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MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - LONG TITLE

An Act for Marriages in Ireland; and for registering such
Marriages.{1}
[9th August 1844]
Preamble rep. by SLR 1891[

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 1
Rules prescribed by rubrick as to marriages to be observed.

1.] ... all the rules prescribed by the rubrick concerning the
solemnizing of marriages shall continue to be duly observed, except
as herein-after provided, by every person in holy orders of the
United Church of England and Ireland who shall solemnize any
marriage in Ireland: Provided always, that the giving of notice to
the registrar and the issue of the registrar's certificate for
marriage without licence, as herein-after mentioned, may be used and
shall stand instead of the publication of banns, to all intents and
purposes, where no such publication shall have been made; and every
person in holy orders of the United Church of England and Ireland
shall be bound to solemnize marriage on production of such
certificate, in like manner as he is required to do, by any law
or canon now in force, after due publication of banns, so
nevertheless that the church wherein any marriage according to the
rites of the United Church of England and Ireland shall so be
solemnized shall be within the district of the registrar by whom
such certificate as aforesaid shall have been issued.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 2
Nothing herein to affect special licences.

2. Nothing in this Act contained shall affect the right of the
archbishop of Armagh and his successors, and his and their proper
officers, to grant special licences to marry at any convenient time
or place, ....

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 3
Roman Catholic marriages not affected.

3. Nothing in this Act contained shall affect any marriages by any
Roman Catholic priest which may now be lawfully celebrated, nor
extend to the registration of any Roman Catholic chapel, but such
marriages may continue to be celebrated in the same manner and
subject to the same limitations and restrictions as if this Act had
not been passed.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 4
Marriages between parties, one or both of whom are Presbyterians,
may be solemnized in certified meeting houses under conditions herein
prescribed.

4. Marriages between parties, both of whom are Presbyterians, may be
solemnized according to the forms used by Presbyterians, either by
the licence of a Presbyterian minister, or by publication of banns,
as herein-after respectively mentioned, in meeting houses to be
certified as herein-after mentioned, between the hours of eight in
the morning and [six in the afternoon], with open doors, and in
the presence of two or more credible witnesses; and marriages
between parties, of whom one only is a Presbyterian may be
solemnized according to the same forms, by such licence of a
Presbyterian minister, in such meeting houses, between the same
hours, with open doors, and in the presence of two or more
credible witnesses; provided that in either case there be no lawful
impediment to the marriage of such parties.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 5
Banns to be published in case of marriage of Presbyterians otherwise
than by licence.

5. ... in every case in which a marriage shall be proposed to be
solemnized by a Presbyterian minister between two Presbyterians,
otherwise than by licence, banns of matrimony shall be published by
or in the presence of a Presbyterian minister in the Presbyterian
meeting house, certified as herein-after is mentioned, frequented by
the congregation of which the parties to be married shall be
members, upon three Sundays preceding the solemnization of the
marriage, during the time of divine service, and any such marriage
by a Presbyterian minister shall be solemnized in such meeting
house, and not elsewhere; and whenever it shall happen that the
parties to be married by a Presbyterian minister shall be members
of different congregations the banns shall in like manner be
published in the certified Presbyterian meeting house frequented by
the congregation of which each of the parties to be married shall
be a member; and in every such last-mentioned case of publication
of banns the Presbyterian minister by or in whose presence such
banns shall be published shall, in writing under his hand, certify
the publication thereof; and any such marriage by a Presbyterian
minister shall be solemnized in one of the certified Presbyterian
meeting houses where such banns shall have been published, and in
no other place whatsoever; and before such marriage shall be
solemnized the certificate of the Presbyterian minister by whom or
in whose presence the banns shall have been published in the other
certified meeting house shall be delivered to the Presbyterian
minister solemnizing such marriage.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 6
Notice of the names, places of abode, congregation, and time of
residence of the parties to be given to the minister six days
before publication of banns.

6. No Presbyterian minister shall publish or allow to be published
any banns of matrimony in any Presbyterian meeting house of which
he is minister, unless the persons to be married shall, six days
at the least before the time required for the first publication of
such banns, deliver or cause to be delivered to such Presbyterian
minister a notice in writing of their true christian and surnames,
and of the congregation or congregations of which they shall
respectively be members, and of the house or houses of their
respective abodes, and of the time during which they have dwelt,
inhabited, or lodged, in such house or houses respectively.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 7
Each presbytery to appoint ministers to certify meeting houses.

7. Each presbytery of Presbyterians in Ireland may from time to
time, subject to the approbation of the lord lieutenant, appoint one
or more ministers, who shall certify to the registrar herein-after
mentioned that the meeting house to be described in every such
certificate is within such presbytery, and is used as a place of
public religious worship by Presbyterians in connexion with such
presbytery; and such minister shall deliver to the registrar such
certificate, signed in duplicate by him; and the registrar shall
send both certificates to the registrar general, who shall cause
such meeting house to be registered accordingly in a book to be
kept for that purpose at the general register office herein-after
mentioned; and the registrar general shall cause to be endorsed on
both certificates the date of the registry, and shall keep one
certificate with the other records of the general register office,
and shall return the other certificate to the registrar, who shall
keep the same with the other records of his office; and the
registrar shall enter the date of the registry of such meeting
house in a book to be furnished to him for that purpose by the
registrar general, and shall give a certificate of such registry,
under his hand, on parchment or vellum, to the minister by whom
the certificates shall have been signed, and shall give public
notice of the registry thereof, by advertisement in some newspaper
circulating within the county, and in the [Belfast Gazette]; and for
every such entry, certificate, and publication the registrar shall
receive at the time of delivery to him of the certificates [the
prescribed fee]; and every such minister shall continue to exercise
the powers given to him by this Act during the pleasure of the
lord lieutenant.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 8
Such ministers to grant licences in form in schedule (C).

8. Every such minister so appointed and approved as aforesaid shall
have authority to grant licences for marriage in any Presbyterian
meeting house certified as aforesaid within his presbytery, in the
form of schedule (C) to this Act annexed, and for every such
licence shall be entitled to have of the party requiring the same
[the prescribed fee]; and in any case in which such minister shall
refuse to grant such licence the person applying for the same shall
be entitled to appeal to the presbytery by which such minister
shall have been appointed, which shall thereupon either confirm the
refusal or direct the grant of the licence; and every such
Presbyterian minister shall four times in every year, on such days
as shall be appointed by the registrar general, make a return to
the registrar general of every licence granted by him since his
last return, and of the particulars stated concerning the parties:
Provided always, that no such minister shall grant any such licence
until he shall have given security by his bond in the sum of one
hundred pounds to the registrar general for the due and faithful
execution of his office.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 9
Before licence granted one of the parties to appear before the
minister, and to take an oath, &c. as to certain particulars.

