* Irish Census

[andrewbraid]

I have found some ancestors on the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses via Ancestry which has recently started listing them. The way it works is that Ancestry provides a link to the record on the National Archives of Ireland website which then provides a link to the original image. (This is in PDF format but I have resolved that by converting the PDF to JPG format.)

On none of the pages can I see a reference ID for the record. Is anybody else using the Irish census and have you found a reference ID?

I did not post this on the AS Forum as although AS is the reason for needing a reference ID it is not the cause of the problem.

[johnmorrisoniom]

I have not managed to find a reference either. I have used the address as the reference on the entries I have done..

[gerrynuk]

I use the format:

Year Town, Address, Surname(s)

for the file name of all my Census images as it is much easier to find the one you are looking for among several hundred images. I also use file name as the Media and Source name in FH - it also assists in sorting the media and sources.

I also put each Census Year in a separate folder (1841, 1851 etc) as AS can remember them and goes to the correct folder when I am recording a new Census Image.

[AdrianBruce]

On http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/h ... ensus.html it says, "The basic topographical divisions for the census are: County; District Electoral Division; Townland or Street. ... The returns are arranged in clusters by townland/street within district electoral division within county. For each townland/street, there are a number of original household returns. ..."

Trying to decide from the image which those items are, however, looks a bit problematic. On the example I checked, the District Electoral Division has a clear slot for it on Form B1 (House & Building Return) - but it's empty! Ditto Form N (Enumerator's Abstract). However, on that site, the items in question are clear on the query response - e.g. "Antrim / Duncairn Ward, Belfast / Glasgow Street".

So it looks like County; District Electoral Division; Townland or Street and then the (house number? schedule number?) should suffice. But I've never used it so I'm just reading and believing !

[andrewbraid]

Thanks to those who have replied. I am glad to see that it is not just me who is having difficulty.

I am not so bothered about identifying the images as I do store them in separate folders, in fact I have separate folders for Ireland, so that is not the issue. I have also come to the conclusion that the house number is not recorded as it says it in the same way whether a street or a village, e.g. house no X in Blarney Street, Dublin but it also says house no Y in Lisdoart, Tyrone.

It's more the fact that every time I enter a census on AS and I have not added a reference ID it reminds me to do so. Perhaps an item for Nick.

[tatewise]

I suggest you invent your own Irish Ref ID scheme to satisfy AS, or use the Tools > Options > Census settings > When saving entries... and untick Warn if reference ID is blank temporarily.

What Census Template are you using?
If the UK 1901/1911 is used then it defaults Ref ID to RG13/RG14 so it is not blank.
If you have a customised Irish Template then set its Reference Start field to a similar Irish scheme of your own.

[andrewbraid]

Mike
The version of AS I am using (3.2.3) comes with pre-loaded Irish templates. You have to change the country to Ireland to use them but I had not noticed the tick box about reference ID. Always something new to discover.

[tatewise]

Sorry, I didn't see the Ireland Templates for looking - doh!

If you use Census > Census Templates and select Ireland and 1901 & 1911 in turn, you can enter a default Reference Start perhaps just Ireland National Archives and Save this modified template.

Then you do not have to change the Warn if reference ID is blank option, which is useful for Census records from many other countries/years.