Apologies in advance, this is a novice question! First, am I right in assuming that (a) deeds were created with a solicitor, making them legal documents once they were signed and witnessed; after which (b) they were later transcribed into the Registry and witnessed again to confirm their consistency with the original deed. I see the gap between these two stages varies significantly. Is that important? Is the first stage not the more important one? Does it matter if the second stage is never completed? i.e. what are the advantages of registration?
Thanks for any clarification you can provide.

Davy

The process of registration is a little more complicated.

(1) The deed is drawn up and executed with at least two witnesses
(2) A memorial of the deed is drawn up this ranges from a verbatim copy to more of a summary
(3) Execution of the memorial is witnessed by two witnesses one of whom is also a witness to the deed
(4) The memorial is sworn before a deputy registrar if in Dublin or before magistrates if more than 60 miles from Dublin
(5) The memorial is registered at the registry and copied into the memorial transcription volumes
(6) The original memorial is stored at the Registry (This contains autographs of the person(s) who executed or witnessed the memorial)

Some one in Dublin could all the steps to (5) on the same day. Time gaps can occur at any of the stages. Usually the gap between swearing before magistrates and registration is between a few days to a month or so. I have seen a memorial that was sworn some years before being registered. Presumably it got stuck in a 'bottom draw' and was found later.

I have seen many memorial that were registered 20 or more years after execution of the original deed.

Many thanks @admin for an explanation of the process. I'm still not clear, however, of the importance of stages 4-6, and the implications of them not being completed. If someone makes a will, for example, and dies before it is registered in Dublin, can the will be executed without registration? The often large gap in registrations rather feels as if stages 4-6 are more bureaucratic than a legal requirement?

The swearing is attesting to the truth of the memorial. Without it anyone could say anything and claim any land.

Wills are slightly different as you say the testator is dead and the only party to the will. Usually the memorial of a will is executed by an executor or administrator. All the witnesses to the will may also have died and this would be covered by the swearing.

The copying is important as the memorial transcription books are the publicly available documents.

The fact that the original memorial is stored at the registry means that you can purchase a copy which contains the autographs of the party who executed the memorial, the witnesses of the memorial and the deputy registrar or magistrates before whom the memorial was executed.

All these steps were legislated when the Registry was created. Thus, they are a legal requirement.

Again thanks @admin, I think I now understand!

...sorry, just thought of something else that I need to clarify! If something changes between the creation of a deed and its registration, how would that change be handled? I understand that for a will, and perhaps some other documents one or more people may have died, but that may be allowed for in the deed. Are other changes possible without the need to create a new or amending deed?

What I'm concerned about is being able to make inferences between the date a deed is produced and the date it is sworn, no matter what time gap is involved.

Thanks.

If a party dies before the memorial is executed a substitute person can execute on their behalf and this is noted in the memorial. Another option is that someone holds a letter of attorney for a party and signs on their behalf.

No clear inference can made if there is gap between execution of the deed the memorial. Sometimes it is just slackness. Other times an unanticipated event causes the delay.

In some cases the coming of age of the next generation provides a spur to formally register a deed.

Thanks! I think the presentations next week will improve my understanding enormously.