Release Date for 1926 Census !UPDATE!

Hermy · 21-04-2026 08:40AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124410232#Comment_124410232

Sorry if I'm coming across as a negative Nelly.

The truth is the launch of the 1926 census is absolutely brilliant and it's all free.

Yes I'll miss the old site but now that I'm using the new one it's actually quite good.

And according to the link Gem posted a few days ago (#139) improvements to the site are already in the pipeline and will be rolled out anon so things will only get better, allowing much more detailed searching.

plodder · 21-04-2026 10:11AM

I was just searching for my grandparents in the 1926 census. When I found them with their young child (my aunt) it appeared that my aunt’s name was incorrectly recognised but from talking to my cousin, it appears the searchable database record is the same as what was registered on her birth cert, rather than what was written (quite clearly) on the census record.

Is that a likely explanation, or is it just a coincidence? This has been an active topic on Liveline where people are pointing out discrepancies like that. But, maybe in some cases they are discrepancies between birth cert information and census records, that people weren't aware of. Does that sound likely?

crossman47 · 21-04-2026 10:22AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124411059#Comment_124411059

The latter could happen quite often - consider a boy baptised as John but known to all as Jack.

plodder · 21-04-2026 10:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124411085#Comment_124411085

Yeah, and ironically my grandfather's name was John, but was often known as Jack. Though this census recorded him as John and the searchable record is the same. It's his daughter's name that is different from the what was written on the census.

p15574 · 21-04-2026 01:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124409557#Comment_124409557

Would the "House and Building Return Form B" pdf not show the other people in the tenement?

jos28 · 21-04-2026 03:37PM

Could anyone help me to find my Grandmother, she should be there but I cannot find her. My grandparents were both Dubs and married in 1924. I've checked every variation of her name and no luck. I finally tracked my Grandad to the Curragh, he was a soldier on the 1926 census. I thought she might have been in married quarters in the Curragh but again no luck. I found a birth and death cert for a baby son they had in Dublin in Sept 25 and the poor little thing died in Dec 25😪.

Does anyone know anything about soldier's accomodation, he was a Private so I didn't think that was an option. I presumed that's for the higher ranks. I'm stumped, I thought I'd have no problem finding her.

Hermy · 21-04-2026 05:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124411794#Comment_124411794

If you want to post the names of the people you're looking for feel free.

Or you can send me a PM if you'd prefer not to post them in thread.

jos28 · 21-04-2026 05:21PM

Thanks Hermy, she was Annie Evans nee Winters, born 1906 at Loftus Lane, Dublin. I found her husband Tommy in the Curragh. Much appreciated

Alfaguy · 21-04-2026 05:59PM

I was just wondering what the literacy rates were in Ireland as a whole in 1926 so I googled it and apparently Ireland had a 75% literacy rate just before WW1 which is pretty high internationally for the time so must have been higher again by 1926 but there was a wide variation between the regions. But of course there are many degree's of literacy and it's a pity that no question was asked about this in the 1926 census when it had been asked (I think) in both the 1901 and 1911 census.

Surely an important question for future educational planning?

Purple Mountain · 21-04-2026 06:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124411139#Comment_124411139

I have great grandaunts whose entry names change between 1911 and 1926 censuses.

Johanna became Josie by 1926 and Catherine became Katie.

Looks like as they got older, they lost their official birth cert names in the family and their father recorded their preferred names in the later census.

55Gem · 21-04-2026 07:06PM

piece on RTE News

NAI says transcription errors can be reported using the Contact Us

https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0421/1569415-census-transcription-issues/

pinkypinky · 21-04-2026 09:24PM

I think it's a mistake - they'll be deluged with silly stuff.

Hermy · 22-04-2026 09:03AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124412047#Comment_124412047

Sorry I got called away just after I posted last night.

I've had a look this morning but have had no luck.

I see her mother remarried in 1918 and was living with her son James and second husband Michael Nulty at 23 Marlborough Place.

And Anne had a son Thomas born at the Rotunda Hospital in 1925 who appears to have died in infancy at 245 Richmond Road, the home of the Ball family in 1926.

Hermy · 22-04-2026 09:15AM

The issue with sorting entries by age seems to have been resolved.

pjordan · 22-04-2026 11:52AM

I had a dose of the flu the other night and I was lying in bed in the middle of the night with a fever raving. The basis of my nightmare was that the original source document spreadsheet/database of of the 1926 census had the names offset from all the other data by a single line and my job was to cut and paste all the data to match up and it was compounded by the fact that there were lots of additional empty lines and spaces in the data so, it wasn't going to be a simple task of just cutting and pasting 3 million plus odd records altogether. That 'ol 1926 release has a lot to answer for….!

pinkypinky · 22-04-2026 11:57AM

Oh dear! I'm glad that was only a dream.