9. Before any licence for marriage as last aforesaid shall be
granted by any such Presbyterian minister one of the parties
intending marriage shall appear personally before such minister, and
such party shall make and subscribe an oath, or a solemn
affirmation or declaration instead of taking an oath, which oath,
affirmation, or declaration such minister is hereby authorised to
administer, that he or she believeth that there is not any
impediment of kindred or alliance or other lawful hindrance to the
said marriage, and that one of the said parties hath for the space
of fifteen days immediately before the day of the grant of such
licence had his or her usual place of abode within the presbytery
within which the marriage is to be solemnized, and that they are
both of the full age of [eighteen] years, or, when either of the
parties shall be under the age of [eighteen] years, that the
consent of the person or persons whose consent to such marriage is
required by law has been obtained thereto, or that there is no
person having authority to give such consent, or that such party is
a widower or widow, as the case may be.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 10
Person applying for a licence to produce from the minister of the
congregation of which such person shall be a member a certificate
in form in schedule (D).

10. The party so appearing personally before the minister authorized
to grant licences as aforesaid shall, seven days before the licence
shall be delivered to him, produce to such minister a certificate
according to the form in schedule (D) to this Act annexed, or to
the like effect, from the minister of the congregation of which he
or she shall be a member, and has been a member for at least one
calendar month preceding, which certificate the minister authorized to
grant licences as aforesaid shall carefully file and preserve in
such place and manner as the presbytery shall direct, and shall
also forthwith enter a true copy of all such certificates fairly
into a book to be for that purpose furnished to him by the
registrar general, to be called "the marriage notice book," which
book shall be open at all reasonable times, without fee, to all
persons desirous of inspecting the same; and for entering every such
notice the minister shall be entitled to [the prescribed fee].

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 11
Caveat may be lodged with the minister against grant of licence.

11. Any person may enter a caveat with the minister so appointed
and approved against the grant of a licence for the marriage of
any person named therein; and if any caveat be entered with such
minister, such caveat being duly signed by or on behalf of the
person who enters the same, together with his or her place of
residence, and the ground of objection on which his or her caveat
is founded, no licence shall issue or be granted until the minister
shall have examined into the matter of the caveat, and is satisfied
that it ought not to obstruct the grant of the licence for the
said marriage, or until the caveat be withdrawn by the party who
entered the same; and in cases of doubt it shall be lawful for
such minister to refer the matter of any such caveat to the
presbytery by which he shall have been appointed, which shall decide
upon the same.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 12
Marriages of Quakers and of Jews to be solemnized according to
their usages.

12. The Society of Friends commonly called Quakers, and also persons
professing the Jewish religion, may continue to contract and
solemnize marriage according to the usages of the said society and
of the said persons respectively; and every such marriage shall be
deemed good in law, provided that the parties to such marriage be
both of the said society, or both persons professing the Jewish
religion respectively; provided also, that notice to the registrar
shall have been given and the registrar's certificate shall have
issued, in manner herein-after provided.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 13
Notice of any intended marriage (except by licence or banns) to be
given to the registrar of the district.

13. In every case of marriage intended to be solemnized in Ireland
... according to the rites of the United Church of England and
Ireland (unless by licence or by special licence, or after
publication of banns,) and in every case of marriage intended to be
solemnized in Ireland ... according to the usages of the Quakers or
Jews, or according to any form authorized by this Act, one of the
parties shall give notice under his or her hand ..., to the
registrar, appointed as herein-after is mentioned, of the district
within which the parties shall have dwelt for not less than seven
days then next preceding, or, if the parties dwell in the districts
of different registrars, shall give the like notice to the registrar
of each district, ...: Provided always, that no such notice shall
be required for any marriage by a Roman Catholic priest which may
now lawfully be celebrated, or when the marriage is intended to be
solemnized by a Presbyterian minister between two persons, both or
one of whom shall be Presbyterians, in a Presbyterian meeting house
certified as aforesaid.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 14
Registrar to keep notices in a book.

14. The registrar shall ... forthwith enter a true copy of all
such notices fairly into a book, to be for that purpose furnished
to him by the registrar general, to be called "the marriage notice
book"; the cost of providing which shall be defrayed in like manner
as the cost of providing the register book herein-after mentioned;
...; and for every such entry the registrar shall be entitled to
have [the prescribed fee].

S.15 rep. by SLR (NI) 1954

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 16
After seven days for marriage by licence, or twenty-one days for
marriage without licence, certificate of notice to be given, upon
demand in form in schedule (B).

16. [Subject to the provisions of this section] after the expiration
of seven days if the marriage is to be solemnized by licence, or
of twenty-one days if the marriage is to be solemnized without
licence, after the day of the entry of such notice, the registrar,
upon being requested so to do by or on behalf of the party by
whom the notice was given, shall issue under his hand a certificate
in the form of schedule (B) to this Act annexed, provided that no
lawful impediment be shown to the satisfaction of the registrar why
such certificate should not issue, and provided that the issue of
such certificate shall not have been sooner forbidden in manner
herein-after mentioned by any person or persons authorized in that
behalf as herein-after is provided; and every such certificate shall
state the particulars set forth in the notice, the day on which
the notice was entered, and that the full period of seven days or
of twenty-one days (as the case may be) has elapsed since the day
of the entry of such notice, and that the issue of such
certificate has not been forbidden by any person or persons
authorized in that behalf; and for every such certificate the
registrar shall be entitled to have [the prescribed fee].

[Where a marriage is to be solemnised by licence, the certificate
of notice required by the foregoing provisions of this section may
be required to be given only

(a)where the parties dwell in the districts of different registrars;
and

(b)by the registrar in whose district the marriage is not intended
to be so solemnised.]

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 17
Forms of certificates to be furnished by registrar general.

17. The registrar general shall furnish to every registrar a
sufficient number of forms of certificates, the cost of which shall
be accounted for by the registrar to the registrar general; and in
order to distinguish the certificates to be issued for marriages by
licence from the certificates to be issued for marriage without
licence, a watermark in the form of the word "licence," in Roman
letters, shall be laid and manufactured in the substance of the
paper on which the certificates to be issued for marriage by
licence shall be written or printed; and every certificate to be
issued for marriage by licence shall be printed with red ink, and
every certificate to be issued for marriage without licence shall be
printed with black ink, and such other distinctive marks between the
two kinds of certificate shall be used from time to time as shall
seem fit to the registrar general.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 18
Certificates for marriage by licence to be distinguishable from other
certificates.

