index, although I'm not entirely sure what this indicates if multiple lands in different counties are referenced? Perhaps as the printed ledger picture above indicates, only the first townland (denomination) mentioned was indexed? Pity they couldn't have filled in these pre-printed books completely from the start!
Unfortunately there is no index to the Grantees, who are probably the people whom we are all most interested in. The Grantors I've come across for my family were not surprisingly big landowners, landed gentry or their middlemen who might be listed hundreds of times over and over again as they made money from their estates through granting new leases. So, if you are hunting for leases or marriage articles taken out by your named ancestors, you are going to have to pick a relevant year and page through it all, scanning the Grantee column for their surname. Time consuming I know, but quite frankly, this is what you would be doing in the lovely big room at the top of the Registry of Deeds in Dublin too. Hopefully, the inclusion of the county after 1833 will make searching a bit easier.
The Townland or Place Name indexes
These indexes record the same deeds referenced in the Grantor indexes but sorted with reference to specific townlands. "A Guide to Using the Lands Index at the Registry of Deeds" has some good advice and a short video, but here are my tips too. Brace yourself, you're going to find using this resource challenging!
These indexes record the same deeds referenced in the Grantor indexes but sorted with reference to specific townlands. "A Guide to Using the Lands Index at the Registry of Deeds" has some good advice and a short video, but here are my tips too. Brace yourself, you're going to find using this resource challenging!
- These indexes were also arranged by year, usually in decades for each county. There is a PDF document, Lands Index List, 1708-1949, that lists the counties and the Townland Index book numbers that cover a specific range of years.
- Later books may be sub-divided by Barony, which you can see by scrolling down the same PDF document.
- To find out which barony a townland is in, start with this simple website, Irish Townlands, which has about half the townlands in Ireland mapped so far or try the IreAtlas Townland Database which I think has them all - whatever you prefer to search on.
- There were also deeds registered without reference to a barony and these appear in the "No Barony" books - again scroll down the document to see them listed for reference.
- All the townlands were listed more or less alphabetically, but do watch out for multiple spellings! One curiosity I have noted while searching is there were no separate pages for townlands beginning with "J" e.g. Johnstown. Instead, I've found them mixed in with the townlands beginning with "I".
- Within the Townland Indexes, I also advise you to scan through the entire list for each letter for your chosen townland as later transactions for the same townland may be added to the end of the lists. This was especially true of townlands on which a large number of deeds had been generated as the clerks tried to squeeze ever more information in one long continuous line into the space they had originally allocated before admitting defeat and starting a new entry at the end of the alphabetical list. This can make some entries very hard to read, especially the all-important numbers that you need to locate the deed.
- You will also sometimes find groups of townlands bracketed together, breaking the alphabetical sequence somewhat, so you are going to have to check these entries too.
- Each entry consists of a standard phrase which you ought to be able to decipher something like this, "Brass to Hopkins, Bk:20 Pg:183 No:93561". This decodes to Grantor Brass to Grantee Hopkins, deed number 93561 to be found in book 120 for the given year on page 183. You might find "Lib" instead of "Bk" as in the image above, which is relatively legible. However, the image below shows you the sort of horrors that can lurk at the bottom of the page where the filming may not have been well lit and the original volume had been well thumbed by grubby (licked!) fingers over the years, resulting in lower corners especially becoming worn away.
- If you are struggling to make out the reference numbers in particular but can decipher the grantor's name, then I recommend you locate the relevant Grantor Index for the same registration year and see if the entry in there is clearer.
How do you find a copy of the deed?
Locate the correct digital microfilm
Once you have the reference information, you will need to find the correct LDS film via the FamilySearch catalogue entry. Scroll down through the long list until you come to a series of entries that begin with the words "Deeds, etc., ..." followed by a volume number and a range of years. Here's what to look out for with the numbering system;
Once you open the correct transcripts book by clicking on the camera icon to the far right of the entry, you will need to work your way through the thumbnail screenshots, noting the page numbers. These are usually on the top outside corners of the images which cover 2 original pages. You can use the arrows at the top of the screen either side of the image number to page back and forth or enter another higher or lower image number to move more quickly. Remember, this number is for images and does not correspond exactly with page numbers in the books because there are always extra images for title and end pages etc. Also pay attention to any handwritten notices that might appear at the beginning of the film - I have seen some indicating that page numbers are not in order for example, which might mean you will need to hunt through the images very patiently.
