{"id":708,"date":"2024-11-20T11:46:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T11:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/national-archives.go-vip.net\/?page_id=708"},"modified":"2025-06-19T14:28:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T14:28:59","slug":"religious-census-1766","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nationalarchives.ie\/ga\/collections\/search-the-census\/religious-census-1766\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious Census 1766"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<section id=\"block-block_29c059bafaa80a83b7d454373c797e6f\" class=\"landing-page-header-block title-width-default block-color-default block-row-02-type-share block-row-02-share-position-bottom intro-full-width\" data-style=\"style-11\">    \n\n\t<div class=\"header \">\n\n\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"translation-notice\">\n        <div class=\"inner container\">\n            <p><strong>Cuirfear aistri\u00fach\u00e1n ar f\u00e1il go luath<\/strong><\/p>\n            <p>\u00c1r leithsc\u00e9al as an m\u00edchaoithi\u00falacht. Cuirfear aistri\u00fach\u00e1n Gaeilge ar an leathanach seo ar f\u00e1il go luath. Go raibh maith agat as do chuid foighneachta agus muid ag obair ar leagan uasd\u00e1taithe.<\/p>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"intro\">\n\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"heading-0\">Religious Census 1766<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<!-- mobile -->\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"header-row-02\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"share-button pulse fade-in\" data-js=\"share-button\">SHARE<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text h3\"><p>This page details the religious census of 1766 and its cultural significance. Some parishes did not fully comply in terms of giving information freely but the census remains a valuable resource for researchers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/section>\n\n\t<span class=\"notification-top\" data-js=\"share-copied\">URL copied to clipboard<\/span>\n\n\n<section id=\"block-block_c55958095470a80c28a15ee65154d86d\" class=\"content-tile-block nai-block margin-top-small margin-bottom-default image_right text-regular text-black bg-white no-border-top smaller-heading\" data-layout=\"layout-1-2\">        \n\t\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"image\" data-image=\"cover\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"text\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-content cms-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2>A crucial genealogical resource for 18th century Ireland<\/h2>\n<p>While not a formal census, the Religious Census of 1766 stands out as a crucial genealogical resource for researchers interested in Ireland&#8217;s historical demographics.<\/p>\n<p>Authorised by the Irish House of Lords on March 5th, 1766, it tasked Archbishops and Bishops with compiling lists of families in their parishes, distinguishing between Protestant and Roman Catholic heads of households. While some parishes provided detailed names, others only submitted statistical data on the number of each denomination.<\/p>\n<p>This ambitious initiative aimed to catalogue every householder across Ireland, but not all parishes complied fully. Despite this, the census remains one of the richest sources for understanding 18th-century Ireland, especially before the official census series began in 1813.<\/p>\n<h3>Surviving documents<\/h3>\n<p>Although most original returns were lost by fire in 1922, 59 items from eight counties survived. These documents have been conserved and digitised and are now accessible in the Reading Room and online through our partnership with the Virtual Records Treasury of Ireland.<\/p>\n<div id=\"awebChromeHelper\" data-version=\"1.23.6\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ctas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"primary-button color-default size-default\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virtualtreasury.ie\/gold-seams\/1766-religious-census\/browse\" target=\"_blank\">1766 Religious Census &#8211; virtualtreasury.ie<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"21\" height=\"21\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 21\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M8.13743 5.21478C7.812 4.88934 7.28436 4.88934 6.95892 5.21478C6.63348 5.54022 6.63348 6.06786 6.95892 6.39329L11.3697 10.804L6.95892 15.2148C6.63348 15.5402 6.63348 16.0679 6.95892 16.3933C7.28436 16.7187 7.812 16.7187 8.13743 16.3933L13.1374 11.3933C13.4629 11.0679 13.4629 10.5402 13.1374 10.2148L8.13743 5.21478Z\" fill=\"white\"\/><\/svg><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>    \n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":476,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-708","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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