Searching tips

You can search this site in two ways: by name of individual, or by location. Remember, the less information you put in, the more numerous the results.

Person search

It is important to remember that the names on this site have been transcribed as they were written into the census forms. We have not corrected spellings. Some names are illegible, or appear on a damaged form. You may, therefore, have to try a number of strategies to find the person you seek.

Enter forename and surname of the individual you seek in the relevant boxes. Enter the county they lived in. If you know the townland or street where the person lived, enter that in the relevant box. If you know the person's age, enter that, and the search will cover that age plus or minus 5 years. You should also enter the person's sex.

Surnames

If you are unsure of the spelling of the person's name, you can use wildcard characters. Use an asterisk (*) to represent letters of which you are not sure, eg M*Gee will bring up McGee, MacGee and Magee.

Names that begin with O as a prefix, like O'Brien, can be transcribed as O'Brien, O Brien or Obrien. Entering any of these will bring up all the variations. Names that begin with Mc or Mac as a prefix, like McCarthy, can be transcribed as McCarthy, MacCarthy, Mc Carthy or Mac Carthy. Entering any of these will bring up all the variations.

Sometimes people entered their entire name in either the surname or first name column, or transposed their names completely. If you are unsuccessful in your first search, try entering the person's surname in the first name box, and you may be lucky.

We will be launching a surnames variants programme on the site in the coming months, which will make it easier for users to find names with multiple spellings.

Irish surnames

Some people entered their name in the census in Irish, and in the old Gaelic script. These names have been listed in modern script, but not translated into English. Usually, the name of the head of household is written on the back of the form in English (see return for the household of Sean O'Casey), and this name is also indexed and included in the list of residents of a household. A list of Irish names and occupations, with translations, will appear on this site in the coming months.

Forenames

Sometimes forenames were shortened or petnames used, eg Margaret/Maggie, Ann/Annie, John/Jno, Michael/Mick. Wildcards can be used in these cases. Use an asterisk (*) to represent letters of which you are not sure. For example, Cat*rine will bring up Catherine, Catharine and Cathrine.

Sometimes people entered their entire name in either the surname or forename column, or transposed their names completely. If you are unsuccessful in your first search, try entering the person's surname in the forename box, and you may be lucky.

Irish forenames

Institutions

People in institutions like prisons, army and police barracks, asylums and workhouses were often listed in the census only by their initials. Thus, Mary Smith will be listed only as M.S. If you think the person you seek was in an institution in 1911, first try the return for the institution, if you know it, as the ancillary information on the return (age, county of birth, previous occupation etc.) will help you to decide whether this is the right person. If you don't know the institution, or merely suspect that someone might have been in one, use their initials plus the age and sex boxes to narrow it down, eg M S, 25, female.