18. Any person authorized in that behalf may forbid the issue of
the registrar's certificate [or licence], by writing at any time
before the issue of such certificate [or licence] the word
"forbidden" opposite to the entry of the notice of such intended
marriage in the marriage notice book, and by subscribing thereto his
or her name and place of abode, and his or her character, in
respect of either of the parties, by reason of which he or she is
so authorized; and in case the issue of any such certificate [or
licence] shall have been so forbidden the notice and all proceedings
thereupon shall be utterly void.

[A person authorized in that behalf is any person whose consent is,
under subsection (1) of section one of the Marriages Act (Northern
Ireland), 1954, requisite for the marriage of a minor.]

Ss.19, 20 rep. by 1954 c.21 (NI) s.7

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 21
1954 c.21

21. ... every registrar shall have authority to grant licences for
marriage in any building registered as herein-after provided within
his district, or in his office, in the form of schedule (E) to
this Act annexed, and for every such licence shall be entitled to
have of the party requiring the same [the prescribed fee]; and
every registrar shall four times in every year, on such days as
shall be appointed by the registrar general, make a return to the
registrar general of every licence granted by him since his last
return, and of the particulars stated concerning the parties: ...
Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall authorize any
registrar to grant any licence for marriage in any church or chapel
in which marriages may be solemnized according to the rites of the
United Church of England and Ireland, or in any church or chapel
belonging to the said United Church, or licensed for the celebration
of divine worship according to the rites and ceremonies of the said
United Church, or any licence for a marriage between two persons,
both or one of whom shall be Presbyterians, in a Presbyterian
meeting house certified as aforesaid.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 22
Quarterly return of licences granted.

22. Before any licence for marriage shall be granted by any such
registrar one of the parties intending marriage shall appear
personally before such registrar, and, in case the notice of such
intended marriage shall not have been given exclusively to such
registrar, shall deliver to him the certificate of the other
registrar to whom such notice shall have been given and such party
shall make oath, or shall make his or her solemn affirmation or
declaration instead of taking an oath, that he or she believeth
that there is not any impediment of kindred or alliance or other
lawful hindrance to the said marriage, and that one of the said
parties hath for the space of fifteen days immediately before the
day of the grant of such licence had his or her usual place of
abode within the district within which such marriage is to be
solemnized, and that they are both of the full age of [eighteen]
years, or, where either of the parties shall be under the age of
[eighteen] years, that the consent of the person or persons whose
consent to such marriage is required by law been obtained thereto,
or that there is no person having authority to give such consent,
or that such party is a widower or widow, as the case may be.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 23
Registrar not authorized to grant licences for marriages in churches,
&c. of Church of Ireland, or between Presbyterians in certified
meeting houses.

23. Any person, upon the payment of [the prescribed fee], may enter
a caveat with the registrar against the grant of a certificate or
a licence for the marriage of any person named therein; and if any
caveat be entered with the registrar, such caveat being duly signed
by or on behalf of the person who enters the same, together with
his or her place of residence, and the ground of objection on
which his or her caveat is founded, no certificate or licence shall
issue or be granted until the registrar shall have examined into
the matter of the caveat, and is satisfied that it ought not to
obstruct the grant of the certificate or licence for the said
marriage, or until the caveat be withdrawn by the party who entered
the same; provided that in cases of doubt it shall be lawful for
the registrar to refer the matter of any such caveat to the
registrar general, who shall decide upon the same; provided likewise,
that in case of the registrar refusing the grant of the certificate
or licence the person applying for the same shall have a right to
appeal to the registrar general, who shall thereupon either confirm
the refusal or direct the grant of the certificate or licence.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 24
Registrar to decide on ground of objection.

24. ... no marriage after such notice as aforesaid, unless by
virtue of a licence to be granted by the registrar, shall be
solemnized or registered in Ireland until after the expiration of
twenty-one days after the day of the entry of such notice as
aforesaid; and no marriage shall be solemnized by the licence of
any registrar, or registered, until after the expiration of seven
days after the day of the entry of such notice as aforesaid.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 25
Reference to appeal to registrar general.

25. Whenever a marriage shall not be had within three calendar
months after the day on which the notice shall have been so
entered by the registrar, the notice and certificate and any licence
which may have been granted thereupon, and all other proceedings
thereupon, shall be utterly void; and no person shall proceed to
solemnize the marriage, nor shall any registrar register the same,
until new notice shall have been given, and entry made, and
certificate thereof given, at the time and in the manner aforesaid.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 26
Marriages not to be solemnized until after 21 days after entry of
notice, unless by licence, and then not until after 7 days.

26. The registrar's certificate, or, in case the parties shall have
given notice to the registrars of different districts, the
certificate of each registrar shall be delivered to the officiating
minister, if the marriage shall be solemnized according to the rites
of the United Church of England and Ireland, or to the registering
officer of the people called Quakers for the place where the
marriage is solemnized, if the same shall be solemnized according to
the usages of the said people, or to the officer of a synagogue
by whom the marriage is registered, if the same shall be solemnized
according to the usages of persons professing the Jewish religion,
and in all other cases shall be delivered to the registrar present
at the marriage as herein-after provided, and shall be by him kept
with the records of his office.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 27
New notice required if marriage not solemnized within three months.

27. Any proprietor or trustee of a separate building, being a place
of religious worship, may apply to the registrar of the district,
in order that such building may be registered for solemnizing
marriages therein, and in such case shall deliver to the registrar
a certificate, signed in duplicate by ten householders at the least,
that such building [is being used by them] as their usual place of
public religious worship, and that they are desirous that such place
should be registered as aforesaid, each of which certificates shall
be countersigned by the proprietor or trustee by whom the same
shall be delivered; and the registrar shall send both certificates
to the registrar general, who shall cause such building to be
registered accordingly in a book to be kept for that purpose at
the general register office; and the registrar general shall cause
to be endorsed on both certificates the date of the registry, and
shall keep one certificate with the other records of the general
register office, and shall return the other certificate to the
registrar, who shall keep the same with the other records of his
office; and the registrar shall enter the date of the registry of
such building in a book to be furnished to him for that purpose
by the registrar general, and shall give a certificate of such
registry under his hand, on parchment or vellum, to the proprietor
or trustee by whom the certificates are counter-signed, and shall
give public notice of the registry thereof, by advertisement in some
newspaper circulating within the county, and in the [Belfast
Gazette]; and for every such entry, certificate, and publication the
registrar shall receive at the time of the delivery to him of the
certificates [the prescribed fee].

