Below are some frequently asked questions about the Land Registry.
Our Public Counters are open for advanced booking. You can book an appointment on our Appointment booking system.
We have offices located in Dublin, Roscommon and Waterford.
Names Index: A record of the names and addresses of every Registered Owner. The index is kept in respect of each county and shows the folio number(s) corresponding to the name.
Folio: This is a part of the register with its own distinct number on which details of the property, its ownership and any burdens affecting it appear.
Map: Original Ordnance Survey and other maps with all registered property delineated thereon are maintained in the Registry.
Instrument: When a Dealing is finally completed, the title documents retained here are called Instruments. They bear the number which they were given when they were lodged as Dealings e.g. D2012LR005555X.
For information on where to lodge your application, depending on the type of application, and the county of the property involved, see Where to Lodge your Application
Names Index, folio and map can be inspected by anyone on payment of the prescribed fee. The instrument can only be inspected by the registered owner of the property, their personal representative and any person authorised by such persons or by an order of the court or by the Land Registration Rules 2012. Please note: Instruments are stored off-site and will not be available on the day of request. Any person entitled to inspect a document filed in the Registry may obtain a copy of it.
There are three parts to a folio. Part 1 provides the details of the property. These include description, location, land registry plan reference and also any rights that would attach to the property. The area of the property is usually shown. Details of property transferred from the folio are also contained in Part 1. Part 2 contains details of the registered owners and the quality of the title and would also include any cautions or inhibitions registered against the property. Part 3 contains details of all burdens registered against the property. These would include mortgages, rights of way, fishing and sporting rights etc.
A plain copy of a folio can be viewed and printed on our online service delivery channel landdirect.ie. This costs €5 per folio. A certified copy of the folio can also be ordered on landdirect.ie and the fee for this is €40. Certified copy folios with maps (title plans) can be ordered by the same method and the fee for this is also €40.
If you do not have access to landdirect.ie, then you can inspect or order these documents at our public offices or by lodging an application by post.
Please see the Contact section of this website for the relevant postal address.
All certified copy folios issue within 24 hours of the application being submitted on landdirect.ie or details being entered on our processing system (ITRIS) for postal and public office applications. This also applies to more than 95% of copy folio and title plan applications. If there is no existing title plan or if there are pending applications that affect the map, this will lead to a delay in the map issuing. The delay can vary from a couple of days up to months, depending on the circumstances.
Yes. This can be done provided the property is registered. Fee is €5 per name and searches can be done by specific or multiple counties.
A names search can be carried out at our public offices or by postal application while landdirect.ie account holders can do this online.
Yes. This can be done on landdirect.ie which uses the GeoDirectory which links all postal addresses in Ireland to our digital map.
Yes. This can be done on landdirect.ie, where searching our map is free of charge. If you do not have access to landdirect.ie, then there are two other methods – by identifying the property on a map in the Land Registry office (fee: €5) or by submitting a suitable, marked map with a search request to the Land Registry (fee: €40).
No. The Land Registry map is an index map and identifies property, not boundaries. Therefore, we are not in a position to advise.
One of the documents given to you should be a Deed of Discharge. This should be lodged in the Land Registry with a completed Application for Registration and a fee of €40. Please see please see the Contact section of this website for the address of the section dealing with the county in which your property is located. Please also see our Legal Office Notice No. 5/2010 – Applications in Person for details of our requirements for lodgement of personal applications.
Deed of Partial Release lodged with a Transfer of Part attracts no fees. If such Deed is lodged separately, a fee of €40 is payable.
Most transfers between spouses attract the prescribed fee for voluntary transfers of €130 plus an additional €75 if the registration requires the opening of a new folio. The exception, when no fees are payable, is when one spouse transfers property comprising of solely the family home into the joint names of both spouses. If the property comprises of more than just the family home, e.g. farmland, then normal fees apply.
The essential requirements for an application for the first registration of a lease are listed in our Practice Direction on Leases.
Yes, the fee of €130 covers the opening of the new folio and the registration of any charges/mortgages. For further details see Guidelines on the First Registration of Leases.
You need to lodge a Withdrawal of Name application in Form 47, copy of death certificate, Application for Registration (Incorporating Form 17) and €40 fees.
N.B. This affidavit should only be used where the joint ownership has not been severed by act or by operation of law.
Please also see our Legal Office Notice No. 5/2010 – Applications in Person for details of our requirements for lodgement of personal applications.
All of our Practice Directions are published on this website – see the Legal Practices section.
