Ireland 1766 Religious Census

THE 1766 RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF IRELAND PART 1. Unfortunately very few census records exist for Ireland prior to 1901 due to the fire at the Four Courts Building in 1921. This fire meant the loss of extremely important genealogical data such as census records, parish registers and some wills. Fragments of the 1766 Religious census, hand written by Tenison Groves many years before this fire survive in fragments and have partially been microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are in no alphabetical order nor with any rhyme or reason. This index therefore, although not a complete record of the whole of Ireland, does cover over 11,000 heads of households, giving their names, parish and religion. It helps a researcher to establish where their ancestors were living in the year of 1766. Prior to this index a lengthy search through the documents was necessary to find out this information. Women are mentioned if they are widows or single heads of houses. The index was compiled from LDS FILMS 100173, and 100220; the majority of the places covered are in Northern Ireland.

Unfortunately, Ireland has lost many of its Census Records through the fire in the Four Courts. However fragments of this 1766 census remain, Thanks to the transcribing efforts of Tenison Groves, and the microfilming programme of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints some of these records are available to use. Many other scraps of census material exist in the National Library but are not avail to people overseas. The state of the extracts was haphazard and none appeared to be indexed, they are arranged by Parish or Townland. Some number the children or other members of the household. Some only give `widow' or `Mr'. Occasionally an entry only had a surname. The index reads: SURNAME OF HEAD OF HOUSE CHRISTIAN NAME RELIGION -i.e. P = Protestant; C= Catholic D = Dissenter PARISH DIOCESE TOWNLAND COUNTY COMMENTS There is no further detail in the original documents. These can be viewed via the LDS Family History Centre's Microfilm Ordering system. The index was compiled from LDS FILMS 100173, and 100220; the majority of the places covered are in Northern Ireland.