MRC/1Jy Radio source survey. I.

We present optical or infrared identifications for a sample of 452 radio galaxies. The sources were selected from the 408MHz Molonglo Reference Catalog, restricted only by flux density and position on the sky, as follows: S408>0.95Jy and -30<decl.(1950)<-20, and 9h20m<R.A.(1950)<14h4m or 20h20m<R.A.(1950)<6h14m.

This complete sample, the MRC/1 Jy survey, contains 558 radio galaxies or quasars, of which six are occulted by bright stars or galaxies and two are multiple confused sources. Of the remaining 550 sources, 527, or 96%, are identified to an r magnitude of 25, and eight additional sources are identified to K=19. Of the 17 unocculted objects that remain unidentified, 15 are sources for which we have either poor radio maps or inadequate optical/IR images.