Resources

Ellis & Ellis are frequently approached by clients requesting our expertise in researching the ownership of properties in Ireland. The reasons for seeking ownership details can by manifold from tort (slip, fall or injury), commercial interest (purchase), asset discovery (debt recovery), or evidentiary (chain of title for conveyancing, right of way) purposes and so on. By way of providing a greater appreciation of our company’s offering, we have elaborated (below) on some of the repositories visited, resources accessed, methodologies applied, and display our deep sectoral knowledge in meeting these needs for our clients.  Land Records in Ireland – Repositories for

What is the General Register Office (GRO)? In 1845, under the Marriages (Ireland) Act 1844, legislation was enacted to regulate the solemnisation and registration of Protestant and civil marriages in Ireland. This act led to the establishment of the General Register Office (GRO) and the appointment of a Registrar General to oversee the registration. system. In 1864, in a drive to centralise and standardise vital records, the scope of registration was expanded to include births, deaths, and Roman Catholic marriages. Over the intervening 160 or so years the General Register Office (GRO), which today operates under the auspice of the

What are Mapping Searches? At present in Ireland, there are two extant systems (The Registry of Deeds and The Land Registry)dealing with transactions in relation to property. Both now come under the authority of Tailte Éireann (Irish Lands), a state agency with overall responsibility for property registrations, property valuation and national mapping services. While the precursory Registry of Deeds (Est. 1708), originally offered parties a place ‘…to register and file memorials of deeds or transfers of unregistered land (*) …’, it has been gradually wound down over time in favour of the Land Registry. The Land Registry is now the

What are Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) Searches? As part of the ‘Government’s Housing For All’ programme, a new annual tax called the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) was introduced under the Finance Act 2021, and is scheduled to come into practical effect on 1st February 2025. As part of a broader approach to tackling the prevailing housing crisis, the intended purpose of the tax was to discourage the hoarding and profiting from undeveloped yet residentially zoned land, and to concurrently stimulate the building of residential properties on said sites. As such, liability for this annually recurring tax (3% of

What are Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) Searches? At a time of ever-increasing rental costs, and as part of a governmental approach to making rented accommodation generally more affordable, Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ) were initially introduced on 24 th December 2016, and have since been extended under the Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021. This special RPZ zoning was intended to identify areas where rents were highest and still rising. The regulations were intended, should a premises fall within an RPZ, to place certain upward-only restrictions on chargeable rents. Currently under the legislation, any private rented property in a RPZ had

What are Register of Shipping Searches? A division of the Department of Transport and operating under the Irish Maritime Administration (IMA), the Marine Survey Office (MSO) is responsible for port/ flag state (i.e. the jurisdiction under whose laws the vessel is registered or licensed) regulatory control in Ireland.  These duties and responsibilities as the maritime transport regulator include ‘…the safety, security, environmental protection and living and working conditions for vessels and ports in Ireland and Irish ships abroad’. However, one of the other functions of MSO Administration is the issuing of Vessel Certificates. As such, and as a function of

Intellectual Property – a brief understanding In as much as physical objects like land, houses, vehicles, and other goods can be owned by an individual or a legal entity, it is also the case that original creative processes or innovations can be owned.  Copyright aside, certain types of intellectual property (IP) still necessitate a formal application and evaluation process for ownership rights to be legally established. The ultimate intention of the registration of IP is to protect both the tangible financial rights and the intangible (reputational) value inherent in those novel assets.  The Intellectual Property Office of Ireland IPOI (previously

What is a Credit Union search in the context of a conveyance?  Credit Unions bear many similarities to Friendly Societies which are often characterised as associations of ‘mutual aid.’ Initially formed on a voluntary basis, friendly societies’ primary purpose was to ‘…safeguard members from debts arising from illness, death, or old age.’ Over time some Victorian friendly societies evolved into insurance companies, trade unions, industrial and provident societies, and various groups fostering specific activities or interests. Gradually, in their own way, credit unions would co-evolve within the spirit of the co-operative identity, i.e., the principles of ‘ ‘…self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality,