Millions of Irish Census Records Added to SuperSearch™

We’ve just added the 1901 and 1911 Irish Censuses, with over 8.7 million records, to MyHeritage SuperSearch™. Both censuses are free and include images. The collections represent an extremely valuable part of the Irish national heritage, and are a vital source for social, economic and cultural history.

Search the U.K. & Ireland Census now

The 1901 and 1911 Ireland censuses covered all of Ireland’s 32 counties and enumerated the entire Irish population at the time. Although national censuses were taken every decade from 1821 to 1911, the 1901 census is the earliest complete census in existence; as most previous censuses were destroyed. The 1901 census was conducted on 31 March 1901 and the 1911 census was taken on 2 April 1911.

The 1901 census lists – for every member of the household – name, age, gender, relationship to the head of the household, religion, occupation, marital status, county of birth (except for foreign births, which give country only), whether the individual spoke Irish (Gaelic), and whether the individual could read or write. The 1911 Census lists the same information, in addition to the number of years married women had been married to their current husband, the number of children that had been born to them, and the number of children who were still alive.

The early 1900s were times of great change in Ireland, as the social and economic order shifted dramatically.

Ireland’s population was on the decline for many years (as seen in the graph below). Although 5.11 million people were counted in the census of 1851, this number was almost halved 50 years later, in the 1901 census.

Here are some interesting examples found by searching these collections on SuperSearch™:

We found the 1901 Irish Census record for Irish novelist and poet, James Joyce, who is revered as one of the most influential writers of the early 20th-century. He is listed with his father, mother, six sisters and three brothers. As seen below, Joyce was only 19 at the time of the census, not married, and a student. He was attending University College, Dublin, where he was taking English, Italian and French.

Another influential writer, Samuel Beckett, is listed in the 1911 Irish census. Then 4 years old, he is recorded as living with his parents, brother, and two domestic servants, in Dublin.

Other notable characters found in the Irish Census Records are political figures Padraig Pearse and Eamon De Velera. Padraig Pearse, 21, is listed as the head of his household in the 1901 census; 10 years later, he filled out the form entirely in Irish as Pádraig Mac Piarais. Eamon de Valera, is recorded as an 18-year-old Dublin-born boarder at Blackrock College in the 1901 Census. He went on to serve multiple several terms as head of government and head of state.

This new content provides a large harvest of new matches for MyHeritage users with Irish roots. You’ll receive a notification about any record in our database which matches someone in your family tree through our Record Matching technology. If an individual in your family tree connects to a branch in another MyHeritage family tree, you’ll be alerted about the Instant Discovery™ and you can choose to add the whole branch to your tree, with one click. Our Record Detective™ will ensure that each record displays a summary of additional records and individuals in related family trees. Save records and extract information to relevant people in your family tree, or add new individuals to your tree, directly from the record.

These vital records provide a unique view into the lives of Irish people at the beginning of the 20th-century, making this collection a fantastic family history resource for anyone with Irish heritage, or those wishing to get a glimpse of life during those times.

Start searching the U.K. & Ireland Census collections today. We look forward to hearing about your new family history discoveries!

The MyHeritage Team