International adoption country guide
Ireland: adoption records and family tracing
Practical guidance for adoptees based in the UK who were adopted in Ireland, were born there and adopted in the UK, or have a birth parent from there.
Research last refreshed: September 2026
Ask the Adoptee Rights Assistant
Start by identifying the records and rules that apply
Historic institutions, illegal birth registration and boarded-out/nursed-out cases have their own coverage under the 2022 framework.
Applications can be made from outside Ireland. AAI expressly states that its birth-information service is free to people resident anywhere in the world. Tusla publishes a telephone number for callers outside Ireland and accepts online/postal trace applications.
Check the current procedure before applyingThis guide explains the likely process, but forms, contact details, eligibility and access rules can change. Check the linked source before sending identity documents or paying a fee.
Choose the situation that describes you
Adopted in Ireland
What applies: First establish the date and place of the legal adoption in Ireland, and identify the original birth/civil, adoption, court, agency or welfare records separately.
How to look for records: Use the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 procedures through the Adoption Authority/Tusla for records, tracing and the Contact Preference Register.
How to look for family: Use the statutory Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 system. Eligible people can obtain birth, early-life, care and medical information and can separately or simultaneously apply for a tracing service. Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland divide tracing work according to where the records are held. A person adopted in Ireland or born in Ireland and adopted abroad can use the statutory tracing process.
Important: Do not assume that access to one Ireland record repository gives access to the whole adoption file. Historic law and record survival may differ from the current adult process.
Born in Ireland and brought to the UK to be adopted
What applies: First establish whether the legal adoption was completed in Ireland or in the UK. If that is unknown, keep both procedures open rather than assuming where the adoption order was made.
How to look for records: Use the Ireland birth/civil and before adoption record procedures described for this country, while separately tracing the UK adoption/receiving-agency, local authority, court and immigration trail.
How to look for family: Use the statutory Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 system. Eligible people can obtain birth, early-life, care and medical information and can separately or simultaneously apply for a tracing service. Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland divide tracing work according to where the records are held. A person adopted in Ireland or born in Ireland and adopted abroad can use the statutory tracing process.
Important: The original birth-country record and the later UK adoption/recognition record are different sources. Nationality of the adopters does not determine where the original birth record is held.
One parent was from Ireland
What applies: Do not process this as an intercountry-adoption record case unless the user's own adoption occurred there. Start with the verified identity of the parent and the strongest known place/date in Ireland.
How to look for records: Use civil registration, archives and genealogy resources for Ireland once the parent's identity and locality are established. Adoption-specific authorities are relevant only if the parent's own adoption/history makes them so.
How to look for family: Use the statutory Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 system. Eligible people can obtain birth, early-life, care and medical information and can separately or simultaneously apply for a tracing service. Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland divide tracing work according to where the records are held. A person adopted in Ireland or born in Ireland and adopted abroad can use the statutory tracing process.
Important: A parent being from this country does not by itself create an entitlement to adoption records. Living-person privacy and civil registration access rules may restrict what can be obtained.
Records and family finding
Start with records
Use the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 procedures through the Adoption Authority/Tusla for records, tracing and the Contact Preference Register.
Looking for family
Use the statutory Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 system. Eligible people can obtain birth, early-life, care and medical information and can separately or simultaneously apply for a tracing service. Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland divide tracing work according to where the records are held. A person adopted in Ireland or born in Ireland and adopted abroad can use the statutory tracing process.
DNA
Use DNA as a separate source of evidence, not as proof by itself. Prefer multiple matches/shared match analysis plus documentary evidence. Country-specific DNA programmes are listed where verified.
Peer support
Peer and counselling support should be presented separately from the statutory trace. Tusla offers counselling/support, and independent adoptee organisations can be added as secondary resources after live verification.
Practical next steps
If you have no namesApply for both information and tracing if eligible; the same application can request both. There is no need to wait for one to finish before starting the other.
If you have a name or placeUse the verified name plus place/date to move into civil registration, archives, genealogy databases, local history and specialist tracing processs.
If the search has stalledIf the exact date/name is uncertain, the statutory system still allows applications; explain uncertainty rather than abandoning the search. Also consider illegal-registration, boarded-out/nursed-out or institutional-care categories where relevant.
Verified sources and resources
Official services and independent or adoptee-led resources are shown separately. Check current eligibility, security, costs and capacity before supplying personal information.
Official records and authorities
Birth-to-18 records held by AAI, without need for solicitor
Things to check: Information available depends on records actually held
Other verified resources
Statutory tracing, intercountry/domestic procedures, contact preferences
Things to check: Eligibility and record holder process depend on case
Tracing for adoptees including people born in Ireland and adopted outside the state; Tusla/AAI allocation by record holder
Things to check: Applies under Birth Information and Tracing Act categories
Records, tracing, contact preferences
Things to check: Applies to statutory eligible categories
Statutory birth information and tracing, counselling/support and contact-preference procedures
Things to check: Eligibility categories and age thresholds must be applied correctly
This country guide provides general information, not legal advice or a tracing service. Records and family finding across borders can involve privacy, consent and personal safety considerations. Verify the current official procedure before acting.
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