The 1926 Census has been released by the National Archives in accordance with the Statistics Act 1993, which provides for the public availability of census records 100 years after their creation. This page explains how the census images and data may be reused, shared, and cited. A formal notice Notice concerning Reuse of Records of the 1926 Census of Ireland, is also available to download here.
Reusing census material
All images and data from the 1926 Census may be used, shared, or adapted under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. This licence allows both commercial and non‑commercial reuse, provided that appropriate attribution is included.
The licence also prohibits the use of technological restrictions such as paywalls, that would prevent others from exercising their reuse rights. Census material must therefore remain freely accessible wherever it is republished.
Permission to reuse the material is granted through a blanket authorisation from the Director of the National Archives, subject to compliance with the CC BY 4.0 licence.
Attribution requirements
Whenever census material is shared or republished, the following attribution must be included:
“This work includes content from records of the 1926 Census of Ireland, made available by the National Archives of Ireland under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Please see further: [insert link to the formal notice].”
This wording is also set out in the downloadable notice.
Indicating modifications
If you edit, adapt, or otherwise modify census material before sharing it, the CC BY 4.0 licence requires you to clearly indicate that changes have been made. Examples of modifications include:
- editing images (cropping, enhancing, combining, adding notes)
- altering or reformatting text (corrections, annotations, layout changes)
- adding new content (captions, translations, highlights)
- reusing data in new formats (spreadsheets, charts, databases)
- removing or obscuring information (redactions, blurring)
Indicating modifications helps maintain the integrity and reliability of the historical record.
Citing 1926 census forms
Each census form has a unique archival reference, which also appears in the PDF metadata. Including this reference when sharing material allows others to identify and locate the original record.
A full archival reference includes:
- STAT/1 — the 1926 Census collection
- County code (e.g., 10/)
- DED number (e.g., 48)
- Street name or townland
Example citation:
National Archives of Ireland, 1926 Census, STAT/1/10/48, [Street or Townland Name], Residents of a House Form. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Director of the National Archives.
Citing the archival reference ensures that each form can be traced back to its original context and supports accurate research and verification.
A full legal statement on the reuse of 1926 Census material is available here:
