Thursday, May 1, 2014

Irish 1841/51 Census Fragments - online, Free

The Old Age Pension Act of 1908, for those over age 70, came into effect in 1909. Seeing as civil registration of births did not begin in Ireland until 1864, most people would have no way to 'prove' their current age, or their year of birth.

Enter the censuses of 1841 and 1851 which would show personal and surnames of all those alive during those years, as well as where they lived, and with whom! What a wonderful treasure trove of information!

You can read further information, as well as search the database at the National Archives of Ireland http://censussearchforms.nationalarchives.ie/search/cs/home.jsp.

And now FindmyPast [all platforms] is also making these searches possible, FREE! http://blog.findmypast.com/2014/pre-1901-irish-census-records-online-for-the-first-time/

FamilySearch.org is also making these searches available, soon.


On a personal note, many long years ago I ordered these films in from SLC. I couldn't believe that none of my Irish ancestors had taken advantage of this pension opportunity, and was shocked to not find even one application. Admittedly I was not near as good a researcher as I am now, so it's always possible I missed something. BUT even more important is the fact I did not understand then how important it is to understand what records are included. Read the areas covered folks ... before you spend too much time (as I did) searching these records.

Hopefully you will have some successes here!! If you do, I would LOVE to hear about it pryan@sasktel.net


Cheerio [what a spectacular weather day it is here today!]
Pat

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