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 28
Registrar's certificate to be delivered to the person by or before
whom the marriage is solemnized.

28. If at any time subsequent to the registry of any such building
for solemnizing marriages therein it shall be made to appear to the
satisfaction of the registrar general that such building has been
disused for the public religious worship of the congregation on
whose behalf it was registered as aforesaid, the registrar general
shall cause the registry thereof to be cancelled; provided that if
it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the registrar general
that the same congregation use instead thereof some other such
building for the purpose of public religious worship, the registrar
general may substitute and register such new place of worship
instead of the disused building, although such new place of worship
may not have been used for that purpose during one year then next
preceding; and every application for cancelling the registry of any
such building, or for such substitution and registry of a
substituted building, shall be made to the registrar general by or
through the registrar of the district; and such cancelling or
substitution when made, shall be made known by the registrar general
to the registrar, who shall enter the fact and the date thereof in
the book provided for the registry of such buildings, and shall
certify and publish such cancelling or substitution and registry in
manner herein-before provided in the case of the original registry
of the disused building; and for every such substitution the
registrar shall receive from the party requiring the substitution
[the prescribed fee]; and after such cancelling or substitution shall
have been made by the registrar general it shall not be lawful to
solemnize any marriage in such disused building, unless the same
shall be again registered in the manner herein-before provided.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 29
Places of public religious worship may be registered for solemnizing
marriages therein.

29. After the expiration of the said period of twenty-one days, or
of seven days if the marriage is by licence, marriages may be
solemnized in the registered building stated as aforesaid in the
notice of such marriage, between and by the parties described in
the notice and certificate, according to such form and ceremony as
they may see fit to adopt: Provided nevertheless, that every such
marriage shall be solemnized with open doors, between the hours of
eight in the forenoon and [six in the afternoon], in the presence
of the registrar of the district in which such registered building
is situate, and of two or more credible witnesses: Provided also,
that in some part of the ceremony, and in the presence of such
registrar and witnesses, each of the parties shall declare,"I do
solemnly declare, that I know not of any lawful impediment why I
A.B. may not be joined in matrimony to C.D."

"I call upon these persons here present to witness, that I A.B. do
take thee C.D. to be my lawful wedded wife [or husband]."

After notice and certificate marriages may be solemnized in
registered places by any form, between certain hours, and before
registrar and two witnesses.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 30
Registry to be cancelled on disuse of building for public religious
worship; but new place of worship may be registered.

30. Any persons who shall object to marry under the provisions of
this Act in any such registered building may, after due notice and
certificate issued as aforesaid, contract and solemnize marriage on
any day except Sunday at the office and in the presence of the
registrar of the district, and in the presence of two witnesses,
with open doors, and between the hours aforesaid, making the
declaration and using the form of words herein-before provided in
the case of marriage in any such registered building.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 31
Declarations to be made by parties.

31. The registrar shall be entitled, for every marriage which shall
be solemnized under this Act in his presence, to have from the
parties married [such fee as may be prescribed according to whether
the marriage shall be by licence or certificate, and to whether it
shall be solemnized in the registrar's office or elsewhere].

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 32
After notice and certificate marriages may be celebrated before the
registrar and two witnesses, at his office, between certain hours.

32. After any marriage shall have been solemnized it shall not be
necessary in support of such marriage to give any proof of the
actual dwelling of either of the parties previous to the marriage
within the district or presbytery (as the case may be) wherein such
marriage was solemnized for the time required by this Act, or of
the consent of any person whose consent thereunto is required by
law; and where a marriage shall have been solemnized in a certified
Presbyterian meeting house, it shall not be necessary to prove that
either of the parties was a Presbyterian, or, if the marriage was
by licence, that the certificate required to be delivered to the
minister granting such licence had been so delivered, or, where the
marriage was by banns, that a certificate of the publication of
banns had been produced to the minister by whom the marriage was
solemnized, in cases where such production is required by this Act;
nor shall any evidence be given to prove the contrary of any of
these several particulars in any suit touching the validity of such
marriage, or in which such marriage shall be questioned.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 33
Marriage fees to the registrar.

33. ... With the consent of the patron and incumbent respectively
of the church of the parish or district in which may be situated
any public chapel with or without a chapelry thereunto annexed, or
any chapel duly licensed for the celebration of divine service
according to the rites and ceremonies of the United Church of
England and Ireland, or any chapel the minister whereof is duly
licensed to officiate therein according to the rites and ceremonies
of the United Church of England and Ireland, or without such
consent after two calendar months notice in writing given by the
registrar of the diocese to such patron and incumbent respectively,
the bishop of the diocese may, if he shall think it necessary for
the due accommodation and convenience of the inhabitants, authorize
by a licence under his hand and seal the publication of banns and
solemnization of marriages in any such chapel for persons residing
within a district the limits whereof shall be specified in the
bishop's licence, and under such provisions as to the said bishop
may seem fit and as may be specified in the said licence; and the
said licence shall be construed to extend to and authorize marriages
in such chapels between parties one or both of whom is or are
resident within the said district: Provided always, that where the
parties to any marriage intended to be solemnized after publication
of banns shall reside within different ecclesiastical districts, the
banns for such marriage shall be published as well in the church
or chapel wherein such marriage is intended to be solemnized as in
the chapel licensed under the provisions of this Act for the other
district within which one of the parties is resident, and if there
be no such chapel then in the church or chapel in which the banns
of such last-mentioned party may be legally published: Provided also,
that it shall be lawful for any patron or incumbent who shall
refuse or withhold consent to the grant of any such licence to
deliver to the bishop, under his or her hand and seal, a statement
of the reasons for which such consent shall have been so refused
or withholden; and no such licence shall be granted by any bishop
until he shall have inquired into the matter of such reasons; and
every instrument of consent of the patron and incumbent, or, if
such consent be refused or withholden, a copy of the notice under
the hand of the registrar, and every statement of reasons alleged
as aforesaid by the patron or incumbent, with the bishop's
adjudication thereupon under his hand and seal, shall be registered
in the registry of the diocese; and thenceforth and until the said
licence be revoked marriages solemnized in such chapel shall be as
valid to all intents and purposes as if the same had been
solemnized in the parish church, or in any chapel where marriages
might heretofore have been legally solemnized.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 34
Publication of banns where parties reside in different districts.

