Before the start of Civil registration in 1864,
some Roman Catholic registers do not start until the 1820s and most are usually later than that. There are exceptions, Galway and Waterford have records dating back to 1680's in some parishes.
State registration for non- Catholic marriages began in Ireland in 1845. The registers are mainly for baptisms and marriages. Catholic baptismal records usually include the date of baptism, the child's name, the father's name in full, the mother's maiden name, the name of any godparents and the residence of the parents. Some death or funeral entries do occur but these normally only record the name of the deceased and the date of death. Some of the entries in the registers are written in Latin and it is recommended that a glossary of Latin terms is used to help translate these if necessary.