Official Land Registry Document
Folio and Map Ireland
Folio and Map for Any Property in Ireland
Quick Answer
A folio and map is the standard pair of Land Registry documents for a registered property in Ireland: the folio sets out who owns the land and what burdens affect it, while the map shows the extent that folio describes. The two are ordered together because neither answers the question the other answers. Boundaries drawn on the map are general rather than conclusive.
Most orders placed with the Property Registration Authority are for a folio and its map together, because a purchaser, a lender or a solicitor needs both the registered ownership and the mapped extent before anything can be advised on with confidence.
Key Facts
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What Is This Document
A folio is the register entry for a parcel of registered land in Ireland. It is kept by the Property Registration Authority and divided into three parts. Part I describes the property and gives the map reference. Part II names the registered owner and states the Nature of Title, which may be absolute, qualified, possessory or good leasehold. Part III lists the burdens affecting the land — charges, rights of way, wayleaves, covenants, turbary and grazing entitlements, and anything else registered against it.
The Land Registry map, sometimes called the title plan, is the graphic half of the same record. Each folio carries a plan reference, and the mapped parcel identified by that reference is what the folio describes in words. Without the map a folio tells you that a person owns land in a townland; with the map you can see which land.
The pairing matters because the two documents fail differently. A folio read alone gives ownership and burdens with no idea of shape, frontage or extent. A map read alone shows a parcel with no indication of who owns it, on what class of title, or subject to what. Nearly every professional use of the register — a sale, a mortgage, an estate, a boundary question, a site being separated from a larger holding — needs both halves at once.
What neither half supplies is a conclusive boundary. Registered boundaries in Ireland are general boundaries: the mapped line shows approximately where the division between properties runs, not its exact legal position. A folio and map will tell you what is registered and roughly where it sits, and a dispute about the precise line is resolved by other means.
Which Document Do I Need
Different questions need different documents:
| Situation | Recommended Document |
|---|---|
| Establish who owns a property | Folio Search |
| See ownership, burdens and mapped extent together | Folio and Map — — this page |
| Produce evidence for a solicitor, lender or court | Certified Folio |
| Produce a certified plan of the registered extent | Certified Map |
| Read the wording of a right of way, charge or covenant | Instrument Copy |
What Information Is Included
The registered owner or owners, with the date of registration
The Nature of Title — absolute, qualified, possessory or good leasehold
The property description in Part I, by townland and county, with the plan reference
Every burden registered in Part III, including charges, rights of way, wayleaves, covenants, turbary and grazing rights
Any cautions, inhibitions or notices restricting dealings with the land
The Land Registry map showing the parcel that the folio describes, outlined and referenced
The folio number and county, which you will need for any further order on the same property
Why People Order
Buying a property
A purchaser's solicitor works from the folio and map before contracts, since ownership, burdens and extent all have to be established rather than assumed from a brochure.
Raising a mortgage
Lenders want the registered position on file, and a map showing the security they are being offered, before funds are released.
Selling a property
Having the folio and map to hand at the outset removes the commonest cause of delay in replying to requisitions on title.
Checking a boundary
The mapped extent is the starting point for any boundary question, even though the line itself is general rather than conclusive.
Separating a site
Where ground is carved out of a larger holding, the existing folio and map establish what is there before a new folio is created.
Administering an estate
Executors need to show what the deceased owned, and the folio and map together identify each holding for the Probate Office.
Settling a family arrangement
Where land is being divided between relatives, the map shows what is actually registered rather than what has long been assumed.
Investigating an access route
A right of way registered in Part III appears on the folio, and the map shows the ground it is said to cross.
Buying agricultural land
A farm sold as one unit frequently spans several folios, and ordering the map alongside each shows how the parcels fit together.
Real World Use Cases
Home Buyers
Ordering the folio and map early lets your solicitor see the registered position before you are committed, and lets you see whether the extent on the ground matches what is registered. Discrepancies found at this stage are negotiable; found after contracts, they are not.Sellers
Providing the folio and map with the contract documentation shortens the transaction. It also surfaces problems — an old right of way, a charge never discharged, a boundary that was moved without a dealing — while there is still time to deal with them.Solicitors
Practitioners order more folio and map pairs than any other combination, because the two together are the minimum evidence base for advising on title, drafting a contract, or certifying a security to a lender.Farmers and Landowners
Holdings assembled over generations rarely sit on one folio, and the map is what shows how the parcels relate. It is also the first place to look when a neighbour's claim about a boundary or an access has to be tested.Executors and Personal Representatives
Establishing exactly what land forms part of an estate is often harder than it sounds, and the folio and map give a defensible answer for each holding rather than a description from memory.Developers
Site assembly depends on knowing precisely what each folio covers and what is registered against it before options or contracts are signed.
Land Registry Context
Registered land in Ireland is mapped, and understanding how it is mapped explains most of what a folio and map can and cannot tell you.