34. All fees, dues, and other emoluments on account of the
solemnization of marriages, which belong to the incumbent or clerk
respectively of any church or chapel in any parish or district
within which the solemnization of marriages shall be authorised as
aforesaid, shall respectively be received, until the avoidance of
such church or chapel next after the passing of this Act, for and
on account of such incumbent, and, until the vacancy in the office
of clerk next after the passing of this Act, for and on account
of such clerk, and be paid over to them, except such portion of
the fees, dues, or other emoluments as the said bishop of the
diocese, with the consent of the said incumbent and clerk
respectively, shall in such aforesaid licence assign to the minister
and clerk respectively of the chapel in which the solemnization of
marriages shall be authorized as aforesaid; and it shall be lawful
for the said bishop, in and by such licence, without any such
consent, to declare that from and after such next avoidance or
vacancy respectively the whole or such part of the fees, dues, and
other emoluments on account of the solemnization of marriages in
such last-mentioned chapel as shall be specified in such licence
shall be receivable, and the same shall thenceforth be received by
or for the minister and clerk of such chapel respectively.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 35
Patron or incumbent may object to licence, and bishop shall decide
on grounds of objection.

35. When the said bishop shall authorize the solemnization of
marriages in any such chapel as aforesaid, without the consent of
the patron and incumbent respectively, it shall be lawful for them
or either of them to appeal within one calendar month to the
archbishop of the province, who shall hear the same in a summary
manner, and shall make such order, confirming, revoking, or varying
the licence so given, as to him shall seem meet and expedient,
which order shall be registered in the registry of the diocese, and
shall be conclusive and binding on all parties whatsoever.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 36
Appropriation of fees on marriages performed in such chapels.

36. There shall be placed in some conspicuous part in the interior
of every chapel in respect of which such licence shall be given as
aforesaid a notice in the words following: "Banns may be published
and marriages may be solemnized in this chapel."

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 37
Patron or incumbent may appeal to the archbishop against such
licences granted without his or their consent.

37. All provisions which shall from time to time be in force
relative to marriages, and to providing, keeping, and transmitting
register books and copies of registers of marriages solemnized in
any parish church, shall extend to any chapel in which the
solemnization of marriages shall be authorized as aforesaid, in the
same manner as if the same were a parish church; and every thing
required by law to be done relating thereto by the rector, vicar,
curate, or church-wardens respectively of any parish church shall be
done by the officiating minister, chapelwarden, or other person
exercising analogous duties in such chapel respectively.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 38
Notice of such licences to be affixed in chapels.

38. Provided always, that, notwithstanding any such licence as
aforesaid to solemnize marriages in any such chapel, the parties
may, if they think fit, have their marriage solemnized in the
parish church, or in any chapel in which heretofore the marriage of
such parties or either of them might have been legally solemnized.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 39
Marriages performed in such chapels to be under the same regulations
as to registers, &c. as those performed in parish churches.

39. Any such licence or order may at any time be revoked by
writing under the hand and seal of the bishop of the diocese, with
the consent in writing of the archbishop of the province; and such
revocation and consent shall be registered in the registry of the
diocese, the registrar whereof shall notify the same in writing to
the minister officiating in the chapel, and shall also give public
notice thereof, by advertisement in some newspaper circulating within
the county, and in the [Belfast Gazette], and thenceforth the
authority to solemnize marriages in such chapel shall cease.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 40
Option to parties to be married at parish church.

40. In case of the revocation of the licence to solemnize marriages
in any such chapel all registers of marriages solemnized therein
under such licence which shall be in the custody or possession of
the minister of such chapel at the time of such revocation shall
forthwith be transmitted to the incumbent or officiating minister of
the parish church, and shall thenceforth be preserved, and in all
other respects dealt with, in the same manner, and be of the same
force and validity to all intents and purposes, as if they had
been originally made by and deposited with such incumbent or
officiating minister; and such incumbent or minister shall, when he
next transmits to the registrar copies of the registers of marriages
solemnized in such parish church, also therewith transmit copies of
all such entries as shall have been made in such first-mentioned
registers subsequent to the date of the last entry a copy whereof
was transmitted to the registrar, and shall also transmit to him
one copy of every register book so transmitted to him of which no
copy shall have been already transmitted to the registrar, having
first signed his name at the foot of the last entry therein.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 41
Bishop, with consent of archbishop, may revoke such licences;

41. The registrar of every diocese shall, within fifteen days after
the first day of January in every year, make out and send through
the post office, directed to the registrar general of marriages at
his office, a list of all chapels belonging to the United Church
of England and Ireland within that diocese wherein marriages may
lawfully be solemnized according to the rites and ceremonies of the
United Church of England and Ireland, and shall distinguish in such
list which have a parish, chapelry, or other recognized
ecclesiastical division annexed to them, and which are chapels
licensed by the bishop under this Act, and shall state therein the
district for which each of such chapels is licensed according to
the description thereof in the licence; and the registrar general
shall in every year cause to be made out and printed a list of
all such chapels, and also of all places of public worship
registered under the provisions of this Act, and shall state in
such list the county and registrar's district within which each
chapel or registered building is situated, and shall add also the
names and places of abode of the registrars; and a copy of such
list shall be sent to every registrar.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 42
Registrars of dioceses to send to the register office yearly lists
of licensed chapels within their districts.

42. Every marriage solemnized under this Act shall be good and
cognizable in like manner as marriages before the passing of this
Act according to the rites of the United Church of England and
Ireland.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 43
List of all such chapels and all other buildings registered under
this Act to be printed yearly.

43. Every person who shall enter a caveat with the registrar
against the grant of any licence or issue of any certificate on
grounds which the registrar general shall declare to be frivolous,
and that they ought not to obstruct the grant of the licence,
shall be liable for the costs of the proceedings, and for damages,
to be recovered in a special action upon the case by either of
the parties against whose marriage such caveat shall have been
entered; and a copy of the declaration of the registrar general,
purporting to be sealed with the seal of the general register
office, and which seal it shall not be necessary to prove, shall
be evidence that the registrar general has declared such caveat to
be entered on frivolous grounds, and that they ought not to
obstruct the grant of the licence.

S.44 rep. by 1946 c.13 (NI) s.16(3) sch.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 45
Marriages under this Act cognizable.

