Ok, this is even more puzzling....!!! I have been asked for a birth certificate when for example, I had to renew my passport or my national idenity card. Maybe I should clarify the fact that I am French and everything I do (legal papers) is done through the French Embassy. This explains a lot as but not all... In my case, I have to request a certified copy of my birth certificate in France and they simply post it to me. I should also mention that when one is requested: I do not get it back, this explains why I need to request a copy every time. Don't take me wrong, it is not like I need it regularly but I was just curious if anybody had a logical explanation to this.
The reason why at the moment we need our birth certificated is that we are in the process of filling in the papers for our upcoming wedding and both my partner (who is Irish) and I, had to produce birth certificates that had to be issued within three months of whenever we are handing in our papers. This was requested by both the Registration office (registration of intention to marry) but also the Church. Mr Mongola ordered his online via the HSE. (11 euro for a certified copy)