Census digitisation wins Excellence award

The National Archives of Ireland (NAI) has won the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) annual Award for Excellence in Genealogy.

The Award was given in recognition of the completion of the NAI’s mammoth project to create an online database of indexed scanned images from the 1901 & 1911 census returns for Ireland.

Presenting the Award, CIGO Chairman Steven Smyrl said: "While over the past 20 years CIGO has regularly used constructive criticism to encourage improvement in access to records held by public and private bodies, it is just as important to recognise achievement. The National Archives is to be commended for its commitment to creating the census database and for making it freely available to millions worldwide through the Internet.”

In publishing the 1901 & 1911 census online, NAI has made important records available free of charge to the many millions of people in Ireland and worldwide who seek to trace their Irish ancestors. The project's success is reflected in website usage; over the 30 months from December 2007 to May 2010 (when initially only the 1911 census returns were available on-line) the website received more than 7 million visits and more than 270 million hits.

In accepting the Award, NAI Director David Craig said: “We greatly appreciate receiving this award from the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations. We are very pleased that the success of this venture has been formally recognised by the body that brings together in one council such a wide range of organisations active in the field of Irish genealogy.”

Pictured R-L: David Craig, NAI director; Catriona Crowe, NAI Senior Archivist; Steven Smyrl, CIGO Chairman.

More about the Irish Census.
More about CIGO.

Latest on the 1901 Irish census online

Catriona Crowe, the National Archives of Ireland's senior archivist responsible for the digitisation of the Irish Census, told me today that the 1901 census is now ready to upload and publish online, slightly ahead of schedule.

However, approval for launch has to be confirmed by the Minister responsible, and this has yet to be received. The earliest possible launch date is 28 May. The latest 30 June.

It's on it's way!

1901 census of Ireland – three months to go

The digitisation of the 1901 census of Ireland is on course for a mid-June release, according to Catriona Crowe, senior archivist of the National Archives.

At a seminar at the National Library of Ireland today, she announced that the project would meet the deadline set late last year (30 June) but due to lack of staff resources, the records will be released without checks. This is disappointing because the handwriting and condition of the original 1901 census returns don't make for easy interpretation at the best of times. Still, for the majority of searches, it will probably be fine so I, for one, won't be complaining. I'd rather see an imperfect release of these records than no release.

Also talking at the seminar was John Grenham whose book, Tracing your Irish Ancestors, is considered the 'bible' of Irish genealogy. He has been involved in the recent launch of the www.irishgenealogy.ie site which currently contains church records for Dublin and Kerry. He announced that the site would have Co Carlow records added within the month, and those for South West Cork shortly after.

And yes, all these records – both the 1901 Irish census and the church records – will be available online with completely free access.