The National Archives of Ireland reports the long-awaited release of the 1926 census resulted in four million hits in the first twelve hours alone.

Writing about the census in IrishCentral, John Murphy gives us a look at Ireland a century ago. For example, here are some common 1926 professions or trades that have all but vanished:                                                                          

• court criers
• weavers
• hand knitters
• rabbit trappers
• lamplighters
• hosiery makers

The full 700,000-household census is now freely available for research. You can query by name, county, or townland at NationalArchives.ie.