No. The Land Registry is not involved in the planning process.
Copies of all legislative publications in respect of the Land Registry and Registry of Deeds may be purchased from Government Publications Sales Office, 52 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Telephone (01) 647 683 . They can also be viewed online, free of charge, in the Irish Statute Book (1922 to date) on the website of The Office of the Attorney General, or in the Legislation section of this website.
Application Pre-Lodged: Application entered on system by solicitor but not yet lodged for registration
Awaiting Attention: Application received but documents not yet assessed. Application may still be rejected
For Further Attention: Used when dealing has been assessed and where no other status is applicable
To be Mapped: Awaiting the preparation of a new map
Mapped: Mapping stage completed. Awaiting the drafting of a new folio
Mapping Query: Query issued in relation to the mapping of the application
Queried: Query issued by dealing section
To be Printed: For copy map and copy folio applications only. Awaiting printing and issue
Completed: Application completed
Abandoned: Documents returned, unable to proceed with registration
Withdrawn: Documents returned at request of lodging party
Refused: Application refused and documents returned
Transferred: Documents lodged transferred to another application
Rejected: Documents returned, as not in order
There are two separate systems for recording transactions in relation to property in Ireland:
- The Registry of Deeds system operated by the Registry of Deeds.
- The Registration of Title system operated by the Land Registry.
Both systems are under the control and management of the Property Registration Authority. For administrative purposes both Registries form part of the Property Registration Authority. The two systems are mutually exclusive in the sense that in a particular transaction relating to land the title will be either:
- “unregistered” (i.e. the title is not yet registered in the Land Registry and so the Registry of Deeds system applies) or
- “registered” (i.e. the title has been registered in the Land Registry and so the Registry of Deeds system is irrelevant)
Approximately 90% of the land in Ireland is registered which represents 85% of titles. The primary function of the Registry of Deeds system is to provide a system of recording the existence of deeds and conveyances affecting unregistered property. A failure to register may result in that document losing priority to a subsequent document which is registered. A search in the Registry of Deeds will disclose only whether documents have been executed dealing with the land in question – to discover the effect of these documents, the documents themselves (which are not retained by the Registry of Deeds) will have to be examined.
When a title is accepted for registration in the Land Registry the original title documents are retained and permanently filed. A folio is opened in respect of the property and generally it is not necessary to refer to the original title documents again. A certified copy of this folio can be obtained with or without a copy of the map outlining the property.
The title shown on the folio is guaranteed by the State which is bound to indemnify any person who suffers loss through a mistake made by the Land Registry. A purchaser can, therefore, accept the folio as evidence of title without having to read the relevant deeds.
Any unregistered property purchased in the state after 1 June 2011 is subject to compulsory first registration.
Registration is compulsory in the following cases:
- Land bought under the Land Purchase Acts.
- Land acquired after 1st January 1967 by a statutory authority.
- Land sold in Counties Carlow, Meath. Laois from 1 January 1970.
- Land sold in Counties Westmeath, Longford and Roscommon from 1 April 2006.
- From 1st October 2008, compulsory registration is extended to six additional counties, Clare, Kilkenny, Louth, Sligo, Wexford and Wicklow. See Statutory Instrument 81 of 2008.
- With effect from 1 January 2010, compulsory registration is extended to the following additional counties; Cavan, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Monaghan, North Tipperary, Offaly, South Tipperary and Waterford and cities Galway, Limerick and Waterford [as defined in Section 10 of the Local Government Act 2001] See Statutory Instrument 176 of 2009.
- From 1 June 2011, compulsory registration is extended to the cities and counties of Cork and Dublin. See Statutory Instrument 516 of 2010.
Please see the Services section of this website for information on searches, or our online service www.landdirect.ie.
It is not possible even when using the highest order of survey techniques to achieve perfect accuracy when drawing/digitising features on a map. OSI maps are therefore subject to accuracy limitations. This means that scaled measurements between features shown on the map may not exactly match the actual distance measured between the same features on the ground. Different levels of accuracy apply depending upon the scale of the map and the original method used to create it.
Paper maps (particularly copy maps included in deeds) can be subject to distortions and inaccuracies, as any copying processes (such as photocopying, scanning) and printing processes can lead to the distortions in the map image.
If you feel that mapping of your registered title is incorrect, please contact the Land Registry at the earliest stage to establish if they can assist.
Where a fence, hedge or wall runs approximately parallel to another feature and so close that they cannot both be plotted correctly at the scale of survey, then only one feature is shown.