The Schulze Registers are the only surviving record of
clandestine marriage
Clandestinity is a diriment impediment in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It invalidates a marriage performed without the presence of three witnesses, one of whom must be a priest or a deacon.
History
It was promulgated in the 16th ...
s in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Canon law in the 18th and 19th centuries in Ireland stipulated that
banns
The banns of marriage, commonly known simply as the "banns" or "bans" (from a Middle English word meaning "proclamation", rooted in Frankish and thence in Old French), are the public announcement in a Christian parish church, or in the town cou ...
should be called or a
marriage licence
A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdiction ...
obtained before a marriage could take place and that the marriage should be celebrated in the parish where at least one of the parties was resident. Also, the marriage had to be celebrated by a clergyman of one of the religious denominations then in Ireland.
Some clergymen were willing, for a fee, to marry couples in secret, in "irregular" or "clandestine" marriages. This might have been necessary for a number of reasons, for example, objections of parents, problems with religious affiliation, or financial difficulty. While most of these "couple-beggars" did not keep a record of the marriages, some did—among them J.G.F. Schulze (died February 1839), minister of the Lutheran Church in Poolbeg Street,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. He was licensed to act only in his own congregation, but is known to have married couples of all sects, recording over 6,000 marriages between 1806 and 1837. Two of his registers of marriage survive, and are held by the
General Register Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Dublin.
General Register Office, Dublin
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The marriages performed by Schulze, over 6000, have also been indexed in a book 'Irregular Marriages in Dublin before 1837' by Henry (Harry) McDowell (2015).
See also
* Fleet Marriage
A Fleet Marriage was a common example of an irregular or a clandestine marriage taking place in England before the Marriage Act 1753 came into force on March 25, 1754. Specifically, it was one which took place in London's Fleet Prison or its en ...
References
19th century in Ireland
History of Dublin (city)
Marriage in Ireland
{{Ireland-hist-stub