For Grants of Representation before 1992, please contact the National Archives of Ireland.
Wills which have been submitted as part of an application for a Grant of Representation become public documents once such a Grant has issued and may be requested from the Probate Office in Dublin or the appropriate District Probate Registry.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SEARCH
Before accessing the Search, please read the instuctions below
Probate Register search parameters
The search function allows for searches using:
- The name of the deceased
- Their date of death
In some instances, a person may have had multiple names (i.e. Mary Smith otherwise Máire Smith). The entries reflect the information presented to us and so it may be necessary to check for variations of a name or other aliases by which the deceased person was known.
If the deceased’s surname began with Mc, Mac, O’, Ó, Ní, Nic or Uí, omitting these prefixes may allow you to broaden the search, e.g. Connell should return all McConnells, MacConnells and Nic Connells.
Please note that the search is not affected by using upper or lower case.
Important information
Please note that the search will only yield a result where a Grant of representation has issued in an estate
It is your responsibility to ensure that the spellings of names are correct. If a search yields no result, it may be prudent to try alternative spellings of names.
If you wish to order a copy of any document associated with an estate you must note the FULL RECORD NUMBER and quote this when ordering.
Please note that if the search result indicates that the Grant Type is “Intestate” this means that the deceased had no will.
| Search entry convention | Correct format | Incorrect format |
|---|---|---|
| The search will look for matching details. Where you wish to search for variations of a name or aliases with the same starting letter(s), you should use as asterisk * as in the examples | Ma* (for Mary, otherwise Margaret) J* (for John otherwise Jack) |
- |
| Surnames with Mc/Mac should have a space | Paul Mac Grath Paul Mc Cartney |
Paul MacGrath Paul McCartney |
| Surnames with O' should have no space | Mark O'Neill | Mark O'Neill |
| Surnames with Ó or Ní (i.e. Irish language surnames) should have a space |
Seán Ó Riada |
Sean ÓRiada Máire NíMhurchú |
| All other diacritics (i.e. other than in the context of the Irish language) should be omitted | Pena, Ozil, facade, sake | Peña, Özil, façade, saké |
| Abbreviations are not used in addresses | Apartment 4 South Great George's Street Dublin |
Apt 4 Sth Great George's St Dub |
Ordering Copies of Probate Documents
Once a grant of probate or letters of administration has issued, copies of the grant and the original will may be obtained on payment of the appropriate fee by any member of the public.
The Probate Office and the District Probate Registries hold the records for grants which have issued within the past 20 years. The records for grants which issued prior to this are held at the National Archives. These may be inspected in the Reading Room of the National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8.
NB The letters in the record number indicate the office where the Grant issued. When requesting a copy document, you MUST apply to the office that issued the Grant.
A list of offices is here:
Principal Probate Office (Dublin): PO
Castlebar: CB
Cavan: CN
Clonmel: CL
Cork: CK
Dundalk: DK
Galway: GY
Kilkenny: KY
Letterkenny: LD
Limerick: LK
Mullingar: MR
Sligo: SO
Tralee: TR
Waterford: WD
Wexford: WX
To apply for copy documents you must fully complete this Order Form and pay the relevant fee. It is your responsibility to ensure that you pay the correct fee. Failure to do so will mean your request will not be processed.
For District Probate Registries, please contact the relevant District Probate Registry for information on payment methods.