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Census - Ireland

1659      1740      1749      1766      1813      1821      1831      1841      1851      1861      1871     

1881 & 1891      1901      1911      1926      1937      1939      1941      1951

Census Substitutes

Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1659Principal land holders onlyn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kNoNo
Free Access Covers counties Cavan, Mayo, Tyrone, Wicklow and parts of Cork and Meath.

1740Protest-
ants only		n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kNoNo
Free Access Detail on returns varies from county to county. Covers counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry.

1749Head of family onlyGeneral-
ized		NoNoReligion yesNoInferred from statisticsInferred from statisticsn/kn/kNoNo
Free Access Only for 52 parishes in Roscommon, 13 in Sligo and 9 in Galway.

1766 After 5 MarHead of family onlyGeneral-
ized		n/kn/kReligion yesn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kNoNo
Free Access Of the surviving returns 174 parishes recorded names primarily in Tipperary, Cork, Louth and Armagh.


Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1813n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kNoNo
Free Access None survive.

1821Entire house with relation to head.townland, civil parish, barony and countyNoNoNoYesNoNo, but if married can be inferred from presence of spouse in house.YesNoNoAcreage of land holding plus # of stories the home had.
Free Access Surviving returns as follows: 14 parishes A-M in Cavan; 9 parishes in Offaly; 8 parishes in Galway A-L; 2 in Fermanagh A-R; 18 in Meath A-t. Can be searched for free online at National Archives of Ireland. Can also be searched for free online at Family Search.

1831. 6th JunEntire house with relation to head.townland, civil parish, barony and countyNoNoReligion yesYesNoNoYesNoNoacreage of land holding;
Free Access Only part of Londonderry county survives for parishes: Agevey, Aghanloo, Arboe, Artrea, Benagher, Glendermot, Killowen, Macosquin, Tamlaght-Finlagen, Templemore and Termoneey. Can be searched for free online at National Archives of Ireland. Can also be searched for free online at Family Search. Also available at PRONI in Belfast and the Genealogical Centre in Derry.


Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1841Entire house plus relation to head.YesRecords if born in county plus name of city, otherwise records country of birth. Nationality Inferred from birth place.NoReligion yesAges yesYesYes plus number of years marriedYesIf literateNoIncludes names of absentees as well as deaths since 1831.
Free Access Burnt fragments, only Killeshandra parish in Cavan survives and is at the National Archives in Dublin. Also a number of transcripts of the census for locations in the south - Co. Kilkenny and Monaghan plus a few isolated houses in Co. Cork, Fermanagh and Waterford. All can be searched for free online at National Archives of Ireland. Can also be searched for free online at Family Search. For Northern Ireland ancestors:  Claims for old age pensions filed prior to 1922 used entries on this census to verify age of claimant. The 1841 Census Search Forms can be searched online for free and images viewed at Family Search and at the National Archives of Ireland. Statistics gave a total island population of 8,175,124, of which only 15% lived in towns.


Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1851Entire house with relation to head of houseYesBirth place yes - country, county, city.NoReligion yesAges yesYesYes plus year when marriedYesIf literate. Also if deaf, dumb or blind.NoNo but additional information includes names of absent family members and their current residence as well as names of family members who had died since previous 6 June including cause and time of year of death. Also acreage held and a grading system for the standard of houses.
Free Access Burnt fragments, only townland of Drumkeeran, Fermanagh and some townlands in 13 parishes of Antrim survive. All can be searched for free online at the National Archives of Ireland. Can also be searched for free online at Family Search. They can also be viewed at PRONI in Belfast. Also, the NAI website site has extracts from some parts of Co Monaghan and lists of heads of houses for Dublin City and one ward in Belfast. The Genealogical Office also holds extracts of this population census for some Co. Kilkenny parishes; they're not online. For Northern Ireland ancestors:  Claims for old age pensions filed prior to 1922 used entries on this census to verify age of claimant. The 1851 Census Search Forms can be searched online for free and images viewed at Family Search and at National Archives of Ireland.


Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1861n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kNoNo
Free Access All returns destroyed by Acts of Parliament. Almost none survive except those found in the Catholic registers of Enniscorthy, Co.Wexford, (1861).

1871Entire house plus relation to head.n/kn/kn/kSome have been included in extra "Remarks" column.Age yesn/kn/kYesSome infirmities have been added to "Remarks" column.n/kExtra column for remarks such as "gone to America", "fond of a drop", etc..
Free Access All returns destroyed by Acts of Parliament. Almost none survive except those found in the Catholic registers of Drumcondra and Loughbraclen, Co. Meath (1871), the 1871 returns can be searched for free on the Irish Genealogical Research Society website.

1881, 1891n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/k
Free Access All returns destroyed by Acts of Parliament during WWI. Also, no transcripts survive. Only some statistics survive from these two census.

Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1901Entire house plus relation to head.YesRecords name of county if born in Ireland, otherwise records country of birth. Nationality inferred from birth place.NoReligion yesAges yesYesYesYesIf can read and/or writeNoNo
Free Access All can be searched for free online at the National Archives of Ireland.


Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1911Entire house plus relation to head.YesRecords name of county if born in Ireland, otherwise records country of birth. Nationality inferred from birth place.NoReligion yesAges yesYesYes, plus year of marriage and number of years marriedYesIf can read and/or writeNoIncludes # of children born in the current marriage and # still living. Also language used.
Free Access All can be searched for free online at the National Archives of Ireland.


Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1926n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/k
Free Access Taken in place of that not taken in 1921 due to the Irish Civil War. The Irish Free State Census covered the 26 counties that became the Republic of Ireland. The census returns not due for release until 2026 has been approved by the Irish Government for early release as one of the major 1916 anniversay projects. Northern Ireland returns were destroyed during WWII.

1937n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/k
Free Access Not yet released to public search.


Year & Date Names Address Birth Place and/or Nationality Immi- gra- tion Rel or Race Age or Birth Date Sex Marital Status Occu- pation Edu- cation or In- firm- ities Military Service Add'l Sch.
1939Yes, full.Yes, postal addressNoNoNoDate of birth, yes.YesYesYesNote as to health.YesNo
Free Access The National Register of the population of Northern Ireland was a census in all but name and taken shortly after the start of WWII. The register survives and access to it is via Freedom of Information laws. If you have the name and address of a person living in any one of the six northern counties, you can make an FOI application via PRONI.

1941n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/k
Free Access Cancelled due to WWII.

1951n/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/kn/k
Free Access Not yet released to public search.

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