What is the difference between citizenship by descent and the Foreign Births Register?
Citizenship by descent is the wider idea: Irish citizenship passed down through a parent. The Foreign Births Register is one mechanism inside it, used when the line runs through a grandparent. If your parent was born on the island of Ireland, you are an Irish citizen from birth automatically, with nothing to register: descent has already done the work, and you apply for a passport. If your parent was born abroad but was an Irish citizen when you were born, because they were on the register themselves, you are a citizen too, but your own claim is proved by entering your birth on the register. The register is the record that keeps the chain provable across generations born abroad.
Useful pages: Irish in USA · The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · Coming home · Irish around the world
Sources
- Department of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Births Registration, citizenship and passport guidance, ireland.ie
More in Irish in USA and the diaspora
- What is the Foreign Births Registration, and who qualifies?
- What documents do I need for a Foreign Births Registration application?
- Does my child qualify if I register my own foreign birth after they are born?
- Can I claim Irish citizenship through a great-grandparent?
- How do I get an Irish passport for the first time as an adult abroad?