Document
Officially certified copy of the registered title plan
Quick Answer
A Certified Map is an officially certified copy of the registered title plan, showing the registered extent of a Letterkenny property under official certification, and it is supplied together with the Certified Folio. Order it where somebody official has to rely on the plan. It certifies that the copy is true to the register at its date of issue; it does not make the mapped line conclusive.
Proving the registered extent of a Letterkenny property takes more than a printed plan once somebody official is relying on it. The Certified Map is the title plan issued under seal, and that certified copy is what carries weight with a planning authority, a lender or a court office.
Supply the Letterkenny 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 MapDocument
Officially certified copy of the registered title plan
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
A Certified Map is the sealed, certified copy of the registered title plan for a property. It shows the parcel as mapped, together with the certification that it is a true copy of the register as it stood on the date of issue.
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.
On Letterkenny property the practical question is usually what the plan covers rather than where exactly the line falls. Rapid modern development has created substantial recent folio stock, so establishing which registered parcel a plan relates to – and whether the holding runs to more than one – is frequently the substantive part of the work.
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 Letterkenny 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.
Start with what has been asked of you, because the wording usually gives it away. “Certified copy of the map”, “certified site extent” and “certified copy of the folio” all point to this order – the certified plan and the certified register entry are supplied together, so a request for either is covered. “Who owns it” and “what is registered against it” are folio search questions, answered electronically within 24 hours and at a fraction of the wait. Where nothing formal is being submitted and you simply want to see the shape of the Letterkenny parcel, the ordinary title map is enough.
| 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 Letterkenny address | The title is unregistered - start with a folio search | €32.99 |
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 Letterkenny 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.
Certified plans for Letterkenny property are ordered in a fairly narrow set of situations, and it is worth knowing which one you are in before ordering.
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.
Only need to see the extent for your own purposes? The ordinary title map does that without certification.
Order Certified MapIn practice, certified plans for Letterkenny property are requested by:
Letterkenny is best described as the largest town in Donegal, on the Swilly at the head of the lough, close to the frontier. What drives the local market is the commercial and hospital centre for the northwest, with cross-border trade, and that is where most of the mapping work comes from.
Two things complicate Letterkenny mapping more than most. One is cross-border interests, with many owners holding property on both sides of the line. The other is upland and bog holdings on the town fringe, carrying turbary and commonage entitlements.
The practical consequence for mapping is that a Letterkenny plan often needs reading rather than glancing at. Rapid modern development has created substantial recent folio stock, so the first question is usually which registered parcel the plan relates to and whether the holding runs to more than one.
The Certified Folio for Letterkenny is supplied with the map as one order - extent and register entry together.
Order Certified MapCertified Map: delivered by post within 15 working days, together with the Certified Folio, which is supplied as part of the same order. Both are sealed physical documents, so there is no electronic equivalent – the certification is what gives them standing and that has to travel on paper.
Where you need the information before the certified pack arrives, order a Folio Search alongside it. That comes back electronically within 24 hours and answers the ownership and burdens questions while the certified documents are still in the post.
Fast track delivery is available at an additional charge where the timeline is tight.
The certified title plan for a Letterkenny 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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Land Registry Online - Irish property records specialists processing folio, deeds and title searches nationwide