CENSUSES. The first general State census commenced in 1821 but up to 1901 most returns, except for a few miscellaneous places, have been lost or destroyed. Prior to 1821 various censuses for specific purposes were carried out and the principal ones are listed below.
The earliest surviving comprehensive returns are for 1901 and 1911. Both these census collections are now available to search online HERE. 1911 census.
The
main information given was:
name; relationship to the head of the household; religion; literacy; occupation; age; marital status; married women had to state the number of years married, number of children born alive and the number still living; county of birth; ability to speak English or Irish and information on the type of house e.g. number of rooms etc. 1901 census.
The information is similar to that in the 1911 census but the requirement for married women is not included.
Censuses 1821-1891.
No household returns exist for 1881 and 1891. There are some returns or abstracts for other years for parts of some counties.
A list of heads of households named in the returns of 1851 for Dublin City is available.
There are also census search forms, made in the returns of 1841 and 1851, for pension purposes. These can be searched online HERE. Religious Census 1766.
This was drawn up by each Church of Ireland rector and lists all householders in his parish. However it is only available for some areas. Census of Ireland circa 1659.
It gives the names of tituladoes (i.e. those with title to land). The number of persons (English and Irish) resident in each townland and the principal Irish names in each barony are also listed.
No returns exists for some counties.
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