Every household page now has an AI-powered assistant that can answer questions about the people who lived there, their occupations, their neighbours, and what life was like in their corner of Ireland.
We're excited to introduce Ask Claude - an AI-powered research assistant built into every household page on Down The Road. Powered by Anthropic's Claude, it lets you ask questions about any household in the Irish census and get thoughtful, historically-grounded answers in seconds.
How it works
When you visit any household page - whether from the 1821, 1901, or 1911 census - you'll see the Ask AI About This Household panel at the bottom. Type a question, or tap one of the suggested prompts to get started.
Claude reads the full census record for the household - every member's name, age, occupation, religion, birthplace, literacy, and more. It also pulls in the neighbouring households from the same townland, so it can tell you about the wider community your ancestors lived in.
What can you ask?
You can ask anything about the household and its context. Here are a few ideas:
- "What was daily life like for this family?" - Claude will sketch out what their occupations, ages, and location tell us about their everyday routine.
- "Tell me about the neighbours in this townland." - Get a picture of the wider community: who lived nearby, what they did for work, and how the townland was structured.
- "Were any neighbours likely related to this family?" - Claude looks for shared surnames, ages that suggest family connections, and patterns of settlement.
- "What historical events would have affected them?" - Based on the census year, county, and the family's circumstances, Claude provides historical context.
You can ask follow-up questions too - the conversation remembers what you've discussed, so you can dig deeper without repeating yourself.
On your iPhone too
Ask Claude is also available in our iOS app. On any household page, tap the Ask Claude tab to start a conversation right from your phone.
AI Biographies
Ask Claude isn't our only AI feature. Every person in the census also has an AI-generated biography - a short narrative that brings their recorded details to life. Visit any person's page and click Generate Biography to see a historically-informed sketch of what their life might have been like.
Coming soon: AI Research Assistant
We're working on something even bigger. The AI Research Assistant will let you select multiple bookmarked households and ask questions across all of them at once. Imagine asking "Are any of these families likely related?" or "What migration patterns do you see?" - and getting answers that connect the dots between households across different counties and census years.
It's the next step in making AI a true genealogy research partner, not just a page-level tool. Stay tuned.
Built with care
We've been thoughtful about how we use AI. Claude is instructed to stick to the facts in the records and clearly distinguish between what is documented and what is historically plausible. It won't invent specific details - it uses the census data, the historical period, and the geography to paint an accurate picture.
All of this is free to use. We believe that making genealogy research more accessible - and more engaging - helps everyone connect with their heritage.
To use Ask Claude, become a member today.