45. Every person who shall knowingly and wilfully solemnize any
marriage or pretended marriage in Ireland, unless by special licence
... in any other place than a church or chapel in which marriages
may be solemnized according to the rites of the United Church of
England and Ireland, or a Presbyterian meeting house certified as
aforesaid, or than the registered building or office specified in
the notice and certificate as aforesaid, shall be guilty of felony
(except in the case of a marriage by any Roman Catholic priest
which may now be lawfully celebrated, or a marriage between two of
the Society of Friends commonly called Quakers, according to the
usages of the said society, or between two persons professing the
Jewish religion, according to the usages of the Jews); and every
person who in any such registered building or office shall knowingly
and wilfully solemnize any marriage or pretended marriage in the
absence of the registrar shall be guilty of felony; and every
person who shall knowingly and wilfully solemnize any marriage or
pretended marriage in Ireland (except by licence) within twenty-one
days after the day of the entry of the notice to the registrar as
aforesaid, or if the marriage is by licence within seven days after
the day of the entry required by this Act made in any marriage
notice book, or after three calendar months after the day of such
entry shall be guilty of felony.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 46
Persons vexatiously entering caveat liable to costs and damages.

46. Every person knowingly and wilfully solemnizing any marriage,
unless after due publication of banns or licence, or the issue of
the registrar's certificate, or who shall knowingly and wilfully
grant any such licence or publish any such banns after the issue
of such licence or the publication of such banns shall have been
lawfully forbidden by some person authorized as aforesaid, shall be
guilty of felony.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 47
Persons unduly solemnizing marriages guilty of felony.

47. Every registrar who shall knowingly and wilfully issue any
certificate for marriage after the expiration of three calendar
months after the day on which the notice shall have been entered
by him as aforesaid, or any certificate for marriage by licence
before the expiration of seven days after the day of the entry of
the notice, or any certificate for marriage without licence before
the expiration of twenty-one days after the day of the entry of
the notice, or any certificate the issue of which shall have been
forbidden as aforesaid by any person authorised to forbid the issue
of the registrar's certificate, or who shall knowingly and wilfully
register any marriage herein declared to be null and void, and
every registrar who shall knowingly and wilfully issue any licence
for marriage after the expiration of three calendar months after the
day on which the notice shall have been entered by the registrar
as aforesaid, or who shall knowingly and wilfully solemnize or
permit to be solemnized in his office any marriage herein declared
to be null and void, shall be guilty of felony.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 48
Solemnizing marriage without banns, etc. or granting forbidden
licence, &c. felony.

48. Every prosecution under this Act shall be commenced within the
space of three years after the offence committed.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 49
Registrars unduly issuing certificates or licences, or registering
marriages hereby declared void, guilty of felony.

49. Except in the case of marriages by Roman Catholic priests which
may now be lawfully celebrated, if any persons shall knowingly and
wilfully intermarry ... in any place other than the church or
chapel or certified Presbyterian meeting house in which banns of
matrimony between the parties shall have been duly and lawfully
published, or specified in the licence, where the marriage is by
licence, or the church, chapel, registered building or office,
specified in the notice and registrar's certificate or licence as
aforesaid, or without due notice to the registrar, or without
certificate of notice duly issued, or without licence from the
registrar, in case such notice or licence is necessary under this
Act, or in the absence of a registrar where the presence of a
registrar is necessary under this Act, or if any persons shall
knowingly or wilfully ... intermarry in any certified Presbyterian
meeting house without publication of banns, or any licence, the
marriage of all such persons, except in any case herein-before
excepted, shall be null and void.

S.50 rep. by SLR 1874 (No. 2); 1967 c.18 (NI) s.15(2) sch.2 Pt.II

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 51
Prosecution to be commenced within 3 years.

51. If any valid marriage shall be had under the provisions of
this Act by means of any wilfully false notice, certificate, or
declaration made by either party to such marriage, as to any matter
to which a notice, certificate, or declaration is herein required,
it shall be lawful for her Majesty's attorney general ... for
Ireland to sue in the Court of Chancery or Court of Exchequer in
Ireland for a forfeiture of all estate and interest in any property
accruing to the offending party by such marriage; and the
proceedings thereupon and consequences thereof shall be the same as
are provided in the like case with regard to marriages solemnized
in England by licence before the passing of this Act according to
the rites of the Church of England.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 52
Marriages void if unduly solemnized with the knowledge of both
parties.

52. In order to provide the means for a register of the marriages
of her Majesty's subjects in Ireland who shall be married under the
provisions of this Act, it shall be lawful for the lord lieutenant
to provide a proper office in the city of [Belfast], to be called
"the General Register Office," for keeping a register of such
marriages, and to appoint for the said office a registrar general
of marriages in Ireland, and from time to time at pleasure to
remove the said registrar general, and appoint some other person in
his room.

Ss.53, 54 rep. by SLR (NI) 1954. S.55 rep. by 1973 NI 8 art.9
sch.3

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 56
A general register office to be provided in Belfast.

56. The registrar general shall send once in every year to the
lord lieutenant, who shall forthwith transmit the same to one of
the principal secretaries of state, a general abstract of the number
of marriages registered during the foregoing year, in such form as
the said secretary from time to time shall require; and every such
annual general abstract shall be laid before Parliament within one
calendar month after receipt thereof, or, if Parliament be not then
sitting, within one calendar month after the next meeting of
Parliament.

S.57 rep. by SLR (NI) 1954; 1956 c.5 (NI) s.19 sch.[

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 58
Registrar general to be appointed.

58.(1) A local registration authority shall provide and maintain

(a)a suitably equipped Register Office in such premises as it may,
with the approval of the Registrar General, determine;

(b)a fireproof repository or a fireproof safe or container which, in
the opinion of the Registrar General, is suitable for keeping safe
the records and registers in the custody of the registrar.

(2) A local registration authority shall cause a notice showing the
name of the registration district and the hours fixed for attendance
to be placed in a conspicuous position outside the premises
containing the Register Office.]

Ss.59, 60 rep. by 1973 NI 8 art.9 sch.3

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 61
Annual abstract of registers to be sent to lord lieutenant, and
laid before Parliament.

