Tracing Historic Ownership of Land

Bernie75

Hi all,

I was hoping that someone could point me in the right direction.

There is a piece of land that I am trying to trace the owners for. I have contacted Registry of Deeds, Land Registry and the Valuations office and there is no record of ownership (there are records for the plots of land either side being passed on in wills, but this piece is never mentioned). I was told by Registry of Deeds that they are confident that they have no record of this land. The council have also confirmed that it isn't their land.

Is there someone who traces these things as a job? I tried speaking to two different solicitors but they didn't seem very interested, I'm guessing it could be the volume or type of work that would be involved.

Thanks for any help.

Mr. Incognito

Register possessory title over it

If no one claims it in 13 years its yours

If theres no owner on record its the states.

Bernie75

@Mr. Incognito

Thanks for your quick reply. If possessory title is similar to adverse posession we can't / don't want to go down that route as other people have access to the land. We don't want to prevent their access, but would have to do so in order to be granted adverse posession. Which is why we are looking to trace the owners instead.

nuac

Is this land in an older part of a town or in a former rural area?

Bernie75

@nuac

It is in an older part of a town. Plots either side were passed on sold at different times but the plot in question was never mentioned in any will.

Are there people who investigate/trace land ownership?

Reply from Nuac

Yes. Some solicitors do that work. It would be best to consult a solicitor practising near the land involved

If the plot is in an older part of town it is unlikely that it went through the Land Purchase Acts, hence no Land Reg folio.

Possible lines of enquiry

1. Check if the plot is or was ever part of a local estate ( in the old sense of the word )
Some local solicitor may still be acting for such an estate, or the estate records may have gone to the records branch of the Land Commission. Some of the estate land outside the town may have gone thru' the Land Purchase Acts. That may give you a lead to whoever acted for the estate/

2. Examine the Registry of Deeds memorials relating to transactions of adjoining lands. The descriptions often referred to the adjoining property ==========bounded on the east by lands held by

---

etc.

3. The original Valuation Office maps were carefully drawn. A careful examination of the maps in that area may help. There may be notes attached to the survey for that area.

4. Check for Landed Estates documents in the area ( Nama of that day)- eg if a landowner went bankrupt.

Enjoy

Bernie75

Thanks again @nuac

I understand that the plot was part of an old estate (it lies inbetween other plots that were owned by the same family). I have traced their ownership of these other plots up to roughly the 1960's but then the trail goes cold.

At the registry of deeds, I checked all of the records, with the help of a staff member, and there was no mention of the land, even as "adjoining" or "bounded by". The staff member was happy that we had exhausted their records.

I visited the valuations office and couldn't find any record.

Landed Estates could be worth checking.

Reebrock

I would just seek legal advise from a law firm at this point.

Bernie75

@Reebrock

I tried two seperate solicitors and neither were enthusiastic about helping. Is there a specific type/specialism of solicitor I should be looking for?

Stephen Gawking

OP, have you considered using a private investigator? A colleague of mine had cause to hire a firm in relation to a 'dispute' over land & property & it worked out well. Might be worth looking into.

Bernie75

@Stephen Gawking

No, I hadn't thought about that route, it might be worth considering. Thanks for the suggestion.