When it comes to burial registers, the picture is rather more patchy (see below).

which perhaps would lead to a reconsideration of some of the circumstances.” He added that it was impossible for him to predict the “speed of change” but that he hoped existing rules could be made use of.

In the 16th and 17th centuries Christians from both traditions were put to death because of disagreements over their beliefs on transubstantiation – whether the bread and wine in Communion are the real body and blood of Christ or a symbol.

Archbishop Longley is the Catholic co-chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), an official body which has been working for the reunification of the two churches for more than 50 years.

Of course, the poorer areas were also those that supplied the greatest numbers of emigrants, which means that the descendants of those that left Ireland are the most likely to be frustrated by the lack of Catholic records.

Fortunately, the of Roman Catholic baptism and marriage registers date from the first quarter of the 19th century ie some 40 years before the Irish civil registration system began.