In Ireland, there is no registration procedure for owners of a copyright work.  It is an unregistered right (unlike patents, registered designs or trade marks). Copyright comes into effect immediately, as soon as something that can be protected is created and "fixed" in some way, eg on paper, on film, via sound recording, as an electronic record on the internet, etc.  

Basically the act of creating a work also creates the copyright, which then subsists in the physical expression of the work. Copyrights are protected by law and illegal use of these rights can be contested in the Courts, the technical term for this misuse is infringement.

Irish legislation provides for criminal offences and consequently infringers could face both civil liability and criminal convictions.

Professional advice should be sought by copyright owners with regard to the options and the remedies available where infringement of their work occurs. There is no official register for copyright.