Notary Public

A Notary Public is a type of lawyer, similar to, but not the same as, a solicitor, barrister or commissioner for oaths.

As public officers, Notaries serve the public in non-contentious matters – usually by certifying, authenticating or witnessing documents for foreign or international use. Each Notary Public is appointed by the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Ireland.  Practically all Notaries Public are solicitors. Only about 2% of solicitors are Notaries Public

Thomas Barry, Dublin Notary Public, has provided prompt, professional and comprehensive Notary Services to corporate and private clients from 11 St Stephens Green for many years.

He likes to think his testimonials and Google Reviews (see here) speak for themselves. He operates to the mantra “people deal with people” and takes the time to understand your requirements and concerns.

No. 11 St Stephens Green’s central and easily accessible location is close to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Consular Section, making it very convenient for obtaining an apostille.

Early morning, evening and other out of hours appointments can be arranged.  A short notice call out service is also available.

  • Foreign Property or Commercial Transactions (e.g. granting a Power of Attorney, executing a deed or completing transfer documents).
  • Certifying and Authenticating documents (e.g. educational, professional and vocational qualifications or police certificates)
  • Swearing Affidavits
  • Making Declarations and Affirmations
  • Company documents
  • Adoption papers
  • Consents to Travel
  • Certificates of identity
  • Arranging to apostille documents with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Notaries also receive and make “Protests” under Mercantile Law and take Ships “Protests”.

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  1. Make an Appointment by contacting 01 6773434 or tom@thomasbarry.ie
  2. Complete the Document(s) by filling in all gaps to the best of your ability before you call.
  3. Email the document or documents you want notarised (ideally in Microsoft Word format). This speeds the process.
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The same anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering formalities as apply on opening a new bank account apply to notarisation.

PASSPORT

You must prove your identity.  This usually means producing your original passport.  Lesser proof may be accepted but only for compelling reasons.

If other identifying detail is given in the document to be notarised (such as Identity Card number or tax number), then whatever document proves that other detail must also be produced.

BANK STATEMENT OR UTILITY BILL

You must prove your current residential address by producing a recent bank statement or utility bill (not a mobile phone bill) with your name and address dated within the previous three months.

SOURCE OF FUNDS

Where a matter relates to buying or selling property or business entities, managing money or other assets, opening or managing accounts, funding companies, trusts etc. you will need to produce documentation proving the source of funds to the Notary.

Additional considerations apply to notarising documents for a corporate entity.

You will be asked to confirm that all legal and statutory obligations to allow the proposed notarisation to proceed have been complied with and that all necessary authorisations have been obtained.

Online checks may need to be made by the Notary in the Companies Office and Register of Beneficial owners. It may be necessary to produce personal ID documents for the beneficial owners and the Company officers (Directors/Secretary).  This will depend on the nature of your business and will be assessed on a case by case basis.

SOURCE OF FUNDS

As Notaries Public must comply with a significant body of anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering legislation where a matter relates to buying or selling property or business entities, managing money or other assets, opening or managing accounts, funding companies, trusts etc. documentation proving the source of funds will need to be produced to the Notary.

An Apostille is a certificate issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade verifying the genuineness of the signature and/or seal of a Notary Public on a public document.

Notarisation must take place first.  Thomas Barry, Notary Public, can make application for an apostille on your behalf.

The Apostille procedure only applies between countries that have signed and ratified or acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. These are listed in alphabetical order and may easily be checked on  https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/authorities1/?cid=41.

For those countries which have not done so a more complicated process, Legalisation, is required and there are there still are some jurisdictions which also require a seal from the appropriate embassy even though they have signed up to the Hague Convention.

Only some notarised documents will require to be apostilled or legalised. The person to who the document will eventually be presented dictates this and you should check their requirements directly with them.

As a general rule the Notary does not give legal or other advice and is only concerned with the verification of your identity and your ability in a general way to understand the document(s).  The contents of the document(s), their meaning and effect, and whether you are wise to sign them, are all your responsibility.

The Notary does not need to understand the foreign language in which the document is written. The Notary, however, will want to be satisfied that you understand the document.

If you wish to have a foreign language document apostilled or legalised the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will want to see an English language version of the contents incorporated in the document with both the English and non-English language versions completed.

A Power of Attorney is a document where one party (“the donor”) gives another party or parties (“the donee”) the power to act on his or her behalf within the terms set out in the document and the donor becomes liable for the actions of the donee.

The most common use of Powers of Attorney is for foreign transactions, such as property sales or purchases, where a person wishes to avoid having to travel abroad to attend to the formalities.

While they can witness the signing of Powers of Attorney for use outside Ireland, as a general rule, Irish Notaries have difficulty preparing such documents.  This is because they are not familiar with the precise requirements under local laws.  The normal procedure is that the person wishing to have the document notarised has it prepared (commonly in the foreign language with an English language version accompanying it) and presents him or herself with the document to the Notary with a request that the Notary witness the signing of the document.

Powers of attorney can have long lasting and wide ranging adverse consequences.  They should not be entered into lightly.  They need to be carefully drafted and extreme caution needs to be exercised when granting them.  Professional advice, which the Notary does not provide, should be taken.  As an old adage has it:

“A Power of Attorney in the hands of an unscrupulous person is one of the most lethal documents known to the civilised and uncivilised world; a power of attorney is capable of dissipating all the assets of the donor at the stroke of a pen”.

Frequently when I am asked to notarise in connection with Irish citizenship applications the requesting party is under the impression more documents need to be certified or notarised than is the case.  A constant is that a Statutory Declaration needs to be made and the back of two photographs signed and dated.  Please ensure the application form is fully completed before you call and do not sign the declaration until you appear before me.

Experience has shown the most practical way to deal with this type of matter is to dispense with further correspondence on what might or might not be required and for one to attend with all one’s original documents with a view to having only those documents that are stated in the guidance notes with the usual application form to require it, notarised or certified.  In the vast majority of cases in which I have been involved proceeding as outlined seems to have worked satisfactorily.

Due to a change introduced in January 2022 certified complete colour copies of your existing and previous passports must now be furnished with the application.  Certification requires that copies of the relevant original passports are made in this office and each page is marked by me.  There is no benefit in you bringing copies.

Get in Touch

+353 1 677 3434

+353 1 677 3445

info@thomasbarry.ie
11 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2

Legal Services from Dublin Solicitors

Since 1991, Thomas Barry & Company Solicitors, Dublin have continued to expand and develop our legal services. We will use our experience and expertise to provide advice, guidance and legal representation in relation to your legal issues. We can provide both commercial and private clients with a tailored and effective service to help them reach a successful conclusion.

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