How do you get a birth certificate in Ireland?

Once your baby's birth is registered, you can get a birth certificate in four ways: online through the HSE, by phone or in person at most Civil Registration Services, by post, or by emailing a form to the General Register Office (GRO). A full standard birth certificate costs €20. You can also get one at your registration appointment, which is the simplest time to do it.

Registering the birth is free; the certificate is what you pay for. Deadlines and who signs are covered in registering a birth in Ireland.

Which certificate do you need, and what does it cost?

For almost everything, including enrolling your child in school and applying for an Irish passport, you need the full standard (long form) certificate. It is a certified copy of the entry in the register.

Type	What it is for	Fee
Full standard (long form) certificate	Legal and administrative purposes, such as a passport or school	€20
Uncertified copy of an entry in the register	Research only	€5
Authentication of a certificate (GRO only)	Some countries outside the EU	€10
New certificate with an authentication stamp	As above, issued in one step	€30
Multilingual Standard Form (MSF)	A translation aid for use in another EU country	€0
Letter of No Trace	Confirms a birth is not registered in Ireland	€20

Since 2019, certificates issued in an EU country must be accepted as authentic in another member state without an Apostille. Request an MSF at the same time as the certificate. Fees as published by Citizens Information and the HSE, checked 10 October 2026.

How do you order a birth certificate online?

The HSE's online service sells the full standard birth certificate only, and posts it to you. You need:

the full birth name on the certificate
the date and place of birth
gender
the mother's full birth name
the father's full name, if recorded

Postage and packaging is €3 to an address in Ireland and €5 to Great Britain (including Northern Ireland), Europe or the rest of the world. For a problem with an online order, email certificates@hse.ie with your order ID, or phone 01 863 8200.

Can you order by phone, in person or by post?

Yes. You can order and pay by card over the phone at most Civil Registration Services; Citizens Information lists the exceptions as Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. Phone orders take around 5 working days to process. Some offices have a walk-in service, and others need you to book. You don't have to use the office for the area where the birth took place.

To apply by post, write to your local Civil Registration Service with both parents' full names, the child's full names, the date and place of birth, a return address and a contact phone number, and enclose payment by cheque or postal order.

Ordering from the General Register Office

The GRO, based in Roscommon, is where Ireland's birth records are kept, and it runs the civil registration service overall. To order from it, download its application form, fill it in and email it to GROonlinepayments@welfare.ie. Once the record is found, you get a secure payment link; if the certificate can't be located, the full fee is refunded. The certificate is then posted to the address in your email.

The GRO has no access to orders already processed by the HSE and warns of a possible wait because demand has risen. Adopted children's birth certificates, and authentication, are only available from the GRO.

When is a copy free?

The HSE gives a free copy for social welfare purposes or for registering for a Public Services Card, if you have a letter from the Department of Social Protection. There is also no charge for the birth certificate of a deceased child who was under 12 months old on the date of death, when the birth and death are registered at the same time.

A new certificate after re-registration or a name change

A certificate shows the information recorded at registration, and Citizens Information notes it is difficult to change details afterwards. Three changes are common in the first years:

Re-registering to add a parent's details, which is free, or because the parents marry after the birth.
Changing your child's surname, which is only possible when the birth is re-registered to include the father's name or after the parents marry, at the request of both parents.
Adding or changing a forename, which costs €5. Form CRA 16 is signed by both parents, or by the mother alone if only her name is on the entry, with original evidence that your child uses the name, such as crèche, GP or hospital records.

After any of these, order a new €20 certificate so the one you hand over matches the register.

Older certificates and family history

Birth certificates in Ireland are public records, so anyone can apply for one, including a grandparent's. The HSE issues certificates for births registered in the Republic of Ireland from 1 January 1864 to the present, and in Northern Ireland from 1 January 1864 to 31 December 1921.

Northern Ireland is a separate system

For a birth registered in Northern Ireland, order from the General Register Office for Northern Ireland (GRONI), part of NISRA, through nidirect; it holds birth certificates from 1864 to the present. You can order online, by phone on 0300 200 7890, by post, or in person at Colby House, Stranmillis Court, Belfast. Fees are in sterling:

£15 for one certificate, long or short; further copies of the same certificate ordered at the same time cost £8 each
£20 for a priority certificate (listed as the certificate fee plus the priority fee)
£8 for a statutory purpose certificate, for example for school registration or benefits; post or in person only

Ask for the long certificate: it shows the parents' details and is the one needed for passport and driving licence applications, while a short certificate is generally accepted only as proof of age. GRONI aims to issue most non-priority orders by the fifth full working day. Registering a birth in Northern Ireland is covered in registering a birth in the UK.

Where to get help

The HSE Civil Registration Service handles certificates day to day. The General Register Office, Convent Road, Roscommon, is on +353 90 663 2900 and gro@welfare.ie. Once you have the certificate, the usual next steps are your baby's first Irish passport and the payments in financial help for new parents in Ireland. If you are still choosing a name, see the most popular baby names in Ireland.

Frequently asked questions

How do I order a birth certificate in Ireland online?

Use the HSE's online ordering service, which sells full standard birth certificates only. Enter the full birth name, date and place of birth, gender, the mother's full birth name and the father's name if recorded. It costs €20, plus €3 postage in Ireland or €5 elsewhere, and is posted to you.

How much is a birth certificate in Ireland?

A full standard birth certificate costs €20, and an uncertified copy for research costs €5. Authentication is €10, or €30 for a new certificate with an authentication stamp, both from the General Register Office. A Multilingual Standard Form for use in another EU country is free if ordered with the certificate.

How do I get a replacement birth certificate in Ireland?

Order a new full standard certificate the same way as the first: online through the HSE, by phone or in person at a Civil Registration Service, by post, or through the GRO. It costs €20. You need only the registration details, such as the full birth name and the date and place of birth.

How do I order a birth certificate from Northern Ireland?

Order from the General Register Office for Northern Ireland, not the Irish GRO, through nidirect online, by phone on 0300 200 7890, by post or in person in Belfast. The HSE can supply only Northern Ireland births registered from 1864 to 1921. One certificate costs £15; ask for the long version for passports.

Getting a birth certificate in Ireland: types, fees and how to order