The following are some of the most commonly asked questions about the Registry of Deeds and its services.
1. What are your Opening Hours and where are you located?
Our office is open from 10am - 4.30 pm Monday to Friday. We are located at Kings Inns, Henrietta Street. There is a pedestrian entrance and access for the disabled at the top of Henrietta Street. Henrietta Street is almost directly opposite Bolton Street College. The Registry of Deeds can also be approached via Constitution Hill opposite Broadstone Bus Garage. Please note there is no car parking available in Kings Inns Car Park.
Registry of Deeds Location map
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2. What is the fee for:-
Registration of Applications €50.00
Vacate/ Satisfaction €20.00
Official search €20.00 for each name, for each property, for each county, for each period of ten years or part thereof.
(Please furnish full description of property)
Search by Members of the Public €2.00 for each name, for each county, for each period of ten years or part thereof
Copy Memorial/Copy Application Form
• Certified copy Memorial /Certified copy Application Form €20.00
• Plain copy of microfilm of memorial/application form €1.00 per page
General Search - No fee
for each day by each member of the public against all indexes prior to 1969.
Registry of Deeds Fees Order
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3. What information do I need to conduct a search in the Registry of Deeds?
• Names of all parties to the Deed
• Date of Deed
• The situation of the premises e.g. Street or Townland and location e.g. Town or County.
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4. What document is required by the Registry of Deeds to register a change of name/ownership?
Along with the deed, a relevant ROD Application Form is required. Details of the appropriate form to accompany a particular deed for registration are available on this website under the heading Forms.
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5. Are the Deeds retained in the Registry?
Deeds are not retained in the Registry of Deeds. After registration they are returned to the lodging party. Only memorials/application forms are retained by this Registry.
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6. Can I get a map of my property?
Maps are not retained in the Registry of Deeds. There is no record of boundaries. No information can be found on foot of O.S. references. In some cases the extent of the property is described in the Memorial of the Deed conveying, leasing or mortgaging it.
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7. I have lost my deeds. Can I get a copy of them?
No. The Registry of Deeds do not retain copies of the deeds. A certified copy of the memorial or application form may be of some assistance. To apply for a copy memorial/copy application form, the registration reference must be supplied. This is obtained by having a search done against the person who disposed of an interest in the property.
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8. Who is the owner of the house/property down the road, next door etc?
Registry of Deeds system does not record ownership of property. It records the existence of Deeds relating to transactions with property. So the deed conveying or mortgaging the property may be registered here. As our Index is a Grantors index you will need the name (both Forename and Surname) of the previous owner of the property or the name of the person/party who had a disposing interest in the property and an approximate time of when they sold the property. Lodge an application for a Search against the aforementioned accompanied by the prescribed fee as set out above.
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9. How can I find out what happened to the property on the death of the owner?
In the case of property disposed of after death it is the Executor of the deceased who is the Grantor and it is the Executor who will appear in the Names Index and not the deceased person.
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10. Who owns a right of way?
A right of way which is granted in a Deed of Grant of Right of Way may be recorded in the Registry of Deeds.
Where a right of way is referred to in a Deed of Conveyance, the specific details of such a right of way may not be recorded in the Registry of Deeds
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11. What searches do I need when I am getting my Ground Rents Vesting Certificate registered in Land Registry?
You need to have an official search done against each person who held an interest in the property from the date of the lease to date of periods that they held that interest.
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12. I have paid off my mortgage. How do I register the vacate?
Firstly check the original mortgage to see if it has a stamp on the front page indicating that it was registered in Registry of Deeds. Then, check that the lending institution has acknowledged receipt of all monies due. This acknowledgement is usually towards the back of the original deed of mortgage. If the answer is yes to both questions, lodge the original deed in the Registry of Deeds with €20 fees.
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13. What is the difference between the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds?
There are two separate systems for recording transactions in relation to property in Ireland:
• The Registry of Deeds system operated by the Registry of Deeds.
• The Registration of Title system operated by the Land Registry.
Both systems are under the control and management of the Property Registration Authority. The two systems are mutually exclusive in the sense that in a particular transaction relating to land the title will be either:
• “unregistered” (i.e. the title is not yet registered in the Land Registry and so the Registry of Deeds system applies) or
• “registered” (i.e. the title has been registered in the Land Registry and so the Registry of Deeds system is irrelevant).
Approximately 90% of the land in Ireland is registered which represents 85% of titles. The primary function of the Registry of Deeds system is to provide a system of recording the existence of deeds and conveyances affecting unregistered property. A failure to register may result in that document losing priority to a subsequent document which is registered. A search in the Registry of Deeds will disclose only whether documents have been executed dealing with the land in question – to discover the effect of these documents the documents themselves (which are not retained by the Registry of Deeds) will have to be examined.
When a title is accepted for registration in the Land Registry the original title documents are retained and permanently filed. A folio is opened in respect of the property and generally it is not necessary to refer to the original title documents again. A certified copy of this folio can be obtained with or without a copy of the map outlining the property.
The title shown on the folio is guaranteed by the State which is bound to indemnify any person who suffers loss through a mistake made by the Land Registry. A purchaser can, therefore, accept the folio as evidence of title without having to read the relevant deeds.
Published 25th July 2005
Updated 28th June 2010