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Register a birth in Ireland
From Department of Social Protection
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Temporary arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic which allowed births to be registered without parents having to attend at a civil registration office came to an end on Thursday 30 September 2021 with the reopening of HSE civil registration offices.
Contact your local HSE civil registration office for opening hours and for more information on how to complete the registration of your child’s birth.
Contact details for your local civil registration office can be found on the following websites:
You will need to register the birth of your child no later than three months after his or her 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.
A birth may be registered in the office of any Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths, regardless of where it took place.
A birth which has already been registered can be re-registered to include the name of the father or non-biological parent.
The parents, mother, or second parent can apply to have the details of the father or non-biological parent recorded in the register of births.
For donor-conceived births, see how to re-register the birth of a donor-conceived child for more information.
Since 4 May 2020 you can record the details of the parent(s), including the non-biological parent, when registering the birth of a donor conceived child (also known as DAHR).
The DAHR procedure must have taken place after 4 May 2020.
To complete the registration, you will need:
- a certificate from the DAHR facility
- a statutory declaration, signed by the parent(s)
You can request a birth registration form and statutory declaration by emailing the GRO at dahr@welfare.ie
You can submit completed forms by:
- email to dahr@welfare.ie
- or post to DAHR Section, General Register Office, Government Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon Town, F42 VX53
The GRO will forward the paperwork to a civil registration office of your choice. The registrar will let you know when you can attend to sign the register.
Births of donor-conceived children (also known as DAHR), where the procedure was performed before 4 May 2020, must first be registered as a non-DAHR birth. This applies to donor-conceived children born before or after 4 May 2020.
After the birth has been registered, a court order naming another person as the parent of the child is required prior to a DAHR re-registration.
The parents can then apply for the birth to be re-registered as a DAHR birth using the application form below.
To apply, download the form and attach a certified copy of the Court Order.
Re-registration of a Donor Assisted Human Reproduction (DAHR) form (BRR1)
DownloadYou can send the completed form and Court Order by
- email to dahr@welfare.ie
- or post to DAHR Section, General Register Office, Government Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon Town, F42 VX53
The GRO will forward the paperwork to a civil registration office of your choice. The registrar will let you know when you can attend to sign the register.
In certain circumstances you can register a surname for your child which is not the same as your own.
The mother and father/parent (where applicable) should complete the form below:
Application to assign a different surname
DownloadThis form can be emailed or posted to your local civil registration office.
There is no fee charged for the registration of a birth, or for re-registration to include a parent's details.
There is a fee of €5 for insertion or alteration of a forename. Fees are charged for Birth Certificates.
A birth certificate is issued for social welfare purposes at a reduced cost. Evidence it is for social welfare purposes is required, such as a note from the department.
