MAJOR NEWS - Ancestry releases Irish civil registration indexes

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has released the following collections online

Ireland, Catholic Parish Marriages and Banns, 1742-1884
Ireland, Catholic Parish Baptisms, 1742-1881
Ireland, Civil Registration Deaths Index, 1864-1958
Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958
Ireland, Civil Registration Marriages Index, 1845-1958
Ireland, Births and Baptisms, 1620-1911
Ireland, Catholic Parish Deaths, 1756-1881


Some excellent materials there - one down side though, is that as with the FamilySearch offering for civil marriage indexes, there is no way to search for matching partners on the search screen - BUT - you CAN click to see others on the page on a search return. I have just tried to find my 2xgt gramps Cochrane Watton, and in seeing who else is on the page, four women are returned, one of whom is Elizabeth Holmes, who was indeed his wife. In other words, this has just trumped FamilySearch.

I knew the Catholic records were coming, but had no idea about the civil registration records! There's no details yet as to whether the civil records collection is more comprehesive than FamilySearch after Partition in 1921 - no doubt Ancestry will have a press release out soon!

UPDATE: Unfortunately it looks like this collection is as incomplete as the FamilySearch collection for post-Partition entries for Northern Ireland, i.e. from 1922 onwards. So almost completely effective for the Republic from 1845-1958 (one or two minor gaps not filmed by the Mormons), and for the north from 1845-1921, with some hit and miss entries for the north from 1922 onwards. Nevetherless, still an important resource.

Chris