Heading to the GRO

googled eyes

So I'm going for my first visit to the GRO research room in a few days and I have a couple of questions. I know that there is a 20 euro fee.

Does this fee cover the 5 ( 8 if accompanied? ) certs that i can apply for?

Do the index books contain the exact same info as the results for a search on Ancestry and other sites?

For example, I have found two possible marriage records for my grandfathers parents. One entry is from Dublin and one from Carlow. We know my great grandfather was from Wicklow but are unsure about his wife.

Will I have to pay for both of these records? Or do the index books contain more information ?

Thanks in advance.

shanew

€20 is the daily charge for Index books - so you can check as many Birth Marriage or death references as you wish. The index books contain the same detail as the online index - i.e. FamilySearch, Ancestry & FMP.ie. so name, reg. district, volume & and page. Earlier books are by year, later ones by year & quarter. I think you should only really need to check the index books if searching for records after 1958, or for records that appear to be missing from the online index.

Once you find a possible match you can order up to 5 research certs on the spot. You may order more but these will be posted out to you.

If you have the references from the Index already you can use these to simply order the certs at €4 each.

Unless you have 'problem' or recent records, I dont see any advantage in searching at the research office - I just order from the Roscommon office

edited : sorry - one advantage - the birth index books include mothers maiden surname from about 1904 - vs 1927 for the online version

L1011

If accompanied and not searching the books, you can just approach the counter separately to get the 5x on the day certs (as you're separate people and not a group researching), which may be a better option if you've checked the online indexes already. You're going to end up buying a lot of incorrect certs over time so I'd not be that concerned about having to buy two for one possible marriage. I'm six certs in to finding a death at this stage!

googled eyes

Thanks !

dido2

theres also the advantage of the dates of births being in the indexes so it can help if you already know the dates of birth...

googled eyes

That could be handy if their ages or DOB are marked, I know the rough years of birth from death certs/graves. I should be able to find the correct record.

Although just going up with my indexes ready sounds so handy. But a 2 euro serch never hurt anybody.

Thanks

pinkypinky

googled eyes wrote: »

That could be handy if their ages or DOB are marked, I know the rough years of birth from death certs/graves. I should be able to find the correct record.

Thanks

Age at death is recorded in the index.

googled eyes

Thanks alot .

I ended up just popping in with some indexes. I was in and out in no time. But if the indexes do show ages at death and at marriage I will prob head in for a proper look soon.

pinkypinky

The Familysearch indexes also show the age at death but the marriage indexes do not show this information at all.

dido2

I should clarify that the dates of births are only on the Birth Indexes...

shanew

dido2 wrote: »

I should clarify that the dates of births are only on the Birth Indexes...

only on recent-ish births I presume - dont think I've ever seen that, just year/quarter registered

Never looked at anything that recent

dido2

I got them on births in the 1920's anyway in the GRO in Dublin I was searching from about 1910 to about 1929 and got a lot of possibles through dates of births and mothers maiden names...

I've a list of about 20 possibles in that time frame all with dates of births and mothers maiden names so if your researching that time frame it's well worth a visit..

shanew

my definition might be a bit skewed by all the research over the years - I'm thinking of anything 20th century as 'recent' !

dido2

It is funny how broad the term recent becomes in genealogy!!!!