Another good tip when you have found the deed you are looking for is to spend a bit of time studying the preceding and following deeds. You might just find an additional deed or two for your party of interest that you did not know about as you may have just been following up one reference. As deeds had to be registered in person at the offices in Dublin, it makes sense that perhaps several deeds, which may actually date from years before, would have been registered on any one trip to the capital.
What to do if you cannot find your deed on the page indicated or there are no page numbers
Clerks made mistakes when transcribing into the indexes so page numbers can be unreliable. If the deed you seek is not on the page indicated, hunt back and forwards a few pages. There may not be any page numbers and this middle number of the reference may refer to the order in which the deeds were entered into the volume. If this is the case then you should see something like this at the beginning of the memorial (I've ringed the number you are looking for, just above the memorial number which you will have as well.)
Deed numbers were not always entered in sequence in the transcript books either, so if you can't find your deed easily, there is no substitute for a good read through I'm afraid... It's also possible that the clerk made a mistake with the book number in the indexes, so this is where you will need to look at the year ranges for each volume. Note which other books cover the same year you know that your deed was registered in and try hunting them with the same page number and memorial number.
Locate the correct digital microfilm
Once you have the reference information, you will need to find the correct LDS film via the FamilySearch catalogue entry. Scroll down through the long list until you come to a series of entries that begin with the words "Deeds, etc., ..." followed by a volume number and a range of years. Here's what to look out for with the numbering system;
- Deeds registered between 1708 and 1832 were copied into volumes numbered 1 to 890, with each volume containing deeds registered in the year(s) indicated.
- As the number of deeds being registered increased, it would appear that several volumes were in use during many years as indicated by duplicate and overlapping year ranges. I suppose this makes sense as there were probably several clerks employed at any one time, all copying in the entries at the same time, so they probably had their own volumes to work on. You could probably test this theory some more by studying the handwriting in more detail.
- From 1833-4 onwards, the numbering restarts with each single year generating a span of volumes usually numbered from 1 up to the mid 20's. This is why it is important to note which year the deed was registered in as after 1833 there are now multiple volumes with the same number!
Once you open the correct transcripts book by clicking on the camera icon to the far right of the entry, you will need to work your way through the thumbnail screenshots, noting the page numbers. These are usually on the top outside corners of the images which cover 2 original pages. You can use the arrows at the top of the screen either side of the image number to page back and forth or enter another higher or lower image number to move more quickly. Remember, this number is for images and does not correspond exactly with page numbers in the books because there are always extra images for title and end pages etc. Also pay attention to any handwritten notices that might appear at the beginning of the film - I have seen some indicating that page numbers are not in order for example, which might mean you will need to hunt through the images very patiently.
Another good tip when you have found the deed you are looking for is to spend a bit of time studying the preceding and following deeds. You might just find an additional deed or two for your party of interest that you did not know about as you may have just been following up one reference. As deeds had to be registered in person at the offices in Dublin, it makes sense that perhaps several deeds, which may actually date from years before, would have been registered on any one trip to the capital.
What to do if you cannot find your deed on the page indicated or there are no page numbers
Clerks made mistakes when transcribing into the indexes so page numbers can be unreliable. If the deed you seek is not on the page indicated, hunt back and forwards a few pages. There may not be any page numbers and this middle number of the reference may refer to the order in which the deeds were entered into the volume. If this is the case then you should see something like this at the beginning of the memorial (I've ringed the number you are looking for, just above the memorial number which you will have as well.)
Deed numbers were not always entered in sequence in the transcript books either, so if you can't find your deed easily, there is no substitute for a good read through I'm afraid... It's also possible that the clerk made a mistake with the book number in the indexes, so this is where you will need to look at the year ranges for each volume. Note which other books cover the same year you know that your deed was registered in and try hunting them with the same page number and memorial number.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2024
