The state-managed IrishGenealogy.ie, which provides free online access to civil registration records and some church register collections, has a technical problem which is currently preventing entry into its databases. The Captcha – a real pain in the proverbial at the best of times – appears to have got itself stuck.
Reaching the appropriate techies is not an easy task because they do their work incognito: no contact links, emails or phone numbers are provided to allow malfunctions to be reported, and even when a contact is made with a real live individual, frequent staff changes means that individual may not be in-situ next time a problem arises.
All very frustrating, especially for professional genealogists who depend on round-the-clock access to these essential databases.
Anyway, I have attempted to reach the right officials and will update this blogpost if I hear anything or when the site is up and running again.
UPDATE, 10 November 2023. The following notice has been published on the site's home page:
UPDATE, 13 November 2023. Access has been restored. The Captcha has changed its appearance, but at least it's working.