Triple Descent Ireland

[suzanna2021]

Hi, I have just joined and wonder if anyone can help. My parents are sadly now deceased and I wished I had asked more about my family tree. My mum passed away a couple of months ago and i started to look into her history as I was shocked after her death to find she was adopted and it broke my heart. Mum and dad always said I was Irish On my fathers side but he was born in England, I have his fathers birth certificate now and he too was born In England.

I believe of my 4 great grandparents at least one was born In Ireland and I am trying to get the 4 birth certificates but I understand even if one was born in Ireland unless their children (my grandparents) were registered on the foreign birth register I cannot claim Irish citizenship. I just wondered if I had interpreted the rules correctly and if anyone has been in this situation. Many thanks. Suzanna.

[DanaMarie]

Hi, I have just joined and wonder if anyone can help. My parents are sadly now deceased and I wished I had asked more about my family tree. My mum passed away a couple of months ago and i started to look into her history as I was shocked after her death to find she was adopted and it broke my heart. Mum and dad always said I was Irish On my fathers side but he was born in England, I have his fathers birth certificate now and he too was born In England.

I believe of my 4 great grandparents at least one was born In Ireland and I am trying to get the 4 birth certificates but I understand even if one was born in Ireland unless their children (my grandparents) were registered on the foreign birth register I cannot claim Irish citizenship. I just wondered if I had interpreted the rules correctly and if anyone has been in this situation. Many thanks. Suzanna.

I'm sorry for your loss!

So just to be clear, neither of your parents nor your any of your grandparents were born on the island of Ireland? If that's the case then you are unlikely to be eligible for citizenship through descent. Your grandparent who is the child of the Irish born citizen (your great grandparent) would have been automatically Irish at birth. So in that case, your parent in that line of descent would have needed to register on the Foreign Births register for citizenship through their grandparent at some point (there are rules around when depending on DOBs) in order for you to be eligible.

[suzanna2021]

Thank you for confirming my understanding of the rules