Solicitors: Practitioners order across the whole catalogue and are the main users of instrument copies, because the terms of a burden are what a client actually needs advice on and the folio only records that the burden exists.
Order Land Registry Documents in Ireland
Quick Answer
Land registry documents in Ireland cover the folio, the title map, certified versions of both, and copies of the instruments lodged against a property. Which one you need depends on the question you are answering rather than on the property itself. Ordering the wrong document is the commonest and most avoidable expense in a title investigation.
The Property Registration Authority holds several different records for a registered property, and they answer different questions. Knowing which to order – and when a certified version is required – saves both money and a return trip.
What Is This Document
There is no single land registry document. There is a catalogue, and each item in it answers something the others do not.
The folio is the register entry: the registered owner, the Nature of Title, and the burdens affecting the land. The title map is the plan showing which parcel that folio describes. Certified versions of either carry a certificate under the seal of the Property Registration Authority stating that they are true copies as at their date, which is what gives them standing with a lender, another solicitor or a court. An instrument copy is a copy of a document actually lodged – a transfer, a charge, a deed of grant – and it is where the terms behind a Part III burden are written out.
Choosing between them is a matter of matching document to question. If you want to know who owns a property, the folio answers it. If you want to know where the registered land sits, you need the map as well. If you need to prove either to someone who will not take your word for it, you need certification. If you need to know how wide a right of way is, who maintains it and what it permits, none of those will tell you and the instrument copy will.
One threshold question sits in front of all of it. These documents exist for registered land. Where a property has never been registered, no folio and no title map exist, and the title is recorded in deeds at the Registry of Deeds instead – a different register, searched differently, returning memorials rather than a folio. Establishing which system holds the title is the first step rather than an afterthought.
Which Document Do I Need
Different questions need different documents:
| Need | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Find out who owns a property | Folio Search | €32.99 |
| See ownership, burdens and mapped extent | Folio and Map | €57.99 |
| Prove the register entry to a lender, solicitor or court | Certified Folio | €149.99 |
| Produce a certified plan of the registered extent | Certified Map | €149.99 |
| Read the terms of a right of way, charge or covenant | Instrument Copy | €349.99 |
What Information Is Included
Across the catalogue you can obtain:
- The registered owner or owners, with the date of registration
- The Nature of Title – absolute, qualified, possessory or good leasehold
- The property description in Part I, by townland and county, with the plan reference
- Every burden registered in Part III, including charges, rights of way, wayleaves and covenants
- The Land Registry map showing the parcel the folio describes
- Certification under seal, where evidential standing is required
- Copies of the instruments lodged against the folio, setting out the terms behind each burden
- The folio number and county, which identify the property on every subsequent order
What Is Not Included
Land Registry documents establish registered ownership, title class, burdens and approximate extent. They do not disclose unregistered interests, determine an exact boundary, cover land that has never been registered, or say anything about planning permission, enforcement history, building condition or flood risk. Those require a Registry of Deeds search, a planning search, a surveyor, or the relevant local authority.
Why People Order
- Investigating title before a purchase: A purchaser’s solicitor works through folio, map and frequently the instruments before advising, and each is ordered separately.
- Certifying title to a lender: Security work needs certified copies on the file rather than information printed from a search.
- Selling a property: Assembling the registered position before requisitions arrive removes the commonest source of delay in a sale.
- Administering an estate: Executors prove registered ownership to the Probate Office and to banks, which frequently means certified copies for each holding.
- Resolving a right of way dispute: The folio shows the burden exists and the instrument copy shows what it actually permits, so both are usually needed.
- Separating a site from a larger holding: The existing folio and map establish the position before a new folio is created for the site.
- Checking a charge has been discharged: Owners order the folio to confirm that a paid-off mortgage has actually been removed from Part III.
- Assembling a development site: Options and contracts turn on exactly what each folio covers and what is registered against it.
- Establishing whether land is registered: Where no folio exists, the search moves to the Registry of Deeds, and knowing that early avoids a series of wasted orders.
- Replying to requisitions on title: A vendor’s solicitor works through the registered position document by document, and having each to hand shortens the exchange considerably.
Real World Use Cases
Home Buyers and Sellers: Most residential transactions need the folio and map, with certification added where a lender asks for it. Ordering early keeps discoveries negotiable rather than turning them into a crisis close to completion.
Lenders and Banks: Institutions taking security want certified evidence of ownership, title class and burdens before releasing funds, and the Nature of Title in Part II is frequently what determines their approach.
Executors and Personal Representatives: Establishing what a deceased person owned, and proving it, usually needs certified copies for each holding rather than information copies, particularly where several properties are involved.
Farmers and Landowners: Holdings assembled over generations span several folios, and a full picture means ordering each, with instrument copies where turbary, grazing or access rights are registered.
