Certificates There may be reason during the year to call upon the  church to have various certificates issued.
To enrol a child in a Catholic School, and for the enrolling of candidates for First Communion and Confirmation for example, it may be necessary t have a Baptismal Certificate written out in child’s name.
For marriage, both within and outside the parish, it will be necessary to have a new Baptism cert issued as well as one for Confirmation. These will be issued from the parishes where they took place.
You will also need a Letter of Freedom from each of the parishes where you have resided for more than six months after you have reached the age of eighteen.
These will be necessary to complete the Pre-Nuptial Form in preparation for your wedding.

In this parish all such records are held in the parish archive which is in the church, and not in the parish office or presbyteries.
When calling for such certificates it would be ideal to first call into the sacristy when it is opened for various services. Finbarr the sacristan will be only too ready to assist you. You may also call to the parish office where the necessary particulars can be taken and the certificate will be available to you the following day for collection or posting.

Preparing for Marriage: Church Documents

The documents required are:

 (1)   A Baptism Certificate issued within six months of the wedding date and in a form which includes the names of the person’s parents (known as ‘the long form’)

(2)   A Confirmation Certificate

(3)   A ‘letter of freedom’ from each parish where the person to be married has spent at least six months since his/her 18th birthday. This is a short letter from the respective parish, stating the term of residence there (month/year to month/year) and confirming no evidence of any record which would deny freedom to marry

(4)   A completed Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form. This is the main legal document completed by the priests in the two relevant domicile parishes of the couple.

 (5)   Inter-church marriage and marriage between a Catholic and a non-baptised person will require further documentation. The advice here is that couples should be aware at an early stage in preparation of what will be involved in  seeking the Church’s permission and blessing. The priest will inform them of whatever dispensations are needed. It is important that a couple have the backing of both religious traditions in an inter-church marriage.

 (6)   International marriages celebrated on the Continent call for specific evidence of completion of a pre-marriage course in many cases. Local practice is generally upheld also even to the point where in some countries a Catholic may not marry in other than a Catholic church and permission to do otherwise may not be granted as freely as here in Ireland. Some civil documentation will be required from the Department of External Affairs for marriages celebrated abroad.

Civil Docs    Church Docs

Marriage
Planning a Marriage Celebration-Civil Changes
People will be aware that changes in legislation last November have implications for couples preparing for marriage in the Republic. Each couple must arrange to meet in person a civil registrar at least three months before the wedding to give  notice of their intention to marry. A fee of €150 is charged by the registrar’s office. In advance of meeting the registrar, the couple is asked to meet  their local priest, book the church and know the name of the priest who will celebrate the marriage. The State keeps a register of persons permitted to officiate at weddings known officially as ‘solemnisers’. Priests not resident in Ireland will not be on that list so  will need to seek State recognition through the Diocesan Office. The couple’s local priest will assist with this process. At the meeting with the registrar the couple receives the Marriage Registration Form (MRF). The couple is asked to show the MRF to the priest (solemniser) to check that details are correct and to ensure that it is presented at the church before the wedding. Without presentation of this document no Marriage can take place in the State. Within 48 hours of the wedding the couple must make a verbal declaration of no civil impediment in front of the solemniser and the two witnesses .  The appropriately signed MRF document must be returned by the couple no later than one month after the wedding. June 2008

Preparing for Marriage; Church Documents
Last week we published the civil requirements of the State with regard to Marriage. This week we give some details of the Church’s requirements:

When a couple preparing for marriage have contacted the registry of marriage they already have established the place and date of their marriage as well as the name of the priest/person who is to officiate, known in the State’s language as the ‘solemniser’. Contact with the registry office must be made at least three months before the wedding date and there is often a waiting list before the appointment with the registrar is actualised.

On another line of preparation those whose marriage is to be celebrated in the Church must satisfy church requirements. Every Catholic, regardless of whether his/her partner is Catholic or not, must present documentation, without which a marriage will not be recognised as valid by the Church. Between six and not less than three months before the wedding, contact should be made with the priest who is responsible for the gathering/preparation of these documents and the preparation of the couple. Couples are often confused as to who this priest may be. Normally, it is the priest of the bride’s domicile, the priest of the parish where she is presently resident for at least six months.

The groom will likewise at this time make contact with the priest of his domicile parish who will, after preparation of the necessary documents forward them to the priest in the bride’s parish. Where only one of the couple is Catholic, it is the priest of the Catholic partner’s parish who prepares the documents for both. Once all the necessary documentation is assembled, the priest forwards the documents to the parish where the marriage is to take place, if it’s other than the bride’s present parish. Sometimes pastoral reasons may call for an alternative approach but it should always be with the knowledge and approval of the priest canonically obliged-the priest in the Catholic bride’s present parish. It should also be recognised that one’s parish for these purposes is identified in terms of residency and geographical boundaries even though for living faith and worship purposes one may for years belong happily in a different parish community.