61. In every case in which any registrar shall be removed from or
cease to hold the said office, all register boxes, keys, books,
documents, and papers in his possession as such registrar shall be
given as soon as conveniently may be to his successor in office;
and if any person shall refuse to give up any such box, key,
books, documents, or papers in such case as aforesaid it shall be
lawful for any justice of the peace for the county or other
jurisdiction where such person shall be or reside, upon application
made for that purpose, to issue a warrant under his hand and seal
for bringing such person before any two justices of the peace for
the said county or other jurisdiction; and upon such person
appearing, or not being found, it shall be lawful for such justices
to hear and determine the matter in a summary way; and if it
shall appear to the justices that any such box, key, books,
documents, or papers are in the custody or power of any such
person, and that he has refused or wilfully neglected to deliver
the same, the said justices shall commit such offender to the
[prison] for the said county or jurisdiction, there to remain
without bail until he shall have delivered up the same, or until
satisfaction shall have been given in respect thereof to the person
in whose custody the same ought to be; and the said justices may
grant a warrant to search for such box, key, books, documents, or
papers, as in the case of stolen goods, in any dwelling house or
other premises in which any credible witness shall prove upon oath
before them that there is reasonable cause to suspect the same to
be; and the same when found shall be delivered to the person in
whose custody they ought to be.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 62
All books, &c. to be transferred on removal of registrars.

62. The registrar general shall cause to be printed on account of
the said register office a sufficient number of register books for
making entries of all marriages of Her Majesty's subjects in Ireland
who shall be married under the provisions of this Act, according to
the form of schedule (G) to this Act annexed; and the said
register books shall be of durable materials, and in them shall be
printed upon each side of every leaf the heads of information
herein required to be known and registered of marriages; and every
page of each of such books shall be numbered progressively from the
beginning to the end, beginning with number one; and every place of
entry shall be also numbered progressively from the beginning to the
end of the book, beginning with number one, and every entry shall
be divided from the following entry by a printed line.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 63
Proceedings in case of refusal to transfer.

63. The registrar general shall furnish to every registrar a
sufficient number of marriage register books, and forms for certified
copies thereof as herein-after provided, and also, on being thereunto
required, shall furnish or cause to be furnished to the rector,
vicar, or curate of every church and chapel in Ireland wherein
marriages may lawfully be solemnized, and also to the Presbyterian
minister of every certified Presbyterian meeting house, and also to
every person whom the recording clerk of the Society of Friends
commonly called Quakers, at their central office in Dublin, shall
from time to time certify in writing under his hand to the
registrar general to be a registering officer in Ireland of the
said society, and also to every person whom the president for the
time being of the London committee of deputies of the British Jews
shall from time to time certify in writing under his hand to the
registrar general to be the secretary of a synagogue in Ireland of
persons professing the Jewish religion, a sufficient number in
duplicate of marriage register books, and forms for certified copies
thereof, as herein-after provided; ....

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 64
Marriage register books to be provided according to form in schedule
(G).

64. Every clergyman of the United Church of England and Ireland,
immediately after any office of matrimony solemnized by him, shall
register in duplicate in two of the marriage register books the
several particulars relating to that marriage, according to the form
of the said schedule (G); and every Presbyterian minister of a
certified Presbyterian meeting house, and every such registering
officer of the Quakers, as soon as conveniently may be after the
solemnization of any marriage between two Quakers in the district
for which he is registering officer, and every such secretary of a
synagogue, immediately after every marriage solemnized between any two
persons professing the Jewish religion, of whom the husband shall
belong to the synagogue whereof he is secretary, shall register or
cause to be registered in duplicate in two of the said marriage
register books the several particulars relating to that marriage,
according to the form of the said schedule (G); and every such
registering officer or secretary, whether he shall or shall not be
present at such marriage, shall satisfy himself that the proceedings
in relation thereto have been conformable to the usages of the said
society, or of the persons professing the Jewish religion, as the
case may be; and every such entry as herein-before is mentioned
(whether made by such clergyman, or by such Presbyterian minister,
or by such registering officer or secretary respectively as
aforesaid,) shall be signed by the clergyman, or by such
Presbyterian minister, or by the said registering officer or
secretary, as the case may be, and by the parties married, and by
two witnesses, and shall be made in order from the beginning to
the end of each book, and the number of the place of entry in
each duplicate marriage register book shall be the same.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 65
Marriage registers to be kept in duplicate.

65. The rector, vicar, or curate of every such church and chapel,
and every such Presbyterian minister of a certified Presbyterian
meeting house, and every such registering officer and secretary,
shall, in the months of April, July, October, and January
respectively, make and deliver to the registrar of the district in
which such church or chapel or certified Presbyterian meeting house
or registered place of worship may be situated, or which may be
assigned by the registrar general to such registering officer or
secretary, on one of the forms to be furnished to him as aforesaid
by the registrar general, a true copy certified by him under his
hand of all the entries of marriages in the register book kept by
him since the last certificate, ... and if there shall have been
no marriage entered therein since the last certificate shall certify
the fact under his hand, and shall keep the said marriage register
books safely until the same shall be filled; and one copy of every
such register book, when filled, shall be delivered to the registrar
of the district in which such church or chapel or certified
Presbyterian meeting house may be situated, or which shall have been
assigned as aforesaid to such registering officer or secretary, and
the other copy of every such register book kept by any such
rector, vicar, or curate shall remain in the keeping of such
rector, vicar, or curate, and shall be kept by him with the
registers of baptisms and burials of the parish or chapelry within
which the marriages registered therein shall have been solemnized,
and the other copy of every such register book kept by any such
Presbyterian minister shall remain under the care of such
Presbyterian minister, and be kept with the other registers and
records of his meeting house, and the other copy of every such
register book of marriages among the people called Quakers and among
persons professing the Jewish religion respectively shall remain under
the care of the said people or persons respectively, to be kept
with their other registers and records, and shall, for the purposes
of this Act, be still deemed to be in the keeping of the
registering officer or secretary for the time being respectively.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 66
Certified copies of registers of marriages to be sent to registrar
every quarter.

66. The registrar shall forthwith register every marriage solemnized
in manner aforesaid in his presence, either in a registered building
or in his office, in a marriage register book to be furnished to
him for that purpose from time to time by the registrar general,
according to the form in schedule (G); and every entry of such
marriage shall be signed by the registrar, and also by the parties
married and attested by two witnesses; and every such entry shall
be made in order from the beginning to the end of the book; and
the registrar shall keep the said marriage register books with the
records of his office, and shall, in the months of April, July,
October, and January respectively, make, on one of the forms to be
furnished to him as aforesaid by the registrar general, a true
copy, certified by him as aforesaid, in the form of schedule (F)
annexed to this Act, of all the entries of marriages in the
register book kept by him since the last certificate, ... and if
there shall have been no marriage entered therein since the last
certificate shall certify the fact under his hand.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 67
Registrar to register all marriages solemnized before him in books
to be sent by the registrar general.