Developers and Investors: Due diligence begins with the register and moves quickly to the instruments, since wayleaves, covenants and access rights are what govern whether a site can carry the scheme intended for it rather than a smaller one.
Land Registry Context
Ireland runs two separate systems for recording interests in land, and knowing which one holds a given title is the first question in any order.
The Land Registry maintains folios – a state record of title, conclusive as to the registered owner’s title subject to registered burdens and to certain interests that bind registered land without appearing on the register. This is the system that produces folios, title maps and certified copies of both. The Registry of Deeds is much older and does something quite different: it records memorials of deeds affecting unregistered land, and registration there governs priority between competing instruments rather than guaranteeing anyone’s title. A search of that register returns a list of recorded deeds, from which the title must then be built.
The boundary between the two has been moving in one direction for a century. Compulsory first registration was introduced county by county over several decades, requiring registration on sale, and it was extended to Dublin and Cork on 1 June 2011, completing its application across the State. The overwhelming majority of the land area is now registered. What remains unregistered is largely property that has not been sold since compulsory registration reached its county – long-held family land, in particular, and holdings passed within families without formal dealings being lodged.
Within the registered system, folio numbering is organised by county, a legacy of the paper record that persists in the digital one. The same number exists in most counties, so a folio number without its county is an incomplete reference and an order placed on it will return the wrong property.
Two further limits apply to everything the Land Registry issues. The general boundaries rule means the mapped line shows the division approximately and the register is not conclusive as to its exact position. And any copy, certified or not, speaks only as at its date of issue, so a dealing lodged afterwards will not appear on it.
Common Mistakes
Ordering a certified copy when information is all that is needed: Certification adds evidential standing rather than content. If nobody is going to require proof, an ordinary folio or folio and map answers the same question for less – /folio-search/dublin/.
Expecting the folio to set out the terms of a burden: Part III records that a right of way, covenant or charge exists and identifies the instrument behind it. The route, width, permitted use and maintenance obligations are in that instrument, ordered separately as an instrument copy – /instrument-copy/dublin/.
Quoting a folio number without the county: Folio numbering is organised by county and the same number exists in most of them, so a number supplied alone returns the wrong property or nothing at all.
Assuming every property has a folio: Land that has not been sold since compulsory registration reached its county may never have been registered. No folio or title map exists for it, and the title is recorded in deeds at the Registry of Deeds instead.
Relying on a copy taken months earlier: Any copy of the register, certified or not, speaks as at its date of issue. Dealings lodged afterwards do not appear on it, so a document obtained early in a transaction may no longer reflect the register by the time it completes.
How To Order
Send the address and Eircode of the property, or the folio number together with its county, and say what you are trying to establish. That last part matters more here than anywhere else, because the right document depends on the question rather than on the property.
If a lender, solicitor or court office has asked for something specific, quote their wording. It is usually the quickest way to identify whether certification is required and how many copies are worth ordering.
For agricultural land, a townland name and an approximate acreage identify a holding more reliably than a postal address, and it helps to say if the land is spread across more than one parcel.
Turnaround & Delivery
Uncertified documents – folios, title maps and instrument copies – are supplied electronically to the email address you provide. Certified copies are a different matter: the certificate is applied to the document itself under seal, so those are prepared as hard copies and posted.
Every order is checked against the property you described before it is sent. Where the property cannot be identified, or the land proves to be unregistered so that no folio exists, we contact you first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which land registry document do I actually need?
It depends on the question. Ownership and burdens come from the folio, extent from the title map, proof for a lender or court from a certified copy, and the terms of a right of way or covenant from the instrument copy. Tell us what you are establishing and we will confirm.
What is the difference between the two registries?
The Land Registry maintains folios and guarantees the registered owner's title subject to registered burdens. The Registry of Deeds records memorials of deeds affecting unregistered land and governs priority between instruments rather than guaranteeing title. Only the first produces folios.
Do I need a folio number to order?
No. The address and Eircode are enough for our team to identify the property and locate the folio. If you do have a number, include its county - folio numbering is organised by county and the same number exists in most of them.
When is a certified copy required?
When someone else has to rely on the document - a lender releasing funds, a solicitor certifying title, a court office, or the Probate Office. For your own information an ordinary copy carries the same content at lower cost.
What if the property is not registered?
Then no folio or title map exists. Title to unregistered land is recorded in deeds at the Registry of Deeds, and the search moves there instead. This is most common with long-held family land that has not been sold in recent decades.
Does the title map fix my boundary?
No. Ireland operates a general boundaries system, so the mapped line shows the division between properties approximately and the register is not conclusive as to its exact position. Boundary questions are settled through the instruments and physical evidence.
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