Age:
The most obviously useful information given in 1901 and 1911 is age. Unfortunately, this is also the information that needs to be treated with the most caution. Very few of the ages given in the two sets of returns actually match precisely. In the decade between the two censuses, most people appear to have aged significantly more than ten years. Of the two, 1901 seems to be the less accurate, with widespread underestimation of age. Nonetheless, if used with caution the returns do provide a rough guide to age which can help to narrow the range of years to be searched in earlier civil records of births, marriages and deaths, or in parish records.

Location:
When the names of all or most of the family are known, along with the general area, but not the precise locality, it is possible to search all of the returns for that area to identify the relevant family and, therefore, pinpoint them. This can be particularly useful when the surname is very common. The likelihood of two families of Murphys in the same area repeating all of the children's names is slight.

Cross-checking:
At times, again when a name is common, it is impossible to be sure from information uncovered in civil or parish records that a particular family is the relevant one. In such cases, when details of the subsequent history of the family are known - dates of death or emigration, or siblings' names, for instance - a check of the 1901 or 1911 census for the family can provide useful circumstantial evidence. More often than not, any certainties produced will be negative, but the elimination of false trails is a vital part of any research. This example shows why: Peter Barry, born Co. Cork, c.1880, parents unknown, who emigrated to the US in 1897. A search of civil birth records show four Peter Barrys recorded in the county between 1876 and 1882, with no way of distinguishing which, if any of them, is the relevant one. A search of the 1901 census returns for the addresses given in the four birth entries shows two of the four still living there. These can now be safely eliminated, and research concentrated on the other two families.

Marriages:
The requirement in the 1911 census for married women to supply the number of years of marriage is obviously a very useful aid when searching civil records for a marriage entry. Even in 1901, the age of the eldest child recorded can give a rough guide to the latest date at which a marriage is likely to have taken place.

Living Relatives:
Children recorded in 1901 and 1911 are the parents or grandparents of people now alive. The ages - generally much more accurate than those given for older members of the family - can be useful in trying to uncover later marriages in civil records. When used together with Land Valuation Office records, or the voters' lists of the National Archive of Ireland, they can provide an accurate picture of the passing of property from one generation to another. Luckily, the Irish attitude to land means that it is quite unusual for rural property to pass out of a family altogether.

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