Folio Search Northern Ireland

[Demeter Exekutor]

Apriority search application under Section 81 may only be made where someone has contracted to purchase, take a lease of, or lend money on the security of a charge on, registered land. A priority search is not, as some practitioners appear to believe, an urgent version of a folio search. Rather it is a method by which an applicant can ensure the priority of his transaction, provided that he lodges the relevant papers within 40 days after the priority search application.

The application should be made by lodging two copies of Precedent 8.E - Priority search if the search relates to all of the land in a folio, or Precedent 8.F - Priority search on part of a folio if it relates to part of the land.

In case you cannot provide us with the property address or folio number you can use our digital map to find a land or property you would like us to search for.

This search reveals will provide the folio ifthe property is registered.

1. Griffith's Valuation (1847-1864) was a very comprehensive property tax survey published in different years for each county. Transcripts and record images are online free at www.askaboutireland.ie/. Transcripts and record images are also at the paying sites www.findmypast.ie and www.origins.net. Detailed maps accompanied the Valuation. Images of these, contemporary to the publication, appear on www.origins.net, but only for the 26 counties now in the Republic. Maps are available for all 32 counties on www.askaboutireland.ie/, but date from several decades after publication.

2. The Tithe Applotment Books (c. 1823-1838) record the names of those liable to pay tithes to local Church of Ireland clergymen. The tithes were payable by members of all denominations, not just members of the Church of Ireland, since the Church was an arm of the state. But it was only payable on some types of agricultural land, so the Books are much less comprehensive than Griffith's. The Tithe Books for the 26 counties of the Republic are free to search (transcripts with record images) at titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie.

3. The Landed Estate Court took on the process of selling estates that were effectively bankrupt and operated between 1850 and 1885. Its records are online at the subscription site www.findmypast.ie.

In 1867, an unnamed male child of a George Sommerville and Susan Sommerville nee Doran, was registered on the 17th September 1867. The informant of the birth was a Jane (her x mark) Boyle Present at birth residence Tummery? (no relationship was recorded on this record).

Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, "Civil Records," database with images, IrishGenealogy.ie ( : accessed 5 November 2018); digital image, birth registration of unnamed male Sommerville, born 10 September 1867, registered 17 September 1867; citing Group Registration ID 8384648; unidentified register, folio 158?, "Page 4," stamped no. 02276549, entry no. 6, recorded 23 October 1867 by John Todd, Registrar of Births and Deaths in the District of Irvinestown in the Union of Irvinestown in the Counties of Tyrone & Fermanagh, certifying that this is a true copy of the Registrar's Book of Births in the said District.

In 1879 AND in 1882, the births of two (2) daughters were registered to parents George Somerville and Susan Somerville nee Doran, whose residence was Corlaghdergan, Dromore, County Tyrone, Ireland. (albeit the townland name may have been spelt differently on both records). BUT this the same place that Jane Boyle was living (as per her death registration} when she died in 1881.

Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, "Civil Records," database with images, IrishGenealogy.ie ( : accessed 5 November 2018); digital image, birth registration of Mary Somerville, born 26 September 1879, registered 14 October 1879; citing Group Registration ID 11491216; unidentified register, folio 261?, "First Page," stamped no. 02061242, entry no. 17, recorded January 1880 by Joseph Marshall, Registrar of Births and Deaths in the District of Dromore in the Union of Omagh in the County of Tyrone, certifying that this is a true copy of the Registrar's Book of Births in the said District.

Robyn, you're off to a good start with this problem, but you're not yet at the point of being able to make an accurate identification of Jane Boyle. You have now 4 birth/baptism registrations and 1 death record. Reliable decisions can't be made from just b-m-d records. Every kind of record needs to be tested against other types of records, independently created. What other records exist for County Tyrone during her lifetime?

You've also noted a major issue with the alleged legitimacy of George: an unusual assertion made in a derivative source. As you say, you need the original record. If this were my problem, I'd also contact the compiler and ask for the evidence and reasoning behind his annotation. (Incidentally, when I went to the link that you give for George's birth registration, I get a database, rather than a set of record transcriptions, but I don't see any annotation about the legitimacy/illegitimacy. Am I missing something?)

Thank you Elizabeth and Aine Ni Donnghaile, who has been very helpful. Aine even managed to find the marriage record for George & Susan, that I had tried to locate in the past and hadn't (I know I am not good when looking in those RC registers).

When you look at the database I posted -web.com/IGPArchives/ire/tyrone/churches/kilskeery-bap.htm - if you scroll to the right of the entry, the compiler has made a note "Child not listed as illegitimate". Further down, there is an entry whose mother's name was CURRY, and he had noted "Parents listed as from Cluncandra (Cloncandra?). Child listed as illegitimate". Another one whose mother's maiden name was recorded as Brownlee, has been noted "Parents listed as from Dreigh. Child listed as illegitimate".

I think his reasoning is/was, it was uncommon to see the maiden name's of women - unless the child being baptised was illegitimate. In some entries it was recorded (child being illegitimate), but on some it was not. I guess he wanted to note this on George Somerville's entry, so researchers would not automatically assume he was, just because the mother's maiden name was recorded.

The problem is the lack of records available. Civil marriage records (for non-Catholics) are available from 1845, and from 1864 for all. One pretty much has to rely on church registers between these dates, and many registers did not survive the 1922 fire at the PRO in Dublin during the civil war. I am pretty fortunate, because most of the ones for the churches my ancestors attended, do exist - except one, which is in Dromore and a major loss for those researching in this area.

My late father shares DNA of 118.3 cMs across 5 segments with a great grandson of George Somerville and Susan Doran who is in the US, and of course my maiden name is Somerville and our family lived within the same Parish in Ireland as George and Susan did. My dade also has reasonable size matches, with other descendants of this line (between 38-88 cM).

I have researched 100's of Somerville families in Tyrone (& Fermanagh) over the past 8 years, in an effort to try to construct the different family groups, and hopefully connect one of them to my own one day. The 118.3 cM match to-date, is the best I have (besides known cousins here in Australia), so I would like to try and learn more about George and Susan, and the mysterious Jane Boyle.

A comment WRT to the 1922 fire - the Roman Catholic registers were not stored at the PROI, so none were not lost in that fire. There are other issues with RC registers, but they weren't burned in 1922.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,[m] is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland.[21][22] It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.[n][23] The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles.[24] Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,354 square miles (244,376 km2),[e][12] with an estimated population of nearly 67.6 million people in 2022.[13]

In 1707, the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland united under the Treaty of Union to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State, and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present name.

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The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.[o][32] The UK has three distinct jurisdictions; England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.[33] Since 1999, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own governments and parliaments which control various devolved matters.[34] The capital and largest city of the United Kingdom (as well as the capital of England) is London, with its wider metropolitan area being the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million.[35] The cities of Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively. Other major cities include Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds.

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