First census of the Irish Free State published 100 years on

LAST UPDATE | 18 Apr

THE FIRST CENSUS of the Irish Free State, undertaken in 1926, has officially been published 100 years on.

Records were made available to the public at midnight. It follows the expiration of the 100-year limitation on their publication under the Statistics Act 1993.

Its publication was marked by a state function at Dublin Castle this afternoon. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Culture Minister Patrick O’Donovan both spoke at the launch of the data today.

Martin said: “When we think back to 1926, ten years after the Easter Rising and following a decade of conflict and upheaval; from the War of Independence to the Civil War, Census 1926 shows the ambition of the new state to carry-out a census of the 2.9 million people living in Ireland as part of its programme of nation-building and to do so, so soon after independence was a bold and visionary decision.”

He said the publication today of the census allows Irish people to revisit their family history.

O’Donovan noted that there are over 1,000 alive today who are recorded in the 1926 census. Some of these people attended the event today at Dublin Castle.

He said these individuals “offer a unique, living perspective on the past century of Irish life”.

The National Archives launched a Centenarian Ambassadors Programme last year which captured “the first-hand personal testimony of those who see their own original family records made public today”.

Taken on 18 April 1926, the National Archives said it provides “a detailed snapshot of life” in Ireland during that period.

National Archives

The 1926 Irish census recorded a population of 2,971,992, a decrease of 5.3% from the 1911 census. Among insights offered show that in 1926, 92.6% of the Irish population in 26 counties was Catholic, and 18.3% spoke Irish.

It also includes detail about institutions in Ireland – including prisons and Magdalene Laundries. The Mother and Baby Home in Tuam’s census return shows children listed as ‘illegitimate’.

The data is currently controlled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and has been transferred to the National Archives.

Census 1926 is stored in 1,299 boxes, containing over 700,000 return sheets.

The preparation of the 1926 Census for public release was a major project for the National Archives and the State. Taking almost three years to complete, the census was conserved and digitised, with the data of over 750,000 household and enumerator returns.

It can be searched here.