Every registered parcel is plotted on a national mapping framework based on Ordnance Survey mapping, and each folio carries a plan reference tying its written description to a specific parcel on that framework. The system was maintained on paper for most of its life and has since been digitised, so a modern order returns a plan generated from the digital record rather than a photocopy of an old sheet. The underlying survey, however, is often a great deal older than the digital version of it, and features drawn from a nineteenth-century survey can persist on a plan long after the hedge, wall or drain they represent has gone from the ground.
The single most important rule attaching to those plans is the general boundaries rule. Registration in Ireland does not determine the exact line between two properties. The mapped boundary shows approximately where the division runs, and the register is not conclusive as to its precise position. A purchaser who reads a title plan as a survey-accurate delineation of what they are buying has misread it, and boundary disputes are resolved through the instruments, physical evidence and, where necessary, the courts rather than by measuring the folio map.
Folio numbering is organised by county, which catches people out regularly. A folio number is only meaningful with its county attached, because the same number exists in most counties. An order placed with a number alone, or with the wrong county, returns the wrong property or nothing at all.
Compulsory first registration was extended county by county over several decades and reached Dublin and Cork on 1 June 2011, so registration on sale now applies across the State. Land that has not changed hands since then may still be unregistered, in which case no folio exists and the title rests in deeds recorded at the Registry of Deeds instead.
Common Mistakes
Treating the map as a survey-accurate boundary
Registered boundaries in Ireland are general boundaries. The plan shows approximately where the division runs and the register is not conclusive as to the exact line, so a title plan cannot settle a boundary dispute on its own.
Ordering by folio number without the county
Folio numbers repeat across counties. A number supplied without its county will return the wrong property or no result, and the county is part of the identifier rather than an optional extra.
Assuming the folio explains its own burdens
Part III records that a right of way, covenant or charge exists and refers to the instrument that created it. The terms — width, route, who maintains it, what it permits — are in that instrument, which is ordered separately as an instrument copy — — /instrument-copy/dublin/.
Expecting a folio for unregistered land
Where land has never been registered there is no folio and no map to order. The title is recorded in deeds at the Registry of Deeds, and a folio search will confirm which situation applies before you order.
Reading an old plan as a current one
The mapped detail frequently derives from a survey a great deal older than the digital plan it appears on, so a hedge, wall or drain shown on the map may have gone from the ground decades ago without any dealing being lodged.
When Not Sufficient
A folio and map establishes registered ownership, burdens and approximate extent. It does not resolve an exact boundary line, disclose unregistered interests such as short leases or rights acquired by long use, set out the wording of the instruments behind Part III burdens, or say anything about planning permission, building condition or flood risk. Those require an instrument copy, a planning search, a surveyor or the relevant authority.
How To Order
Send the address and Eircode of the property, or the folio number together with its county. The county matters — folio numbers repeat across the country, so a number on its own is not enough to identify a property.
If you do not have a folio number, that is the ordinary case and no obstacle. Our team locates the folio from the address, confirms the property before anything is prepared, and comes back to you if more than one registered parcel matches so that you order the right one.
For agricultural land, a townland name and an approximate acreage identify a holding more reliably than a postal address, and it helps to say at the outset if the farm is spread across more than one parcel.
Turnaround & Delivery
Delivery time:
The folio and map are supplied as electronic copies, sent to the email address you provide, so nothing waits on the post. Each order is checked against the property you described before it is sent.
If the property cannot be identified from the details supplied, or if the land turns out to be unregistered and no folio exists, we contact you rather than sending something that does not answer your question.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need the map as well as the folio?
For most purposes yes. The folio gives ownership, title class and burdens but no indication of shape or extent, and the map shows the parcel without saying who owns it or what affects it. Solicitors and lenders normally expect both.
Is the boundary on the map the legal boundary?
No. Ireland operates a general boundaries system, so the mapped line shows approximately where the division between properties runs and the register is not conclusive as to its exact position. A boundary dispute is resolved through the instruments and physical evidence rather than by measuring the plan.
Can I order without a folio number?
Yes, and most people do. The address and Eircode are enough for our team to locate the folio. If more than one registered parcel matches the property, we come back to you before preparing anything so that you receive the right one.
Why does the county matter for a folio number?
Because folio numbering is organised by county and the same number exists in most of them. A number supplied without its county is incomplete, and an order placed on that basis returns the wrong property or no result at all.
What if the property is not registered?
Then no folio or map exists for it. The title will rest in deeds recorded at the Registry of Deeds, and the search moves there instead. A folio search establishes which situation applies before you commit to an order.
Does the folio show the terms of a right of way?
No. Part III records that the right exists and identifies the instrument that created it. The route, width, permitted use and maintenance obligations are set out in that instrument, which is ordered separately as an instrument copy.
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Property Records Editorial Team
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