The Land Registry (now part of Tailte Éireann) is a system that provides a State-guaranteed title to property in Ireland. It is a separate system from the Registry of Deeds, which records the existence of deeds and conveyances affecting unregistered property.
Registered Land: The title to the property has been officially registered in the Land Registry, meaning there is no need to consult the Registry of Deeds
Unregistered Land: The title is not yet registered in the Land Registry. Property transactions for unregistered land are recorded in the Registry of Deeds, and failure to register a document there may result in a loss of priority
Property title is the legal way of saying you own property or land. Property deeds are the legal documents used to transfer the ownership of property from one person to another.
If you are buying or selling a property you will come across these terms. However, usually your solicitor will look after:
Recording the property transaction
Changing ownership of the property
Recording property transactions
There are 2 separate systems for recording property transactions:
The Land Registry system is where property ownership (or title) is registered, and property deeds are filed.
The Registry of Deeds system records the existence of deeds and conveyances for unregistered property. (Unregistered property is property where the title is not registered with the Land Registry.)
Property registration in Ireland is gradually moving away from the older system that records deeds in the Registry of Deeds to the title registration system at the Land Registry.
Since June 2011, it is compulsory for unregistered property purchased in Ireland to be registered with the Land Registry. Currently, almost 90% of the legal titles in Ireland are now registered in the Land Registry.
A Land Registry folio (also known as a Title Folio) is the official record of a property held by the Irish Land Registry. It confirms who legally owns the property and outlines important information such as mortgages, rights of way, or other burdens registered against it.
Registering property ownership with the Land Registry
When title or ownership of property is registered with the Land Registry, the Land Registry files the deeds and enters details about the property and its ownership on folios.
A folio:
Describes the registered property
Refers to a plan on the Land Registry maps
Gives the name and address of the registered owner
Describes any burdens on the property, for example, rights of way, fishing rights or mortgages
Property registered at the Land Registry on a folio is known as registered land. The folio is guaranteed by the State to be a confirmed record of the ownership of the property. Applications to register title must be made by qualified legal practitioners.
Land Registry maps
The Land Registry maintains maps or title plans of property described in its registers.
These maps do not indicate if a boundary includes a hedge, wall or ditch, so the registers are not conclusive on boundaries.
If you have a dispute about a property boundary, you should try and resolve it with the other person involved. If you cannot reach an agreement on the boundaries, the courts will decide.
You can obtain a certified copy of a Folio, which contains the property's ownership details and any burdens or charges on the title. You can also obtain a certified copy of a Folio with an official Title Plan (map) attached, which shows the property outlined and may include special features like appurtenant rights of way
No. The Land Registry operates under a non-conclusive boundary system. This means that the description of the land in the register and its identification on the Title Plan are not legally conclusive as to the exact boundaries or extent of the land
The National Land Register can be searched using a variety of methods to find a property, including by Address, Street, Townland, Coordinates, or Eircode or you can use our map search facility.
If a property has not been registered in the Land Registry, it will not have a folio number and falls under the Registry of Deeds system.
Compulsory registration was rolled out in stages across Ireland—for instance, Longford, Roscommon, and Westmeath in 2006, Clare, Kilkenny, Louth, Sligo, Wexford, and Wicklow in 2008, and Cork and Dublin in 2011.
If your property has not changed hands since compulsory registration was introduced in your county, it may still be unregistered.