I found this interesting in that both of my parent's elders were Irish transplants........ 1901 Irish Census Goes Online The earliest surviving complete Census of Ireland has been put online, giving access to more than 4.5 million records from 1901 for historians, genealogists and anyone curious about their family history. Some 850,000 households on the entire island were covered in the census, which was taken on the night of Sunday, March 31st, 1901. Minister for Culture Mary Hanafin described the service as “an important and exciting day for people all over the world who want to trace their roots”. She added: “In a world which is very troubled, people want to know where they are rooted and are anxious to know about their background and their heritage.” There are no further complete sets of records to make available, as most of the census records from the 19th century have been destroyed. Those from the early part of the century were lost in a fire at the Public Records Office during the Civil War in 1922, while some later records were pulped because of a paper shortage during first World War. The 1901 Census provide information about a household on a single sheet, covering the following categories: first name; surname; relation to head of family; religious profession; education; age; sex; occupation; marriage status; where born; if the individual spoke English, Irish or both and if the person had a disability. You can read more in an article by Paul Cullen published in the Irish Times web site at http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0604/1224271820827.html