Census & Soldiers' Wills

The National Archives have a number of important records available to search on their website.

Censuses, 1901 and 1911: these are searchable in their entirety on every item of information recorded, with scanned copies of the original returns also online. Especially for urban areas, which are not comprehensively covered in Griffith’s, these records are invaluable.

Census survivals, 1821-1851: surviving and copy census returns from the pre-famine period, with many records from Cavan, Meath and Antrim.

Census search forms, 1841-1851: these are records of searches in census records before 1922 to provide proof of age as eligibility for the Old Age Pension, which was introduced in 1909. These records give names and ages of members of the family in 1841 or 1851, and often the maiden name of the applicant's mother.

Soldiers' Wills, 1917-1918: these are wills of Irish soldiers who died while serving in the British Army. Most of these date from the First World War while a small number date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


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