External resources

Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census fragments and substitutes,1821-51

Text and images from the National Archives of Ireland website.

The household returns and ancillary records for the censuses of Ireland of 1901 and 1911, which are in the custody of the National Archives of Ireland, represent an extremely valuable part of the Irish national heritage. Read more about their digitisation.

All thirty-two counties for 1901 and 1911, searchable by all information categories, are now available on this site. Corrections and improvements will be ongoing, and we are very grateful to all users who have submitted corrections to us. A small amount of material is missing from the site, and will be placed online as soon as possible.
Census of IrelandSee User Corrections for information about data updates to the site.


Dictionary of Irish Biography

Text and images from Royal Irish Academy website.

The Dictionary of Irish Biography online (dib.cambridge.org), comprising over 10,000 lives, is now available to Irish secondary schools. On-site access, facilitated through Scoilnet (www.scoilnet.ie) is now available to all pupils and teachers in every school in Ireland. Simply go to dib.cambridge.org or log in to Scoilnet and click on the ‘Dictionary of Irish Biography’ icon.

The Dictionary, the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical reference work for Ireland, surveys the historical experience of the island of Ireland and outlines the careers at home and overseas of prominent men and women born in Ireland, north and south, and the noteworthy Irish careers of those born outside Ireland.

The Dictionary is widely applicable to the Leaving Certificate History syllabus at both ordinary and higher level, especially the ‘key personalities’ emanating from each topic of study. Both the ‘Early Modern Irish History: 1494–1815’ and the ‘Later Modern Irish History: 1815–1993’ fields of study are well covered by the breadth and range of the Dictionary.

The comprehensive range of biographies featured will also be of considerable use to students of English, Irish, foreign languages, geography, science, technology, the arts, music, religion and any area in which there were outstanding achievers.

  • The Dictionary allows searching by name and ‘free text’ from the homepage.
  • The Dictionary’s advanced search capabilities, accessed via the ‘Advanced Search’ button, allow more precise searching using dates of birth or death, places of birth or death, gender, religion, career/occupation, and various free text options.

You can view an introduction to using the Dictionary of Irish Biography on the Royal Irish Academy website or on Youtube: