Document
Officially certified copy of the registered title plan
Order a Certified Map for a Donegal Property
Quick Answer
A Certified Map is an officially certified copy of the registered title plan, supplied together with the Certified Folio. For a Donegal property it is what is required wherever a registered extent has to be proved rather than simply seen. It answers what the register maps; it does not settle a boundary argument, which turns on the instruments and the evidence on the ground.
A Donegal planning application, a division of a holding or a query from a lender all reach the same requirement: certified evidence of the registered extent. The Certified Map supplies it, showing the parcel as mapped and certified true at its date of issue.
Supply the Donegal address or folio number. The certified title plan and the Certified Folio are issued together under seal and posted to you within 15 working days.
Buy Certified MapKey Facts
Supplied with
The Certified Folio - certified register entry included in the same order
Shows
The registered extent of the property, identified by plan reference
Delivery
By post within 15 working days
Format
Sealed physical document - no electronic version
Needed for
Planning applications, transfers of part, lending and court use
Boundaries
General boundaries - approximate, not conclusive
County register
County Donegal
Faster option
Folio Search delivered electronically within 24 hours
What Is This Document
The title plan shows the extent of registered land as the register maps it. A Certified Map is that plan reproduced and certified under seal as a true copy at a stated date, which is what allows a planning authority, a lender or a court to act on it without verifying it themselves.
The certificate speaks to one thing, and it is worth being precise about what. It states that this is a true copy of the registered map as at the date of issue – nothing more and nothing less. That is what allows a reader who did not obtain the document to act on it.
That distinction matters more than usual on Donegal ground, where the local complication is commonage and turbary rights across mountain and bog, registered as undivided shares. A line drawn against water records where that water reached when the survey was made, and where the feature has since moved, the plan and the ground describe different lines. No ordinary dealing corrects the plan for it.
A Certified Map is the document a planning authority, a solicitor, a lender or a court office will expect when a registered extent has to be proved, and for that purpose it does the job completely. What it does not do is settle an argument about precisely where a boundary lies, which is resolved through the registered instruments, the physical evidence and, where it comes to it, the courts.
This is the point most people get wrong about registered mapping, so it is worth stating plainly. It does not make the mapped line conclusive. Registration in Ireland operates on general boundaries: the line shows approximately where the division between two properties runs, and certifying the copy does not change that.
What follows from that is practical. The plan identifies the registered Donegal parcel and shows roughly what it covers, and for proving extent to a planning authority or a lender that is exactly enough. What it cannot do is answer a question about where the line sits to the metre: which side of it a wall stands on, whether a hedge was moved a decade ago, or how much ground a contested strip of access represents.
Those are resolved through the registered instruments, the physical evidence, agreement between neighbours, or the courts. There is a procedure for having a boundary conclusively fixed, but it requires precise mapping and the involvement of everyone affected, and it is rarely used. Assume the plan in front of you is a general boundaries plan, because almost certainly it is.
Which Document Do I Need
Order the Certified Map where the registered extent has to be proved to someone official – a planning application, a transfer of part, a lender, a court office. It is supplied together with the Certified Folio as a single order, so you receive the certified register entry and the certified plan together rather than having to choose between them. Order the ordinary title map where you simply want to see the extent for your own purposes and nothing is being submitted anywhere. Order the Folio Search where the question is ownership and burdens rather than extent, delivered electronically within 24 hours. And if a Donegal address returns no folio, the property is unregistered and no title plan exists to certify.
| Need | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
| You need certified evidence of the extent for a planning or formal application | Certified Map | €149.99 |
| You want to know who owns it and what burdens are registered | Folio Search, within 24 hours | €32.99 |
| You need the register entry itself in certified form | Included - the Certified Folio comes with this order | €149.99 |
| You need the wording of a burden or a past transfer | Instrument Copy | €349.99 |
| You just want to see the extent for your own information | Ordinary title map | — |
| No folio exists for the Donegal address | The title is unregistered - start with a folio search | €32.99 |
What Information Is Included
- Certification and seal: the official certification, with the date the copy was certified
- The registered parcel: outlined and identified by its plan reference
- Folio number and county: the title the plan relates to, in the County Donegal register
- Mapped extent: the registered land at the scale the plan is held
- Adjoining parcels: neighbouring registered land shown in context around it
- Mapped burdens: entries capable of being shown graphically, such as a mapped right of way
- Date of issue: the date the plan speaks to, which formal readers check before accepting it
- The Certified Folio: supplied with the map as one order, giving you the certified register entry – registered owner, class of title and burdens – alongside the certified plan
What Is Not Included
There are three situations where the certified plan will disappoint you, and it is better to know them in advance.
The first is a boundary argument. The plan shows the registered position, and that is useful, but general boundaries means it is evidence rather than proof. Where a Donegal boundary is genuinely in dispute, the answer comes from the registered instruments, the physical evidence on the ground, agreement between the parties, or the courts.
The second is the terms of a registered right. The plan shows where a right runs; it does not say what it permits. The certified folio supplied with it names the burden, but the wording lives in the registered instrument, which is a separate order.
The third is unregistered property. Where no folio has ever issued, there is no title plan to certify. A folio search against the address establishes which system the title sits in, within 24 hours.
Why People Order
Certified plans for Donegal property are ordered in a fairly narrow set of situations, and it is worth knowing which one you are in before ordering.
Coastal holdings raise the shoreline question directly. A plan drawn against a tide line records where that line sat when the survey was made, and shorelines move. Buyers, lenders and planners all want the certified plan in front of them before they rely on where the seaward edge appears to run.
