REGIONAL & NORTH/SOUTH PROPOSAL
on the
RECORDS OF THE GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE, DUBLIN.The Genealogical Society of Ireland, a national organisation and a Registered Charity in Ireland promoting the study of Irish family history in Ireland and amongst the Irish Diaspora, has proposed a wide reaching and equitable solution to the overcrowding and unsatisfactory situation at the General Register Office in Dublin.
The General Register Office is used by thousands of people, many from overseas, each year to search for Birth, Marriage or Death Records of ancestors. An increasing number of overseas visitors and an upsurge in the numbers of Irish people tracing their roots in the General Register Office has overwhelmed the meagre resources of the GRO in Dublin’s Lombard Street East.
To alleviate this worsening situation in advance of, hopefully, another bumper year for overseas tourist numbers, the Genealogical Society of Ireland proposes to Government to make microfilm copies of all Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths, over 70 years of age, available in the National Library, the National Archives and Regional Centres throughout the country. Any suggestion of introducing a 100 year cut off is merely tinkering at the edges of the problem and indeed, creating a greater problem for the General Register Office in just a few short years to come.
This Regional & North/South solution, if adopted, will ease the pressure on the Dublin Office and provide new services to the general public in other locations in Ireland. The tourism revenue associated with the demand to use the General Register Office in Dublin will, therefore, find its way to the regions.
Overseas visitors searching from their roots in the GRO could, if the Genealogical Society’s proposal is adopted by Minister for Health & Children, Mícheál Martin, T.D., undertake their research in Cork, Waterford, Limerick Galway, Sligo, Dundalk, for example, and avail of B+Bs, Hotels, Guest Houses, Restaurants and pubs in those areas rather than just in Dublin City. More tourism revenue to the regions.
Indeed, with the new North/South Heritage Body in place, this service could be extended to the North West, Derry City and the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast. For Irish people this Regional & North/South Proposal means easier access to the records of the General Register Office on an equitable basis with those in reach of the GRO in Dublin City.
The Genealogical Society of Ireland welcomes all support for this Regional & North/South Proposal on the Records of the General Register Office, Dublin.
Michael Merrigan
Hon. Secretary,
Genealogical Society of Ireland
REGIONAL & NORTH/SOUTH PROPOSAL
ON THE
RECORDS OF THE GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE, DUBLIN.1. OVERVIEW
1.i The General Register Office (GRO) in Dublin was established under the Civil Registration (Ireland) Acts, 1844 and 1863 with the function to register births, marriages and deaths throughout Ireland and to provide certification of such. It also provided a public search facility in Dublin.
1.ii Currently, much debate ensues as to the best solution to the overcrowded situation in the Public Search Room at the GRO in Dublin’s Lombard Street East. The increasing demand for the services of the Public Search Room has resulted in serious delays and consequent dissatisfaction with the GRO.
1.iii In 1997 the then Dún Laoghaire Genealogical Society proposed that microfilm copies of the records of the GRO should be placed in the National Library, National Archives and such regional repositories as may facilitate free public access to such microfilm records. In order to facilitate an orderly transfer of microfilm copies to these repositories a seventy year cut off date was proposed.
1.iv This 1997 proposal would, in effect, leave the GRO with its core functions of registration, certification and custodian of the original records and transfer, in an orderly fashion, its archival functions to the National Library, National Archives and regional repositories.
1.v This proposal was brought to the attention of the Deputy Registrar General and the Minister for Health, Mr. Brian Cowen, T.D. and, contrary to some reports, this proposal has NOT been rejected by either the Deputy Registrar General or the Minister.
1.vi This Regional & North South Proposal (RNS Proposal) is based on the "Principle of Public Ownership & Right of Access" to our genealogical heritage and, therefore, this Proposal is not "Dublin Centred" but embraces the principle of equity of access to the GRO records for all our citizens.
1.vii This RNS Proposal envisages the formulation of a North South Policy and Strategy for Genealogy including the GRO Records in Dublin and the Records of the Registrar General in Northern Ireland.
1.viii This Proposal fully accepts and understands the difficulties arising from the increased demand for the services of GRO experienced by the Deputy Registrar General and his staff and therefore, this Proposal records its appreciation of their positions and that of the Staff Associations involved.
2. CURRENT ACCESS TO GRO RECORDS
2.i Presently access to the records (Indexes & Registration detail) of Births, Marriages and Deaths for all Ireland up to 1922 is only available through the General Register Office in Dublin. However, the Family History Centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have the Indexes to circa 1950 and some early Registration details on microfilm available in Ireland and overseas.
2.ii Access to these records in the GRO in Dublin is currently a frustrating exercise for the general public, many of whom, are visitors to our shores in search of the "roots". The system employed involves searching indexes on payment of a fee and obtaining photocopies of entries on the payment of another fee. Current fees are Ir£1.50 for a search of any five consecutive year period of either Births, Marriages or Deaths; Ir£12.00 for a daily search of all and Ir£1.50 per photocopy ordered.
2.iii Access to the microfilm copies held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is free of charge to the general public.
2.iv While access to the Indexes in the GRO may involve long delays, more serious delays and restrictions apply to the receipt of photocopies of entries. These delays, in many cases, result in photocopies being forwarded by mail - a position wholly unacceptable to our visitors who may require the information for further research in Ireland.
2.v In accepting the "Principle of Public Ownership and Right of Access" to our genealogical heritage, including the GRO Records, the current position at the GRO due to space, procedures and staff shortages does constitute a serious infringement of this Principle.
3. PROPOSED INCREASED ACCESS TO GRO RECORDS
3.i The 1997 DLGS Proposal forms the basis of this RNS Proposal to increase the accessibility of the these records to the general public throughout the island of Ireland in a spirit of "equity of right and access" to our genealogical heritage.
3.ii To enable the Registrar General in Dublin to concentrate on his/her core functions of registration, certification and custodian of the original records, microfilm copies of the all Registers over seventy years of age of Births, Marriages and Deaths be made available to the Directors of the National Library and the National Archives for consultation by the general public in those institutions.
3.iii To further ease the pressure on the facilities at the GRO in Dublin, that microfilm copies of all Indexes to the Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths, over twenty years of age, be made available to the Directors of the National Library and the National Archives for consultation by the general public in those institutions.
3.iv The introduction of a seventy year cut off for the transfer of microfilm records of the GRO Register provides for a progressive transfer of such records much as happens to other records under the National Archives Act, 1986. The suggestion of, for instance, a 100 year cut off is unrealistic and has the potential to stagnate the problems associated with access to GRO Records leaving the vast bulk of the archival functions with the Registrar General.
3.v In order to provide for the equity of access to the records in 3.ii and 3.iii for the general public outside the city of Dublin, consideration must be afforded to the provision of these microfilm copies of the GRO Records in Regional Archives or Central County Libraries in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford on a similar free access basis.
3.vi Further consideration should be afforded to extending access to these GRO Records in regional centres in the West, North West, North East and in the Cities of Derry and Belfast.
3.vii Consideration could be afforded to the introduction of a similar seventy year cut off for records of the GRO in Northern Ireland to be made available in the National Library and National Archives in Dublin on a reciprocal basis as envisaged by 3.v. above.
3.viii This RNS Proposal allows for a distribution of the increasing demand to access the records of the General Register Office to the other repositories in Dublin and such regional centres throughout the country resulting in an equity of access to such records and, for overseas visitors, in a transfer of tourism revenue from Dublin City to the regions.
3.ix The above progressive Proposal permits each repository to provide photocopies of entries in accordance with their own practices and available equipment, which will further ease the situation at the General Register Office in Dublin.
3.x The increased availability of these records throughout the island of Ireland will ease pressures to increase opening hours, improve accommodation etc., at the GRO in Dublin.
4. FUTURE POLICY & STRATEGY
4.i This Regional & North/South Proposal envisages the development of co-ordinated access to our genealogical heritage on the island of Ireland and therefore, proposes that a sub-committee of the North South Heritage Body be requested to investigate the matter and to bring forward proposals for consideration.
4.ii The RNS Proposal is based on the principle of public consultation on matters of heritage and accessibility to such and, therefore, proposes the formulation of a Standing Users’ Consultative Committee for the General Register Office, in line, with that proposed for the National Library under the National Cultural Institutions Act, 1997.
4.iii The RNS Proposal does NOT envisage the introduction of a "Pay-for-View" genealogical facility in Dublin nor any deviation, whatsoever, to the equity of access to the genealogical heritage of the People of Ireland by all its citizens, irrespective of commercial or other interests in genealogy.
Michael Merrigan
Hon. Secretary
Genealogical Society of Ireland11, Desmond Avenue
Dún Laoghaire
Co. Dublin January 2000