Ireland, 1766 Religious Census

What can these records tell me?

Each record includes a transcript of the original document. Despite the loss of the original returns during the 1922 destruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, we are fortunate to have extensive transcripts, thanks to the diligent work of Tenison Groves. Groves, an antiquarian and genealogist at the Public Record Office of Ireland before 1922, transcribed the information, although his handwriting poses some challenges. It's important to note that the accuracy of the database relies on Groves' interpretation. The records may contain a combination of the follow facts:

• Name
• Year
• Religion
• Parish
• County and Country
• Archive and archival references

Discover more about these records

Against the backdrop of the Penal Laws introduced from 1691 onwards, which aimed to uphold the dominance of the Established Church of Ireland, a significant development unfolded in March 1766. The Irish House of Lords, demonstrating a continued interest in religion, directed Church of Ireland clergy to comprehensively report all household heads in their respective parishes. The mandate emphasized the need to distinguish between Protestants and Papists and to list reputed Popish priests and friars in the parishes.

Church of Ireland clergy submitted these returns in March and April 1766, arranging them alphabetically by diocese and sending them to the House of Lords. The returns eventually found a home in the Public Record Office of Ireland in Dublin. The surviving fragments of the 1766 religious census returns, now housed in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, constitute a valuable 18th-century census covering over 30 parishes in Ulster and some in the present-day Republic of Ireland.

The returns categorize religion as Roman Catholic ('Papists') or Protestant, with some distinguishing between Church of Ireland and Dissenters, predominantly Presbyterians. Entries marked 'Protestant' lack differentiation between 'Established Church' or 'Church of Ireland' and Dissenters.

While some diligent rectors detailed every townland and head of the house, others provided only heads of houses by parish or numerical totals by religion. Entries occasionally feature multiple people with the same name in a townland/parish, making it challenging to confirm duplications in transcription.

The 1766 religious census returns prove invaluable not only to family and local historians but also to those exploring Irish surnames and their Anglicization over time.

The returns are available under the PRONI Reference T808/15264, 15266 and 15267, T283/C, T664, T3709 and T3901. Copies of the T808 items are available on the shelves in the Search Room in PRONI. Visit the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland website for more information.

Represented parishes