Commonage adds a share in mapped ground held with others. Establishing which parcel the share attaches to, and proving it to a third party, is exactly the work the certified plan does.
- An estate where the extent of the deceased’s holding has to be proved to the beneficiaries.
- A right of way question, where a mapped burden has to be seen in its registered form.
- A development appraisal that needs the site area established from the register rather than estimated.
Need something faster while this is in the post? The Donegal Folio Search is delivered electronically within 24 hours.
Order Certified MapReal World Use Cases
These are the parties who most often need the certified plan for a Donegal property:
Architects and planning consultants: Site extent evidence for planning applications, and establishing what is registered before design work.
Farmers and landowners: Multi-parcel holdings, site transfers to family, sales of individual fields and lease arrangements.
Executors and personal representatives: Establishing and proving the extent of a deceased person’s registered holding.
Developers and site assemblers: Confirming the registered extent of an acquisition target before committing to it.
Lenders and valuers: Certified evidence of the property being taken as security or valued.
Surveyors and engineers: Establishing the registered position as the starting point for a measured survey.
Land Registry Context
Donegal is Atlantic peninsulas, mountain and bog, with Gaeltacht districts across the west of the county, and that shapes what the registered mapping looks like. The market is built on tourism, fishing and agriculture, with significant returning-emigrant and holiday-home ownership, and that shows in the volume of extent enquiries.
Anyone reading a Donegal plan tends to meet the same two points – commonage and turbary rights across mountain and bog, registered as undivided shares, and townlands recorded under Irish-language spellings that differ from the anglicised form on the postal address.
The practical consequence for mapping is that a Donegal plan often needs reading rather than glancing at. Registration reached parts of the county late, and land has frequently passed informally within families, so the first question is usually which registered parcel the plan relates to and whether the holding runs to more than one.
Common Mistakes
Treating the mapped line as the legal boundary – the most frequent error, and the reason many Donegal boundary discussions start from the wrong premise
Assuming a printed screenshot will be accepted – planning authorities and court offices ask for the certified version specifically
Ordering the plan when the question is ownership – that is the folio, not the map
Overlooking that a holding runs to several parcels – common on rural and multi-parcel titles
Measuring off the plan – it is not drawn to be scaled for legal purposes
Expecting to see the wording of a right of way – the plan shows where it runs, the instrument says what it permits
Relying on a plan issued years earlier – the certificate speaks to its date of issue
One order, two certified documents: the Donegal title plan and the certified register entry.
Order Certified MapHow To Order
- Tell us what you have – an address or Eircode is enough, and a folio number is faster
- We confirm the registered title and check whether the holding runs to more than one parcel
- The plan is obtained in certified form, under seal and dated
- You supply a postal address, since there is no electronic version of a sealed document
- The certified plan and the certified folio are issued together as a single order
- Posted within 15 working days, with fast track available where the timeline is tight
- Where no Donegal folio is found, we come back to you rather than proceeding
Turnaround & Delivery
Delivery is by post within 15 working days, and the Certified Folio is supplied alongside the map as one order. Because certification is applied to a physical document under seal, there is no electronic alternative – a scan of a certified map is simply a scan, and formal readers treat it as such.
Two things are worth doing if time is short. Order early, because 15 working days is roughly three calendar weeks. And order a Folio Search at the same time: it arrives electronically within 24 hours and answers ownership and burdens straight away.
Fast track delivery is available at an additional charge.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Certified Map for a Donegal property?
It is an officially certified copy of the registered title plan, issued under seal, showing the extent of the registered land. Certification means a planning authority, lender or court can rely on it as a true copy of the register as at its date of issue.
Does the Certified Map prove where my boundary is?
No, and this is the most important thing to understand about it. Ireland registers general boundaries, so the mapped line shows approximately where the division runs rather than fixing its exact legal position. The certified plan proves what the register maps - not where the boundary legally falls.
How long does a Certified Map for Donegal take?
Delivered by post within 15 working days. It is a sealed physical document, so there is no electronic version. Fast track delivery is available at an additional charge if the timeline is tight.
Can I get the Certified Map by email?
No. The certification and seal are what give the document its standing, and they only exist on the physical copy. If you need information quickly, order a Folio Search alongside it - that arrives electronically within 24 hours and covers ownership and burdens.
Do I need the folio number to order?
No. The Donegal property address is normally enough for us to identify the registered title. If you already have the folio number for the County Donegal register, supplying it will save a step.
Does the map show my commonage share?
It shows the commonage parcel as registered. The share itself is recorded on the folio in words. Establishing which parcel a share attaches to is exactly the kind of question the plan and folio answer together.
What is the difference between the Certified Map and the Certified Folio?
The folio is the register entry in words - registered owner, class of title and burdens. The map is the plan showing the extent of the ground. They answer different questions, and both are supplied together on this order, so you do not have to work out in advance which one the request was aimed at.
Do I get the folio as well as the map?
Yes. The Certified Folio is supplied with the Certified Map as a single order, so you receive the certified register entry for the Donegal property alongside the certified plan. Both arrive under seal, by post, within 15 working days.
My property is bounded by the sea. Where does the map put the boundary?
Against the tide line as it was surveyed. Shorelines move, and the register is not corrected for it, so the mapped edge and the present physical edge can differ. The general boundaries rule applies with particular force to a seaward edge.
Get Certified Evidence of the Donegal Extent
The certified title plan for a Donegal property, supplied with the Certified Folio as one order and posted within 15 working days. Fast track delivery available.
Order Certified MapProperty Records Team
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