The latest issue of "Irish Genealogy Matters," newsletter of www.rootsireland.ie and the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF), includes a feature article that's good for us to review.

"Census Substitutes" is the source of focus in this newsletter. Here it is, with our thanks to IFHF:

"Many parishes in Ireland have no church registers before 1800 and, therefore, it may not be possible to link with any degree of certainty family connections back through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

There are a number of sources referred to as census substitutes that can be searched for the eighteenth century and earlier which might list a name and address of an ancestor, for example:

• Flax Growers' Lists 1796 (list of farmers who grew flax, the raw material of the linen industry);
• Religious Census 1766;
• Protestant Householders Lists 1740;
• Hearth Money Rolls 1663 (tax raised for every hearth or fireplace in a house).

These sources (where they exist) list heads of household only. As no information is provided on family members within each household or relationship between householders, it is not possible to confirm the nature of linkages between named people in these sources. However, these sources are very useful in confirming the presence of a family name in a particular area and in providing some insight into the frequency and distribution of surnames..."

For more infomration about census substitutes available through the Laois/Offaly Centre -- and to read the other newsletter articles -- click here.