In September 2015, over 2.5 million images of Irish births, deaths and marriage records from the General Register Office (GRO), were released online for the first time.

The images, available on www.irishgenealogy.ie, date back as far as 1864. Among the records are the birth, marriage and death register for Tom Crean, the Antarctic explorer. Crean’s grandson Brendan O’Brien joined the Irish Government Ministers Heather Humphreys and Leo Varadkar at the release launch event at the National Library. The online database also includes death register entries for the Leaders of the 1916 Rising, including James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Padraig H Pearse, and Eamonn Ceannt.