Irish Divorce and Judicial Separation Records

xonet

Where can I check dates that an Irish divorce or judicial separation was granted? It seems that the GRO does not carry such records. Do not want the details (obviously should be private), just the dates.

dermot_sheehan

You need to have been a party to the divorce or judicial separation.

The relevant Circuit Court or High Court would keep a record of the decree.

later12

Out of interest, what about the divorce records from the early years of the free state; anyone know where they can be found or whether or not they are publicly accessible?

Victor

How come births, marriages and deaths are public record, but divorces (summary details only) aren't?

later12

No idea, I have a grandparent who was divorced in the 1920s but was told Iris Oifigiuil was the only resort to uncover details of that judgement...

johnnyskeleton

later10 wrote: »

Out of interest, what about the divorce records from the early years of the free state; anyone know where they can be found or whether or not they are publicly accessible?

Didn't they used to be published in the back of the Sunday times?

dermot_sheehan

Victor wrote: »

How come births, marriages and deaths are public record, but divorces (summary details only) aren't?

A divorce decree itself would often include ancillary orders regarding maintenance and access to children that ought not be made public.

There is a provision in the Civil Registration Act 2004 (Part 7) for an officer of the Courts service to enter into a registrar of divorce and nullity decrees when such decrees have been granted. The Registrar General would then allow certified extracts from such a register to be issued.

Part 7 has never been commenced though.

dashie39

I got married in 1984, my wife got the marriage annulled soon after and got a divorce as soon as it became law in Ireland.
I now want to marry somebody else but can not find any record of my divorce. All I know is the divorce was in Dublin. Where do I have to go to find this decree?

December2012

dashie39 wrote: »

I got married in 1984, my wife got the marriage annulled soon after and got a divorce as soon as it became law in Ireland.
I now want to marry somebody else but can not find any record of my divorce. All I know is the divorce was in Dublin. Where do I have to go to find this decree?

Contact the Circuit court office for the county that your wife at the time lived in, that would be the first place to try.

Pro Hoc Vice

dashie39 wrote: »

I got married in 1984, my wife got the marriage annulled soon after and got a divorce as soon as it became law in Ireland.
I now want to marry somebody else but can not find any record of my divorce. All I know is the divorce was in Dublin. Where do I have to go to find this decree?

As you are a party you will be able to get a copy of the order. It will just be necessary for a court official to go searching the records for you. I assume when you say your wife got it annulled it was a Church Annunlment, that should be easy enough to get as well.

So contact Dublin Circuit Court office, explain your situation and ask for assistance.

Portia 27

Why does Eire not have a list like UK- with just divorce details- no personal stuff?

Portia 27

What if you were not present, but you found out through a PI that you were separated and you are down as applicant?

FishOnABike

Portia 27 wrote: »

What if you were not present, but you found out through a PI that you were separated and you are down as applicant?

If you didn't apply for the separation then I suspect whoever applied in your name has possibly committed fraud and perjury.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Peregrinus

later12 wrote: »

Out of interest, what about the divorce records from the early years of the free state; anyone know where they can be found or whether or not they are publicly accessible?

Short answer: There were no divorces granted in the early years of the Free State.

Longer answer: In British days, prior to 1922, Irish courts had no power to grant divorces. English courts were given such a power in (I think) 1857, but Irish courts were not. The only way for Irish people to get divorced was through a private Act of the (Westminster) Parliament. The deal was that you sued your spouse, seeking a judicial separation on the grounds of cruelty, adultery, desertion or the like. Then, if you got that, you could petition Parliament to pass an Act dissolving your marriage on the same grounds. You had to be very wealthy, and very determined, to go to those lengths, so divorces were not frequent. But they did happen.

(Records are publicly accessible, though not conveniently so. Each divorce was effected by a separate Act of Parliament - e.g. the Hurly's Divorce (Ireland) Act 1908, which divorced a Mr. and Mrs. Hurly. These Acts are not available online, but you could find them in, or trace them through, a good academic law library, and the Act would tell you the full names of Mr and Mrs Hurly, where they lived, which of them petitioned for the divorce, and what the grounds for divorce were.)

In 1922, the power to pass divorce Acts moved from Westminster to Leinster House. But it wasn't until (I think) 1925 that anybody petitioned the Oireachtas for a private divorce Act. The standing orders of the Dail and the Seanad didn't contain any procedure for dealing with such petitions, and the Dail resolved not to adopt any procedure, which was in effect a decision not to consider or pass any private Acts of divorce, so none were passed. The Oireachtas could have changed its mind at any point up to 1937, but of course it never did. And the constitutional ban came into force on 1937.