What Happened to the 19th-Century Irish Census Returns?
Explosion at the Public Record Office at the Four Courts in Dublin at the beginning of the Irish Civil War, Late June 1922, Image by John Byrne and shared courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The first island-wide census of Ireland was conducted in 1821. Every ten years thereafter a census was conducted up through 1911, but only the 1901 and 1911 census records survive in their entirety. This makes the 1901 Irish census the oldest surviving complete census of all thirty-two counties in Ireland.
There was no census in 1921 because of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922-1923). However, the census was resumed in 1926 for the twenty-six counties of the Irish Free State, which became the Republic of Ireland in 1949.
What Happened to the 19th-Century Irish Census Returns?
The 1861 and 1871 census returns were destroyed soon after they were completed, while the returns from 1881 and 1891 were pulped during World War I.
Aside from some fragments, the census records from 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851 were destroyed in an explosion at the Public Record Office in Dublin in June of 1922 at the beginning of the Irish Civil War (1922-1923).
The 1901 and 1911 Census Records
The 1901 and 1911 Irish census records and the surviving 19th-century fragments are online and free to research at the National Archives of Ireland website at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
These returns are the only full census records that survive from Ireland prior to 1921, when the island was partitioned into Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State. They provide information about individuals, including religious affiliation, age, occupation, literacy, fluency in the Irish language, the size of the family home and the materials used in its construction.
The 1911 census also states how many years a woman was married, how many live children she birthed, and how many of those children were still living.
Census Substitutes
Genealogists and family historians typically use other 19th-century Irish records as substitutes for the destroyed census returns. Some of these include: Griffith’s Valuation, Parish Registers, Landed Estates Court Rentals, Irish Petty Sessions Court Registers, and Irish Prison Records. Obituaries can also provide important details about a person’s life.
References
Donovan, B. (2016, March 26). Searching the Irish Records: Your top 8 questions, and our expert’s answers. Retrieved July 2016, from findmypast.com : https://blog.findmypast.com/irish-webinar-faqs-brian-donovan-answers-your-questions-1677147007.html
National Archives of Ireland. (n.d.). About pre-1901 Census fragments and History of 1831 – 1851 census. Retrieved 2014, 2015, 2016, from National Archives of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/help/pre1901.html
National Archives of Ireland. (n.d.). About the 1901 and 1911 censuses. Retrieved 2014, 2015, 2016, from National Archives of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/help/about19011911census.html
National Archives of Ireland. (n.d.). History of Irish Census Records. Retrieved 2014, 2015, 2016, from http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie : http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/help/history.html