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You will need to register the birth of your child no later than 3 months after their birth. Registration is a legal requirement in Ireland, but you will also need a birth certificate to enrol your child in school, to apply for a passport and for many other purposes. (For Child Benefit, you will be contacted automatically as soon as you register the birth.)

The birth certificate will contain the information on the child and the parents that is given at the time of registration, so it is important that the information given is accurate. It is difficult to change the details after the initial registration.

A birth may be registered in the office of any Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths, regardless of where it took place. The staff of the hospital where your child was born, or of your local health centre, will be able to tell you where you can register the birth. The birth should be registered not later than 3 months after the date of the birth.

A Birth Notification Form (Form BNF/01) is usually completed with the parent(s) by hospital staff (in the case of hospital births) or by a doctor or midwife (in home births) to guarantee that correct and accurate information is recorded. This form outlines the information to be recorded in the Register of Births. The form is forwarded to the Registrar's office letting the Registrar know that a birth has occurred. This is not enough, however, to register the birth.

Registering the birth

The registration of the birth is carried out based on information provided by a qualified informant who is required to attend at the office of the Registrar to sign the Register of Births. The mother and father of the child are the main qualified informants and, where possible, must attend personally for the registration of the birth. They must bring photo identification, for example a passport or driving licence, and their Personal Public Service Numbers (PPS Number). In some cases, for example where a mother has been married previously, additional material may be required and they are advised to contact the Civil Registration Service to find out more.

If the parents are in a recognised marriage only one parent need attend, however, if both wish to sign the register they should both attend. If the parents were married in another country, they should bring the original marriage certificate and a translation if required.

Where the parents do not register the birth, or it is not possible for them to do it, the following individuals can also act as qualified informants:

• A designated member of the staff of the hospital (or other institution, organisation or enterprise) where the birth took place
• Any person present at the birth
• Any person present in the dwelling where the birth occurred
• Any person who has charge of the child
• A person appointed guardian of the child
• A person found to be the parent of the child by order of the courts

Information recorded

The following information is recorded in the Register of Births:

• Surname of the child. The surname registered must be the surname of the father or mother or both. If you want your child to have a surname other than the surname of the father or mother or both, then an application must be made to the Registrar General or a Superintendent Registrar in writing.
• Time, date and place of birth of the child
• Gender of the child
• Personal Public Service Number (PPS Number) of the child (allocated at registration)
• Forename(s) and surname of the child
• Forename(s) and surname of the mother
• Birth surname of the mother
• All previously used surnames of the mother (if any)
• The mother's normal occupation
• The mother's normal address at the date of birth
• The mother's date of birth
• The mother's marital status
• The mother's Personal Public Service Number (PPS Number)
• Birth surname of the mother's mother
• Similar information is entered for the father

Unmarried Parents

There are different options for registration, including the father's details, where the mother and father are not married. (The forms used are available from the Registrar's office.) The options are as follows:

• Both the mother and father can jointly request the registration (Form CRA 9). Both attend the Registrar's office together and sign the register jointly.
• The mother can complete a declaration form naming the father (Form CRA 1) and bring it, along with a declaration by the baby's father acknowledging that he is the father of the child (Form CRA 3). The mother signs the register.
• The father may complete a declaration form acknowledging that he is the father of the child (Form CRA 2) , and may go to the Registrar's office himself, bringing with him a declaration by the mother naming the father (Form CRA 4). The father signs the register.
• The mother or father may make a written request (Form CRA 5 and Form CRA 6 respectively) on production of a certified copy of a court order which names the person to be registered as the father. The parent making the request will be required to attend at the office of the Registrar to sign the Register of Births.

It is also possible to enter the father's details if the mother is or was married to someone else. As well as a sworn declaration from the father stating he is the father, one of the following is required:

• A sworn declaration by the mother's husband stating he is not the father, or
• A sworn delaration by the mother stating she has been living apart from her husband for more than 10 months before the birth of the child and a deed of separation/decree of divorce (not all foreign divorces are recognised under Irish law), or
• A certified copy of a court order which names the person to be registered as the father

A leaflet on Birth Registration of Children (pdf) is available on Treoir's website.

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