The 1901 census is indexed by civil land divisions beginning with the area that was known as the Poor Law Union and then taking each Registrars District which is further sub-divided into Electoral Divisions, Baronies, Parishes and townlands. There is no index to show us who lived where in any part of the 1901 or 1911 census (with the exception of those parts of the 1911 census which are being brought on line). Most but not all of the 1901 and 1911 censuses have been filmed and are obtainable through Family History Liraries the world over as well as here in Ireland in the National Archives or accessible through county libraries or county council offices. So, if you want to see if anyone of the surname you are interested in was still living in the townland that your family came from in 1901, you have to find out the film reference number for the District Electoral Division that the townland was in and then call up that film from whatever resource, go to the index for the townland which was written up by the enumerator, find the number of the property and then go to the form filled out by the head of household for the family on the night of the census. I have indexed the names of the Heads of Household for the 1901 census returns for county Laois or Queen's County - there are some parts of the census which are not on film and these have not been indexed yet. My index (minus the unfilmed sections) contains the names of 12,118 Heads of Household for County Laois in 1901. The population of the county in 1901 was 57,417 people - 29,694 male; 27,723 female. In the past, I have brought some of this index on-line by parish, but as I created the various parish lists, I found differences between the parishes that townlands were listed as being in back in 1851 (per Townlands directory of Ireland) and the parishes they were listed as being part of in 1901 and all in all it was very confusing and I never had time to go back checking the films and re-assignment of townlands to different areas. I also found different spellings for the parishes per the enumerator sheets, and the parish of Clonenagh & Clonagheen was listed as that in some parts and separately in others. It took me at least one year to index what I have, the spellings of names are as per the enumerator sheets. Quite often, I've found that the enumerator spelled a surname one way whilst the Head of Household spelled it another way. I have not checked all the forms filled out by the Heads of Household. So all spellings in my index are as per the enumerator sheets. I currently have surnames A-E on line and will be bringing the rest as the week goes by. Regards, Jane the 1901 Census Heads of Household by parish index can be found at: http://www.laoisgenealogy.com

Jane, what tremendous contributions you are making for us overseas folks with Laois origins. Thank you so very much! Sharon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane Lyons" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2009 6:53 PM Subject: [LAOIS] 1901 Census Heads of Household by parish index > The 1901 census is indexed by civil land divisions beginning with the area > that was known as the Poor Law Union and then taking each Registrars > District which is further sub-divided into Electoral Divisions, Baronies, > Parishes and townlands. There is no index to show us who lived where in > any part of the 1901 or 1911 census (with the exception of those parts of > the 1911 census which are being brought on line). > > Most but not all of the 1901 and 1911 censuses have been filmed and are > obtainable through Family History Liraries the world over as well as here > in Ireland in the National Archives or accessible through county libraries > or county council offices. So, if you want to see if anyone of the > surname you are interested in was still living in the townland that your > family came from in 1901, you have to find out the film reference number > for the District Electoral Division that the townland was in and then call > up that film from whatever resource, go to the index for the townland > which was written up by the enumerator, find the number of the property > and then go to the form filled out by the head of household for the family > on the night of the census. > > I have indexed the names of the Heads of Household for the 1901 census > returns for county Laois or Queen's County - there are some parts of the > census which are not on film and these have not been indexed yet. My > index (minus the unfilmed sections) contains the names of 12,118 Heads of > Household for County Laois in 1901. The population of the county in 1901 > was 57,417 people - 29,694 male; 27,723 female. > > In the past, I have brought some of this index on-line by parish, but as I > created the various parish lists, I found differences between the parishes > that townlands were listed as being in back in 1851 (per Townlands > directory of Ireland) and the parishes they were listed as being part of > in 1901 and all in all it was very confusing and I never had time to go > back checking the films and re-assignment of townlands to different areas. > I also found different spellings for the parishes per the enumerator > sheets, and the parish of Clonenagh & Clonagheen was listed as that in > some parts and separately in others. > > It took me at least one year to index what I have, the spellings of names > are as per the enumerator sheets. Quite often, I've found that the > enumerator spelled a surname one way whilst the Head of Household spelled > it another way. I have not checked all the forms filled out by the Heads > of Household. So all spellings in my index are as per the enumerator > sheets. > > I currently have surnames A-E on line and will be bringing the rest as the > week goes by. > > Regards, > Jane > the 1901 Census Heads of Household by parish index can be found at: > http://www.laoisgenealogy.com