Birthplace information added and further updates to the 1926 Census database
October 2026 release

This release includes corrections submitted by the public up to the end of August 2026, together with data quality enhancements and metadata updates completed during July-September 2026.

The National Archives is pleased to announce a new update to the 1926 Census database. This release introduces birthplace information as a searchable filter, alongside further data quality improvements, updates to institutional records, and the incorporation of corrections submitted by members of the public.

Birthplace information now available

Birthplace information is now available as a filter within the 1926 Census search results.

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More than 2 million records have been enhanced through a review and standardisation of birthplace data. Users can now search and filter records by the county or country recorded as a person’s place of birth in the census return.

The birthplace filter is based on county and country information only. While more detailed locality information was recorded on many census forms, the original entries were often difficult to interpret because of handwriting, annotations, and the limited space available on the forms. As a result, townland-level birthplace information is not included in this release.

Place names have been standardised to improve consistency and searching. Historical and variant place names have been mapped to modern county and country names where this could be done with confidence.

Users may notice that some records display N/A for birthplace. This indicates that the original entry could not be interpreted or mapped reliably. In these cases, no birthplace value has been assigned in order to maintain the accuracy of the database.

The addition of birthplace information provides new opportunities for family historians, researchers and members of the public to explore migration patterns and trace individuals recorded in the 1926 Census.

Data Quality improvements

This release also includes a range of data quality enhancements across the database, including:

• Further standardisation and cleaning of census fields such as religion and marital status.
• Significant improvements to records from County Donegal, including the correction of transcription and field alignment issues across a large number of District Electoral Divisions (DEDs).
• The addition of previously missing Dublin B Forms to the County Dublin dataset.
• The incorporation of corrections and amendments submitted by members of the public up to the end of August 2026.

As with all large-scale historical transcription projects, some records remain incomplete or difficult to interpret due to the condition, legibility and complexity of the original census forms. The National Archives will continue to introduce further improvements through future data releases.

Submitting updates

The National Archives welcomes feedback from users. If you identify an error in a census record, or if information appears to be missing or incorrect, please use the website’s error reporting facility.

Submitted corrections are reviewed by the project team and incorporated into future updates of the 1926 Census database.

The National Archives remains committed to improving and enhancing the 1926 Census database and will continue to release further corrections, data quality improvements and additional enhancements as work progresses.