Birth Certificate

Sebastian Dangerfield

I'm gettting married in September, and we've made the appointment to get the civil documentation well ahead of time.

When I check the list of requirements, it says my "full (original) birth certificate" are needed. I lost my birth cert years ago - I recently got my birth cert reissued by the HSE but it is very clearly a copy - it is not the original document. However having lost my original birth certificate, Im not sure what else I can do.

Will the HSE version be sufficient? Thanks

pooch90

I ordered one from certificates.ie and it was just an A4 page, not the full old one. Probably the one you got is the same
They accepted it without question.

January

The copy will be accepted. You'll always only receive a copy as your original is on file.

haveringchick

The BC you lost was just a copy too. Handwritten in long hand.
Nowadays it's digitally reproduced on A4.
It's a "copy" of the original entry of your birth in the register.
What HSE don't want is a photocopy of your birth cert.

Peregrinus

Yup. The ultimate record of your birth is the entry in the register of births. That never leaves the registry office.

A "birth certificate" is a document issue by the registrar which basically says "I certify that there is an entry in the register of births which says the following: . . . " You can get as many of these certificates as you like, and if you lose them or use them you can get more. They are all "originals", meaning they are certificates issued by the registrar as opposed to, say, photocopies or scans of certificates issued by the registrar.

The registrar will issue two kinds of certificate; long-form and short-form. The long form, obviously, gives more detail from the register entry than the short form does. Both a long-form cert and a short-form cert are "originals".

Sebastian Dangerfield

Thanks all

InTheTrees

Brilliant information.

I have also been confused by the meaning of "original" as regards BC's but this makes perfect sense.

AlexJones1

Just enquire whether the birth certificate needs to be legalised for use abroad... so if you are planning to get married outside Ireland they may be specific requirements to documents you have to produce...

Gatica

The may require that it be apostilled. Other than that, the long form birth cert you order from the HSE website, and they post it to you, is the proper cert.