I have just received the following e-mail from Catriona Crowe of the National Archives of Ireland, with some major news on the project to digitise and place online all of the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses (with Dublin 1911 already available at www.census.nationalarchives.ie):
My apologies to everyone who has been seeking information about timescales for the further releases of the 1911 and 1901 census records online. Thank you for your patience, and your messages of encouragement regarding the Dublin 1911 material.
Our Canadian partners have been engaged in an extensive procurement and recruitment process to hire contractors who will finish the project. That process has now been completed, and I’m pleased to be able to tell you that the records for Kerry, Antrim and Down will be going online in October of this year.
The rest of 1911 will follow quickly thereafter in batches of counties, in the order listed at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/about/futureplans.html. I expect to have more precise timescales for the other counties as soon as the contractors start work, which will be in early August, but it is intended that all of 1911 and 1901 will be online by mid-2009, as originally scheduled. The timescales will be posted at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/about/futureplans.html.
Again, my apologies for your having to wait to get this information, and my thanks for your patience. I hope that the website’s continuing augmentation will fulfil your expectations and provide a fruitful free resource for family and local history.
Best wishes,
Catriona Crowe
This is brilliant news for those with Irish ancestry. It should be noted that the Irish Family History Foundation only a few days ago launched its 1901 census transcription service, commencing with North Tipperary (see IFHF commences release of 1901 Irish census indexes), through which they intend to sell these records at 5 Euros a household. In light of Catriona's announcement, you may wish to keep your purse or wallet closed for a few months - the National Archives project is completely free to view, and will have the digitised remains of the original household schedules, not transcriptions.
I've said it before, but I will say it again - the National Archives of Ireland are a big bunch of luvs...!!!
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
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