67. Every registrar shall four times in every year, on such days
as shall be therefore named by the registrar general, send to the
registrar general all the certified copies of the registers of
marriages which he shall have so made or received; and the
registrar general, if it shall appear, by interruption of the
regular progression of numbers or otherwise, that the copy of any
part of any book has not been duly delivered to him, shall
procure, as far as possible, consistently with the provisions of
this Act, that the same may be remedied and supplied; and the
certified copies so sent to the General Registry Office shall be
thereafter kept in the said office in such order, and manner as
the registrar general, under the direction of the lord lieutenant,
shall think fit, so that the same may be most readily seen and
examined.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 68
Copies in form in schedule (F) to be sent to registrar general
quarterly.

68. Every rector, vicar, or curate, or Presbyterian minister of a
certified Presbyterian meeting house, and every registrar, registering
officer, and secretary, who shall have the keeping for the time
being of any register book of marriages wherein any marriage shall
have been registered under this Act, shall at all reasonable times
allow searches to be made of any register book in his keeping, and
shall give a copy certified under his hand of any entry or entries
in the same, on payment [for every search, of such fee as may be
prescribed in respect of each year or part thereof to which the
search extends, and for every single certificate, of the prescribed
fee].

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 69
Registrars to send certified copies of registers made or received by
them to the General Register Office four times a year; omissions to
be supplied.

69. Every registrar shall cause indexes of the register books in
his office to be made, and kept with the other records of his
office; and every person shall be entitled at all reasonable hours
to search the said indexes, and to have a certified copy of any
entry or entries in the said register books under the hand of the
registrar, on payment [of such fee or fees as shall be prescribed].

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 70
Searches of registers shall be allowed, and certified copies given,
by incumbents, &c.

70. The registrar general shall cause indexes of all the said
certified copies of the registers to be made and kept in the
General Register Office; and every person shall be entitled to
search the said indexes between the hours of ten in the morning
and four in the afternoon of every day, except Sundays, Christmas
Day, and Good Friday, and to have a certified copy of any entry
in the said certified copies of the registers; [and for every
general search, every particular search and every certified copy
under this section there shall be paid the prescribed fee].

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 71
Indexes to be made at every registrar's office, searches allowed,
and copies given.

71. The registrar general shall cause to be made a seal of the
said register office, and the registrar general shall cause to be
sealed or stamped therewith all certified copies of entries given in
the said office; and all certified copies of entries purporting to
be sealed or stamped with the seal of the said register office,
and which seal it shall not be necessary to prove, shall be
received as evidence of the marriage to which the same relates,
without any further or other proof of such entry, and no certified
copy purporting to be given in the said office shall be of any
force or effect which is not sealed or stamped as aforesaid.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 72
Indexes to be kept at General Register Office, searches allowed, and
certified copies given.

72. It shall be lawful for every clergyman of the United Church of
England and Ireland who shall solemnize any marriage in Ireland, and
for every Presbyterian minister of a certified Presbyterian meeting
house, and for the registrar before whom any marriage is solemnized
under this Act, either in any registered building or in his office,
and for every registering officer of the Quakers, and every
secretary of a synagogue, to ask of the parties to be married the
several particulars herein required to be registered touching such
marriage.

S.73 rep. by 1946 c.13 (NI) s.16(3) sch.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 74
Certified copies given at General Registry Office to be sealed and
admitted in evidence.

74. Every person who shall refuse or without reasonable cause omit
to register any marriage solemnized by him, or which he ought to
register, and every person having the custody of any register book,
or certified copy thereof, or of any part thereof, who shall
carelessly lose or injure the same, or carelessly allow the same to
be injured whilst in his keeping, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding
fifty pounds for every such offence.

S.75 rep. by 1861 c.95 s.1 sch.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 76
Clergymen, &c. may ask parties to be married the particulars
required to be registered.

76. Provided always, that no person charged with the duty of
registering any marriage, who shall discover any error to have been
committed in the form or substance of any such entry, either by
himself or any predecessor in his office, shall be therefore liable
to any of the penalties aforesaid if within one calendar month next
after the discovery of such error, in the presence of the parties
married, or, in the case of the death or absence of such parties,
then in the presence of the registrar and of two other credible
witnesses, who shall respectively attest the same, he shall correct
the erroneous entry, according to the truth of the case, by entry
in the margin, without any alteration of the original entry, and
shall sign the marginal entry, and add thereunto the day of the
month and year when such correction shall be made, and shall make
the like marginal entry, attested in like manner, in the duplicate
marriage register book to be made by him as aforesaid, and in
every case shall make the like alteration in the certified copy of
the register book to be made by him as aforesaid, or, in case
such certified copy shall have been already made, he shall make and
deliver in like manner a separate certified copy of the original
erroneous entry, and of the marginal correction therein made.

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 77
Penalty for not duly registering marriages, or for losing or
injuring the registers or certified copies thereof.

77. All fines and forfeitures by this Act imposed, unless otherwise
directed, shall be recovered before any two justices of the peace
for the county, city, or place where the offence shall have
happened, upon the information or complaint of any person; ....

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 78
Accidental errors may be corrected.

78. The prosecution for every offence punishable on summary
conviction under this Act shall be commenced within three [years
from] the commission of the offence.

S.79 rep. by SLR (NI) 1954. S.80 rep. by SL(R) 1976

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 81
Recovery of penalties before justices.

81. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall affect the
right of any officiating minister to receive the fees now usually
paid for the performance or registration of any marriage.

S.82 rep. by SLR 1878. S.83 rep. by SLR (NI) 1954

MARRIAGES (IRELAND) ACT 1844 - SECT 84
Prosecution for offences punishable on summary conviction.

84. This Act shall extend only to Ireland, and shall not extend to
the marriage of any of the royal family.

S.85 rep. by SLR 1874 (No. 2)

Schedule (A) rep. by SLR (NI) 1954

I, A.B., Registrar of the District of in the County of do hereby
certify that on the day of Notice was duly entered in the Marriage
Notice Book of the said District, of the Marriage intended between
the Parties named and described, delivered under the hand of C.D.
one of the Parties; (that is to say):

Witness my hand, this 




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URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/ma1844159.txt