How to find an Irish grandparent

[Springsider]

Hello,

Maybe somebody could help us:

My husband has an Irish grandfather, he knows his last name (moms maiden name) and thats pretty much it, doesn't know his first name or birth date. Is it possible to find documents regarding his grandfather in order to obtain Irish citizenship?

[barnaby]

My husband has an Irish grandfather, he knows his last name (moms maiden name) and thats pretty much it, doesn't know his first name or birth date. Is it possible to find documents regarding his grandfather in order to obtain Irish citizenship?

That's not much to go on, even if his surname is rare (like my grandmother's). Why not find out the grandfather's name and year of birth from the mother's birth certificate, or the grandmother's marriage certificate?

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Hello,

Maybe somebody could help us:

My husband has an Irish grandfather, he knows his last name (moms maiden name) and thats pretty much it, doesn't know his first name or birth date. Is it possible to find documents regarding his grandfather in order to obtain Irish citizenship?

I think you know that you would need a bit more information to narrow your search. It is possible to find documentation, but with just a name, you might struggle.

Full Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth and you'd quickly find documentation.

[Springsider]

Ok, thanks.

I think we could find some info on the grandfather as we have name, place and year of birth of my husbands mom.

Can we actually request her birth certificate from Scottish birth registers by email? Has anybody done that before?

[barnaby]

Can we actually request her birth certificate from Scottish birth registers by email? Has anybody done that before?

If it's a Scottish birth certificate, try http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk.

[Springsider]

Can we actually request her birth certificate from Scottish birth registers by email? Has anybody done that before?

If it's a Scottish birth certificate, try http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk.

Thank you! We ll try to get her birth certificate first.

Even if my husband registers as an Irish citizen, it still would be impossible to "pass" it to our son ( under 18)? Theres some residency requirement applicable?

[jeupsy]

I am not an expert in the area, but it looks like your son wouldn't be entitled to Irish citizenship as your husband will only be an Irish citizen from the date of is inclusion in the Foreign Birth Registry - and thus wouldn't have been Irish when your son was born.

Any children you would have after that date would be Irish nationals.

Source: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/mo ... scent.html

[barnaby]

Thank you! We ll try to get her birth certificate first.

To register for FBR, your husband will need birth certificates and marriage certificates for himself, his mother, and his grandfather. So it's worth ordering as many certificates as you can at the same time. The information on those should help track down the grandfather's certificates.

[Brigid from Ireland]

Get the mother's birth certificate. Depending on when she was born, some Scotttish birth certificates I have seen indicate when the parents were married. If that is on the birth cert you are in luck, because it means her parents marriage cert will be easy to get, as you will have an approximate date. Once you have the marriage cert, you have an approximate date of birth for the grandfather. Be aware that both dates of birth and names may change over time (some people lied about their date of birth when they married, others used a variety of names).

www.findmypast.ie has a great record of births and marriages (Irish, free at first stage) I put the maiden name of a relative into it, and her birth is one of 17 results. I had the exact correct spelling, so you may have some luck with this site.

The census records are also available (1911) and you can search this by name also. It helps if you have a general area (eg Cork Dublin...).

If you know the family surname, search for this and any first names you know of from that side of the family - first names tended to be inherited, so you may have luck with this.

Can you give an approximate date of birth for the mum and for her father - this may help?

Re Your child, he can move to Ireland with you if your husband gets Irish (or UK/EU) citizenship. Five years later he can apply for citizenship. Any children born after your husband registers as a citizen are entitled to citizenship, if they register as such.

If your mother in law had an Irish passport her grandchild is currently an Irish citizen.

It sounds like your husband is a UK citizen, so I am not sure why he wants Irish citizenship, but he should be able to get it.

[Springsider]

Thanks a lot everybody, im really glad I asked. We didnt even know where to start.

It would be nice to have Irish passport in case we move to Ireland so our son would be able to become an Irish citizen too. . Our son is British by descent, and if his kids that are born outside UK wont be able to register as British citizens. Irish citizenship is better!