Census

Unfortunately, very few census records exist for Ireland prior to 1901. Therefore, if you are researching before this date, you will need to use partial censuses or census substitutes.

Key Resources

Census of Ireland 1901/1911
The surviving censuses were taken on the following dates:
31 March 1901
2 April 1911
Both of these censuses are freely available on the National Archives of Ireland website and include digital images of the original census forms.
Leitrim-Roscommon Genealogy
This site has complete transcriptions of the 1901 census for Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo and Sligo.
Census Finder
This is a great resource for locating census records available on the internet. It includes lots of partial censuses for Ireland.
Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry includes the 1766 Religious Census of Ireland. Navigate to this by choosing the Search tab and selecting UK & Ireland - Ireland - Census & Voter Lists.

Census substitutes

You can use any document which names people and places them in a particular place at a particular time as a census substitute. The following are just some examples:
Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards in the several counties, counties of cities and counties of towns in Ireland... [CD-ROM]
Land owners in Ireland: return of owners of land of one acre and upwards in the several counties, counties of cities, and counties of towns in Ireland... [Book]
International land records: tithe applotment books, 1823-1838 [CD-ROM]
Covers the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone.
The 1831 Tithe defaulters [CD-ROM]
Tithe defaulters Ireland, 1831 [Microform]
Family tree maker. Index to Griffith's Valuation of Ireland 1848-1864 [CD-ROM]
County Longford residents prior to the famine: a transcription and complete index of the Tithe Applotment Books of County Longford, Ireland (1823-1835) [Book]

What other information can I find?

Use our catalogue to find other census material relating to Ireland. Try searching under the keyword census plus the name of a geographic area e.g. dublin census. For census substitutes try keywords such as land or taxation.

Don't forget to use our Family History Bookmarks under headings such as:
ireland-census
northern.ireland-census

Read more about it

Census: the expert guide
This key work, published by the National Archives, contains in-depth information about censuses in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.
Ireland Census
Read this FamilySearch wiki for a detailed look at censuses and census substitutes for Ireland.