Last Updated on March 18, 2025
Ellis & Ellis are regularly contacted by clients requesting our expertise in researching property ownership in Ireland. Typically, these enquiries ask us to determine who owns a property, house, or land for purchasing purposes, as an asset tracing exercise, or for injury/claim-related matters.
To help the reader better understand what’s involved, we set out below details of the repositories visited, resources accessed, and methodologies used and thus demonstrate our extensive sectoral knowledge.
Land Records in Ireland – Repositories for Identifying Ownership
In Ireland, there is no singular land owner register or land owner registry. Under the authority of Tailte Éireann (Irish Land), the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds constitute the two main state bodies responsible for managing, adjudicating on, and maintaining their respective registers.
The Land Registry deals with registered titles on land, and it estimates that some ‘…90% of the legal titles in Ireland are now registered therein…’. Once registered as folios, these (State guaranteed) titles to property set out the related minutiae about a property, such as a description, details of any parts transferred, particulars of ownership, and other specifics about charges, rights of way, burdens, etc.
For the remaining 10% or so of unregistered properties, we turn to the Registry of Deeds (ROD). Though not a property register, it is an index of Grantors’ names, which “…allows parties to register and file memorials of deeds or transfers of unregistered land…”.
Other useful lines of enquiry for property ownership searches are the Valuation Office (VO) and the more obscure records of the Irish Land Commission (ILC).
In effect, these four resources are valuable for understanding who currently owns a property, house, or land and the evolution of real estate transfers over time.
How should the records from these repositories be used when trying to find out who owns a property, house or land?
Method 1 – Land Registry Records (Registered Title)
Typically, this repository’s records are the first port of call in any investigative process.
Within that resource, there are three search methods to consider as follows: –
- By Number: It is common for the purchasing solicitor or conveyancer to have the folio reference number as part of the seller’s title documents. The search agent merely inputs the folio reference and retrieves the document. Ownership is usually detailed on page 3 of the folio.
- Mapping Search: If the purchasing solicitor does not have the folio number, a mapping search will compare a current Ordnance Survey (OS) mapped area with the Land Registry maps. Each mapped area in the Land Registry has a corresponding folio number. Once the number is known, it can be retrieved as above.
- Registered Ownership Search: If neither the folio number nor the exact location is known, a search can be conducted in the Land Registry Names Index using the owner’s first name, last name, and a specific county. Once potential folio numbers are identified, the folio file plan can be compared with the known land details for sale or other title information to find a match.
Method 2 – Unregistered Title
However, what if searching in the Land Registry does not provide the required property ownership details? If that is the case, we use a two-step process as below.
Step 1 – Valuation Office (Find the rated occupiers)
Comparing a current Ordnance Survey map against the official Valuation Office maps may ideally reveal the last rated occupiers (not necessarily the owners) linked to those lands.
Step 2 – Registry of Deeds (Are the rated occupiers the owners?)
Based on the results of the Valuation Search, we normally conduct follow-up searches in the Registry of Deeds to determine if the rated occupier is also the owner. If the last rated occupier is not the owner, we repeat the process by searching for the second-last rated occupier, and so on.
In most cases, though not always, the rated occupiers will turn out to be the registered owners.
While this three-step process is usually sufficient to identify ownership, more detailed research may be necessary using the Irish Land Commission (ILC) records.
So, if you or your clients are trying to find out who owns a property, house or land, why not ask Ellis & Ellis, one of Ireland’s most experienced law searching firms, to assist.
Use a Trusted Law Search Provider to Find Out Who Owns a Property in Ireland
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