A court ruling, granting an international footballer and his fiancee legal recognition of their looming humanist wedding, is to be appealed.

The entire world can now view the birth, marriage and death certificates of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean as his records along with 12.5m others have been made available online for the first time.

General registrars are increasingly being dragged into legal proceedings, while new figures also indicate that the number of registered births has fallen for the fourth year in a row.

Up to a third of infants died in mother and baby homes in Dublin, Tipperary and Cork in 1933.

THE SIGN next to the lift in the General Register Office (GRO) in Dublin says it all: “Due to an unprecedented increase in customers accessing the genealogy services it may be necessary to close the office at times.”

IRELAND’S first civil partnership ceremony between a same-sex couple took place two weeks ago.

THERE is currently a boom in genealogy in Ireland and abroad as witnessed by the growing numbers flocking to record offices.

CAROL O’KEEFFE has known from a young age she was adopted.

THE Ombudsman has called for the introduction of guidelines for people who are required to give evidence of divorces obtained abroad to the General Register Office.

The State office that registers all births, deaths, marriages and adoptions today got a stinging rebuke from the Ombudsman.

A small Highland town was today preparing to host a second celebrity wedding after racing driver Dario Franchitti and Hollywood actress Ashley Judd formally gave notice of their intention to marry there.