Irish Dog Licence Registers

If you’re a family historian with Irish connections, dogs really are man’s best friend

Since few census records (even just transcriptions rather than images) are available for dates before 1901, anyone with Irish ancestry should check these registers of dog licences. If your ancestor kept a dog, you may find a record of the licence here. The records not only show full details of the dog (including the breed, colour and sex), but include the name and address of the owner (including the county that the owner lived in) – similar to a census. They also reveal the year and date of the licence. A surprising use for this collection is that the records can reveal something of the home or working life of the dog owner. For example, mastiffs traditionally worked with gamekeepers, but in later years were often bought by their owners to be guard dogs. On the other hand, breeds such as the Newfoundland were popular with those who lived near water, while terriers were often found in homes where protection from vermin was required. Investigating the breed of dog, therefore, can reveal information about your forebear’s personality and lifestyle that you might not be able to find anywhere else.

This set of records dates back to 1886 when dog licences were first issued by the courts of petty sessions, and helped to identify the owners of lost or dangerous dogs. The registers can be searched at Ancestry ( bit.ly/ anc-ireland-dog-licences) and are also on Findmypast ( bit.ly/ fmp-ireland-dog-licences).