I have recently been researching a family that lived on Inishbofin, not the island off the Galway coast but a smaller one off the coast of Donegal. I had located the family in the 1901 and 1911 Census and was now interested in finding a birth certificate for one member of the family. I knew the person of interest was born in ca. 1877 and I know his parents’ names. I could find two civil birth registrations in 1877 for the same name registered in Dunfanaghy district on the Findmypast website, so which one is correct?  There is sometimes a way to narrow down options when you have more than one certificate to call up at the General Register Office. TheFamilySearch website under its record section ‘Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881’ details many civil births registered after 1864 giving not only the volume and page number and location of birth but also the parents’ names.  When I used this facility I was able to eliminate one of the entries I had found on Findmypast as the parents’ names were incorrect. So that’s four euro saved!

By, Expert Researcher

Helen Moss,