Thank you to all the kind people who have responded to my DED enquiry - Laurence, Cindy, Catherine, Jack and all the others, and thanks for all the help and advice. Perhaps I should have explained what I was doing - and I was using the National Archives 1911 census site. I started " gathering up " family several years ago, as I knew whereabouts in Ireland most of our family were from, parish, townland etc., and I do realise how lucky I was in that fact. Also lucky in that I live not too far away from Ireland in the southwest of England and have family over in Ireland to stay with.... so over the years I have checked the parish records, post 1860s civil records, land registry and many other sources. One thing that I have discovered is how often they moved from place to place. You often find them in unexpected townlands. So what I have also done is cross reference different areas for " family names " and this is where the census has been really useful, although some people were missing. And this is why I was browsing the census, looking around general areas to see who lived there. And while I do know that families with the same name are not necessarily related, it's surprising what information can be gleaned if all the relevant information that you have to hand is used. And don't forget sponsors or god-parents. But while I did know the parishes etc that our families lived in, I didn't have the name or DED of adjacent places and areas that they might well have moved to. Also illuminating, if a little depressing, is the depopulation from the time of the Griffith's Valuation to the 1901 and 1911 census. In many places families just disappear. So many had to leave Ireland and try for a better life away from home. So that is why I was not just searching the census using somebody's name... trying to get the broader picture, Mary