Digitisation of 1901 and 1911 census records is underway

The 1911 census returns are now online. The 1901 returns will follow by early-mid 2010

Ireland's census records have always presented family history reseachers with one major problem: the lack of a name index. So the best Irish genealogy news in years came in 2005 with the announcement of a collaboration between the National Archives in Dublin (NAI) and Library & Archives Canada to digitise, index and publish online both the 1901 and 1911 census.

Brick tenements in Dublin

Even better, the intention was always that access to all these records would be free. Wow!

This huge task involves digitising more than 3000 microfilm reels and it was probably no great surprise when the scheduled date (March 2007) for the first free census records to appear was missed.

It seemed a long wait but when the 1911 returns for Dublin, indexed by name and townland or street, appeared in December 2007, all was forgiven!

In addition to a fully searchable index for each name or address recorded, the new website provided access to images of the original household manuscripts plus an excellent photogallery and an essay library of life in Dublin at that time. This is a great bonus for anyone searching for Irish ancestors who lived in the capital region. And all absolutely free.

Scroll down for latest news on digitisation

Toolkit top tip

Save your printing ink! Don't print off the census images from the National Archives site. Instead, print off some blank census forms (they use a lot less ink) and transcribe your ancestor's details direct from your screen.

You can download/print free blank census forms here:

1901 census form A or 1911 census form A

On 22 December 2008 the National Archives of Ireland released the 1911 census online (plus historical photos and essays) for counties Antrim, Down and Kerry. Although at least six months later than scheduled, this tranche of online returns was warmly welcomed. It came one year after the first returns, for Dublin, went online.

With the December 2008 releases, the NAI confirmed their commitment to completing the project in 2009. The 1911 records will be placed online in three tranches before the end of summer while the returns for 1901 census are expected to be placed online in one fell swoop at the end of 2009. As with the Dublin, Antriim, Down and Kerry 1911 releases, contextual material will accompany the releases of some of the major urban population bases such as Cork.

On 29 July 2009 the National Archives of Ireland announced that the second of this year's tranches of releases (due 'mid-July') was delayed for over one month in order to achieve the required level of accuracy. The revised date of release is 'late August'. The date for the third tranche of releases is also knocked on by one month to 'late September'.

On 28 August 2009 family historians all over the world were taken by surprise when the National Archives of Ireland released census records for all the remaining counties.

On 29 December 2009 a redeveloped site went live to allow new search options for all 1911 census records including: Relation to Head of Household, Literacy, Occuptation, Marital Status, County/Country of Origin, Language Proficiency, Specified Illnesses, Number of Years Married, Number of Children Born, and Number of Children Living. In addition, it was announced that the 1901 census records, with all data transcribed, will be launched between early and mid 2010.