Irish 1901 census goes online

June 4, 2010

The earliest surviving complete census of Ireland is now available freely online. It may be viewed through the website of the.

Within the census are more than 4.5 million records from 850,000 households across the 32 counties; the information covers the night of Sunday March 31, 1901. records were made available online in 2009, subsequently attracting more than 260 million hits.

The 1901 census lists a number of now-famous Irish people; as a 19-year-old student living with his family in Fairview,. Author, under her married name of Margaret Guiheen, on. A 22-year-old, one of the leaders of the and , a significant leader of Ireland's struggle for independence, at the time an 18-year-old boarder in , are also included.

The majority of 19th century Irish census records are now lost for a variety of reasons, including a fire at the Public Records Office during the 1922.

Digitisation of the records cost almost €4 million; the work was carried out by the in partnership with.