Census of Ireland, 1911

The Census of Ireland, 1911, was a census covering the whole of the island of Ireland, and was conducted on Sunday 2 April, 1911 as part of a broader Census of the United Kingdom. A census of Ireland had taken place every ten years beginning in 1821, although the next census would not take place until 1926 due to the Irish War of Independence and subsequent Irish Civil War.

Information collected

The census information was recorded on the following forms:
*Form A, which was completed by the head of family
*Forms B1, B2, and N, which were completed by the census enumerator

Head of family

Form A, completed by the head of family, contained the following information for each person in the home on the night of 2 April:
*Name and Surname
*Relation to Head of Family
*Religious Profession ("Protestants were requested to indicate denomination")
*Education ("whether able to read and write")
*Age (last birthday) and Sex
*Rank, Profession, or Occupation
*Particulars as to Marriage ("marital status, length of marriage, number of children born alive, number of children still living")
*Where Born
*Irish Language ("whether able to speak Irish")
*If Deaf and Dumb, Dumb only, Blind, Imbecile or Idiot, or LunaticThe form was signed by both the census enumerator and the head of family.

Census enumerator

Form B1, the House and Building Return, was completed by the enumerator and summarized the following administrative information for the street or townland, or part thereof:
*County
*Parliamentary Division
*Poor Law Union
*District Electoral Division
*Townland
*Parliamentary Borough
*City
*Urban District
*Town or Village
*Street
*Barony
*ParishIt then summarized the following information pertaining to the houses and families of the street or townland. The information about houses included:
*Number of House or Building
*Whether Built or Building
*Whether Private Dwelling, Public Building, School, Manufactory, Hotel, Public-house, Lodging-house, Shop, etc.
*Number of Out-Offices and Farm-steadings as returned on Form B2
*Whether House Inhabited
*Walls ("whether made of permanent or perishable material")
*Roof ("whether made of permanent or perishable material")
*Rooms ("number, whether 1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-9, 10-12, 13+")
*Windows in Front ("exact number")
*Class of House ("1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th, based on information supplied above")The information about families included:
*Number of distinct Families in each House
*Name of the Head of each Family residing in the House
*Number of Rooms occupied by each Family
*Total Number of Persons in each Family
*Date on which Form A was collected
*Number of Persons in each Family who were sick on 2nd April 1911
*Name of the "Landholder" (if any) on whose Holding the House is situated
*Number on Form M1 if House is on the Holding of a Landholder

Form B2, the Return of Outhouses and Farm-Steadings, gave more detailed information on secondary buildings attached to a property, such as outhouses, workshops, and various kinds of farm buildings.

Form N, the Enumerator’s Abstract for a Townland or Street, recorded the enumerator's name, the same administrative information as listed for Form B1, the properties and which were inhabited, and the numbers of families, males, and females, and persons of each religious denomination.

Population

Total

The total population of Ireland according to the 1911 census was 4,390,219 of whom 2,192,048 were male and 2,198,171 were female.

The total population of the 26 counties that would later form the Republic of Ireland was 3,139,688 and that of the 6 counties that would form Northern Ireland was 1,250,531.

By province

Religion

According to the 1911 census, religious profession broke down as follows:

Viewing the returns

The census returns for 1911 are [http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ available online] . Currently (December 2007) only Dublin is up, but the rest of the returns should follow during 2008.

The original manuscripts of the Census of Ireland are all housed in the National Archives of Ireland and can be viewed there by the general public. The returns are arranged by townland for rural areas and by street in cities, and it is necessary to know the townland or street where a person lived and its corresponding District Electoral Division in order to find the record of a particular person of interest.

The Family History Library also holds microfilm copies of the original 1911 census returns and these can be viewed at the Library in Salt Lake City, Utah or ordered for viewing at a Family History Center, a local branch of the Family History Library.

ee also

*Census in the United Kingdom
*List of United Kingdom censuses
*Irish Population Analysis

External links

* [http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy/censusrtns.html Census Returns, National Archives of Ireland]
* [http://www.cso.ie/ Central Statistics Office, Ireland]
* [http://www.seanruad.com/ The IreAtlas Townland Database]
* [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp Family History Library]