Search Site Help Topics


This page contains the list of help topics for the CRO Search Site. All features of the Search Site are covered here. If you require any further assistance, please contact the Information Unit in the CRO at cro.info@enterprise.gov.ie, or by using the other contact details available on the Contact Us page.

How do I search for a Company?

Go to the Company Search page. To get information on a company or business name, enter its name or number. Please define name searches as precisely as possible - you are searching the LIVE CRO database which is very heavily used. Using the main search option the name will need to match exactly to be found.

For example, if the name of the company has a fada in it, it might not be found if the search criteria did not match exactly and have the fada in it also. If the name of the company you are looking for does not appear, consider using the Alphasort option. This removes punctuation, fadas etc and maybe the name you need can be found this way. 

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What type of Companies can I search for?

You can search the register of Companies and Business Names or both at the same time. The register of Companies contains all limited companies. The register of Business Names is a register of trading names that have been adopted by an individual a partnership or a body corporate. You can also search for EEIGs. You cannot search for Industrial & Provident Societies, Friendly Societies, Trade Unions. A pdf file copy of the Limited Partnership register is available on the site. See Publications & Forms section. In order to search for Industrial and Provident Societies, Friendly Societies and Trade Unions, please use the RFS Search Facility.

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How does the Company Name search work?

A search can be made against a company or a business name. A business name is a trading name adopted by an individual or company/partnership. You can check by exact match or use the Alphasort search, which removes punctuation and spaces.

There are four possible name searches:

- 'Contains all these words' searches for names containing these words (recommended)

- 'Starts with this phrase' searches for names beginning with this phrase

- 'Contains this phrase' searches for names containing this phrase.

- The alphasort search below is a string created by removing common words such as 'Ireland', 'Limited', 'The', 'And', etc. and by stripping out spaces, commas, hyphens, fadas etc. from the company name. To perform an alphasort search you should do the same.

Name searches may be narrowed by including address details.

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How does the Alphasort Option work?

You can check by using the Alphasort search, which removes punctuation, fadas, gaps between words and common words such as "Ireland" "Limited" and "The". The alphasort search can be used for example where "THIS-IS. A. TEST Limited" is being searched for. Simply enter "Thisisatest" in the Alphasearch. The "-" and "." are removed. Where looking for a company named "THE TRIED LOOKING & TESTED Limited", simply enter "Triedlookingte" to find the business.

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What should I do if I cannot fine the Company I am looking for?

What should I do if I cannot find the Company I am looking for?

If you cannot find the details of the Company you you are looking for, try using the Alphasort option on the Search page. The Alpha Sort search option removes punctuation, fadas, spaces, and words such as "of" and "the" from the search.

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Can I include Address in the Search

Yes. However, to search using address, the name parameter must also be used. This refines the search to a particular area.

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Is there anything I should be aware of when searching by Company Number?

Yes - You can search for a company or business name using Company Number. Companies with numbers greater than 900000 are external companies - Companies incorporated abroad but which have registered a Branch in Ireland. Please note, that when searching by Company Number, we must insist on you answering a security question to prevent any automatic screen scraping robots from capturing all of the CRO data.

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What type of documents can I purchase using the Search website?

You may purchase Company Printouts and any documents that we have stored electronically for a company. Almost all documents in the CRO are scanned soon after they are received, and these may be purchased by you.

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What are the file types in which I can order documents?

Company printouts are only available as PDF files. To open a PDF, you will need to download Adobe Reader from the Adobe website.

All other documents can be ordered as either PDF or TIF. A TIF may be opened using an Image Viewer such as Microsoft Picture and Fax Viewer, Microsoft Document Imaging, or any similar application. Most PCs will have an application installed which will allow you to view TIF files.

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What are the charges for the various types of documents?

Charges for documents are currently as follows:

Company Printout - €3.50

Submission Documents - €2.50

Duplicate Certificates - Free. These are intended for public sector use only. Please refer to Web Duplicate Certificate help.

It is also possible to purchase from the website or through the Public Office, a duplicate certificate at a cost of €12. Please see Duplicate Certificate page.

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What is the reference required when entering my email address?

The reference entered can be used to identify your purchase if you need to contact the CRO and retrieve a document you did not receive. It will also be used as in Subject for the email you will receive after making a purchase.

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How long should I wait to receive documents?

Electronic documents are usually delivered by email within 1 hour of ordering.

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Is it possible to order free Web Duplicate Certificates?

Yes. You may order free Web Duplicate Certificates from the Web Duplicate Certificate screen. These are for public sector use only. To order the Web Duplicate Certificate, you must know the Company Number or Business Name number. You will then be asked to verify the Company/Business Name, and enter your email address. It is also possible to purchase a duplicate certificate from the website for €12 or through the Public Office - see Duplicate Certificate page.

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I would like to open a CRO Account. How should I do this?

To open a CRO Account please login to CORE and CREATE a New Core Account. If you opened an account previously, please LOGIN with Existing Core Account.  

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What should I do if I forget my Account Login details?

If you are trying to login as an existing customer and have forgotten your password, please select the FORGOT PASSWORD option. If you forgot your LOGIN name, select the FORGOT LOGIN Name option, enter your email address and an email will be sent to you.

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Why am I sometimes logged out of the CRO website after a few minutes of inactivity?

As a security measure to protect your account, you will be logged out of the Search Site after a period of more than 5 minutes. Any items which may be in your Basket will also be cleared out if no action is taken within 5 minutes.

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What credit cards are accepted by the CRO?

The CRO accepts Visa and MasterCard which are chip and pin enabled.

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What information is available on the Company Search Facility for free?

Information available:

In the Company Search Facility, you can check the details of both Companies and Business Names as well as basic information on registered external companies. The following information is displayed free of charge in the Company Search Facility:]Company name, Company number, Company Type, Address of registered office, Date of incorporation, Status of company, Date of last annual return filed and

Where you click into the individual company information: Submission number of each document, Document number in each submission, Type of submission, Status of submission, Received date of each submission, Registered date of submission, Availability of image (yes/no), Amount of pages contained in each scanned document.

However you cannot see company officer information details other than through purchase of a document or a company printout. Shareholder information is not stored in the database but can be seen on the annual return form for a company which has share capital (form B1).

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