During February, two important Irish research websites launched major refreshes.

NationalArchives.ie -- Census records have a new, clean look as well as some enhancements.

While that's nice, the update will require users to spend time noodling to get acquainted. Many of the initial wrinkles with the launch have been fixed. However a potentially big downside to the updated site is that urls have changed. This means published links won't work. Subscription sites will undoubtedly be updating their records, but the urls in books and journals will no longer take you where you want to go.

Share your feedback about NationalArchives.ie changes or examples of problems by emailing query@nationalarchives.ie.

IrishGenealogy.ie -- This site offers free access to Irish civil records and some church records. Two major positive changes: 1) the site is now more mobile friendly, and 2) the search form on the home page efficiently combines civil and church records. The query defaults to "all records" unless you choose to restrict to either civil or church.

The new look has its benefits, but bigger font and liberal spacing also mean less content fits on a page, making it slower to scroll or do screenshots. And there's the learning curve for adjusting query short cuts one may have learned over the years.

Share your feedback about IrishGenealogy.ie changes or examples of problems by emailing genealogy@tcagsm.gov.ie.