Dublin Calling · 22-04-2026 12:14PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124413394#Comment_124413394

I have see just that issue, there my great grand mother (Head of Family) is missing from the top of the computerized data, and another person is on the bottom. The pdf is correct.

Rmulvany · 22-04-2026 02:27PM

Not sure if a new thread would be better for discussing the Census now it's released?

I really like the fact that the Birthplace now captures both the County & Townland!

Not only does it allow for greater details for narrowing down earlier residences (one branch of labourers had children in Clare and Limerick) but for me it also acknowledges the information that I've discovered through some tricky genealogy and is just nice to see ancestors mentioning places that acknowledge it.

One of the first discoveries I made through the '26 census was discovering where a great-grandmother had ended up. I had traced her up to the 1911 census but then found no trace of death etc. It turns out that she remarried between the '11 and '26 census.

jos28 · 22-04-2026 03:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124413041#Comment_124413041

Thanks a million Hermes. I figured that James age 15 was Annie's brother but couldn't figure out why he was living with the Nulty family. You've solved that mystery for me, many thanks. I met James (Joxer) when I was a teenager and he was such a lovely and very interesting man. It also explains why I was never able to find Annie's mother's death cert, she wasn't a Winters when she died. A few boxes ticked there, thanks. The search for Annie goes on…………..

pinkypinky · 22-04-2026 03:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124413827#Comment_124413827

@Hermy and I have been tossing this around!

ciaranmcnamara · 22-04-2026 04:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124413041#Comment_124413041

I had a look at this as well. I couldn't find Annie Evans either, but I did find out that John Nulty was her mother's 3rd marriage! She also married a William Kennedy in 1914. I can't find when he died, but they had a son, William, in 1915, who died at 8 days old. He was listed as a "Soldier's child", so perhaps William died in WW1?

Also, while the Ball family did live at 245 Richmond Road, there was another household at the same address - James & Mary Fitzpatrick. Mary was the informant on the death record of Thomas Evans in 1925 (the Fitzpatricks had been neighbours of the Evans family at Tolka Cottages, Drumcondra. Though Mary Fitzpatrick was a Kennedy, she doesn't appear to have been a sibling of William Kennedy). But no Annie Evans there either!

marriage of William Kennedy & Mary Winters, 1914

www.irishgenealogy.ie/view/?record_id=cima-1688736

birth of William Kennedy, 1915

www.irishgenealogy.ie/view/?record_id=e768beed6b-892309

death of William Kennedy, 1915

www.irishgenealogy.ie/view/?record_id=cide-5456632

marriage of Patrick Ball & Mary Fitzpatrick, 1920

www.irishgenealogy.ie/view/?record_id=cima-1161888

marriage of James Fitzpatrick & Mary Kennedy, 1923

www.irishgenealogy.ie/view/?record_id=cima-1189673

jos28 · 22-04-2026 04:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124414091#Comment_124414091

Third marriage !!! I thought Kennedy was a transcription error as her maiden name was Kavanagh. I had no idea she had married 3 times. Thanks a million for all the information you found. I'm dying to tell my siblings all about this.

Rmulvany · 22-04-2026 05:04PM

To add to what I mentioned above (Liking the inclusion of Townlands in the Birthplace column, it's typical of my luck that certain ancestors would have passed away just before 1926 and their birthplaces would have given a wealth of info!
For example, a great-grandmother married into a family well-established in rural Donegal is listed as being born in Armagh in the '11 census but that's all the info I have.

Same with another ancestor who is in a rural Galway family but in '01 lists his birthplace as Monaghan with no other information gained since. He died in 1910.

This is the case for a number of ancestors in my tree… so the digging must continue!😫

Kalimah · 22-04-2026 05:15PM

The inclusion of townlands has been a great innovation. My grandmother was living in Dublin 7 in 1926 - a boarder in a house in Dublin 7. She was a telegraphist in the post office as was the son of the house also. I thought she might have ended up there because a workmate offered her accommodation. When I had a look at the woman of the house's birthplace it was the same townland as my grandmother, so they may have been related - I'll have to check that out.

Hermy · 22-04-2026 06:41PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124414091#Comment_124414091

Nice work Ciaran!

Purple Mountain · 22-04-2026 08:25PM

Is there anywhere to find out a woman's maiden name?

pinkypinky · 22-04-2026 10:07PM

Not in the census but you can cross-reference on Irishgenealogy.ie for their marriage by searching the man's name with the woman's first name and the year (expand a few on either side).

whosedaddy? · 22-04-2026 10:12PM

Or if they had kids (born before 1926), the birth certs have the mother’s maiden name as well.

Purple Mountain · 22-04-2026 10:13PM

Thanks both

magicbastarder · 23-04-2026 03:06PM

saw this on bluesky:

https://bsky.app/profile/ravenbooks.bsky.social/post/3mju4d4hwuk2d

"Very much open to correction but think I might've found Peig."

Release Date for 1926 Census !UPDATE!

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