The information on the Ancestry site describes the collection as deaths in Ireland from 1864 to 1958. However it is misleading. It does not include deaths in Northern Ireland from 1.1.1922 onwards. This is a topic that comes up time and time again and causes a lot of confusion. In my opinion they ought to make it a lot clearer that the NI records are missing. (If you don’t believe me, try finding one. Search for say a Smith death in Belfast 1945 plus or minus 10 years. See how many you find!)

Familysearch has exactly the same set of records as Ancestry. However, if you look at the title of their Irish civil index collection, it says: “An index of Ireland civil registration including 1864-1958 births, 1845-1958 marriages, and 1864-1958 deaths, but excluding index records for Northern Ireland after its creation in 1922.” So at least they are much clearer about not having the NI records.

GRO in NI are planning to put some of the records from 1922 onwards on-line next year but at the moment you cannot access them on-line, even on a pay to view site. (LDS have copied the indexes and these are available on microfilm in a couple of their libraries but that is as far as it goes. For some reason you can’t order those indexes in to your local LDS library. They are only available at certain specified libraries. One of their London libraries has a copy).

The records unavailability on-line has nothing to do with the destruction of records in Ireland in 1922. The birth, death & marriage records were completely unaffected (not being stored in the Four Courts). It’s just that for whatever reason, the authorities in Northern Ireland have not yet got around to putting the records on-line. To access them at the moment you either need to go in person to GRONI in Belfast (£14 fee to search for a day) or e-mail/phone them and ask them to search (for which there is usually a fee). You can phone up and pay over the phone, people do that all the time. They usually post the certificate out the next day, and are very efficient in that respect.

Regarding getting certificates from Roscommon, the position is this: Roscommon has a set of records for all of Ireland up to 31.12.1921, and for the Republic of Ireland from that date forward up to today. GRONI in Belfast has a set of all the records for what is now Northern Ireland, from their start, up to today.

So for records in Northern Ireland prior to 1.1.1922, you have a choice between Roscommon & GRONI, but after that date you have to go to GRONI. GRONI charge £15 for a certificate. They don’t offer a cheap photocopy option. GRO Roscommon charge €20 for a certificate but do offer a photocopy option for €4. So if you are applying for a passport and need a formal cert, you have to pay the full price but if it’s just for genealogy or general interest a photocopy will usually suffice. So for most people the GRO Roscommon €4 option is better value for money. The only caveat is that if the event is for Northern Ireland, then it has to be before 1.1.1922 because Roscommon won’t have it after that date.

To order a photocopy from GRO Roscommon for €4 per certificate, put the place, year, quarter (where there is one), volume & page number on the application form (anywhere). (You can get that information free from Familysearch). Don’t worry about leaving some boxes blank. You don’t need to fill them all in if you have the reference details. https://www.groireland.ie/ You have to post or fax the form to them but they will e-mail the copy certificate to you if you wish. Tick the relevant box on the form.

Roscommon take about 2 weeks to deal with applications though it can be quicker at quiet times. GRONI generally issue within 1 to 2 days, so they are more efficient, but also more expensive.