Making an Irish Free State City – 1926 Census returns

A suite of summary documents from the late 1920s and early 1930s also survive to provide an overview of the findings in 1926. Whereas a preliminary census population report was published in August 1926, it was only from May 1928 onwards when John Hooper, Director of Statistics Department of Industry and Commerce, began to publish detailed reports.

The procedure adopted in issuing the results of previous censuses in this country was firstly to present complete figures for each county and province in a separate volume for that county or province, and then to present the figures for the country as a whole in a separate general report. For John Hooper, he argued that such a method of publication, while having some advantages for those specially interested in the problems of a particular county, it did not provide in a “convenient format of material to enable comparisons between counties”. In essence it was difficult to find information.

John Hooper writes in 1928 in the first volume of population findings for 1926 on the concept of fewer published volumes. “It has accordingly been considered that for this census the best procedure is to issue fewer but larger volumes, each containing in respect of a particular subject as complete information as possible for the country as a whole and for each of the districts into which the country is divided.”

Under John Hooper’s direction, results were issued and published in ten separate thematic volumes relating to Occupations (published in 1928), Religion and Birthplaces (1929), Housing (1929), Ages, Orphanhood and Conjugal Conditions (1930), Industrial Status (1931), Industries (1932), Irish Language (1932), Dependency (1933) and a General Report (1934).

Midway through the publishing process, John Hooper died and a colleague of his at the statistics section, Stanley Lyon, at the Department of Industry and Commerce took his place.

The General Report on the 1926 census, published in 1934, is very much worth probing and gives some great overall insight into life and society at the time. Population-wise in 1926, the 26 counties had a population of 2,971,992, a decrease of 5.3% from the 1911 census. In Leinster 57% of the population lived in towns and villages, compared with 37% in Munster, 16% in Connacht and 15% in the three Ulster counties.

In considering such density figures the report outlines that it should also be borne in mind that the proportions of mountain, marsh, etc., land vary widely in the different parts of the country. Thus the proportion of non-agricultural land (including areas of grazed and barren mountain, turf bog, marsh, roads, water, towns, etc.) was 17% in Leinster, 25% in Munster, 39% in Connacht and 40% in the three Ulster counties.

Between 1911 and 1926, the population of the Irish Free State declined by 168,000 or by 5.3%. There were abnormal causes identified for the decline in population since 1911.

The reasons accounted for an estimate of 70,000 of the total decline in population of 168,000 were several. The withdrawal of the British Army numbered 25,242 in the Irish Free State in 1911. These with their dependents were estimate to have numbered about 34,000.

A number of Irish soldiers were killed in the European war. The Registrar-General’s lists show that the number of Irish warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men who died on active service outside Great Britain and Ireland from 1914 to 1918 was 27,405. It was not possible to allocate such deaths between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, nor were the numbers of Irish officers killed known.

There was a number of officers and men who joined the British Army during the war and who remained in other countries.

The Royal Irish Constabulary, which numbered 8,079 in the Irish Free State in 1911, decreased. Many left the country when the force was disbanded on the Irish Free State being formed.

On religions, the classification of the population in the 1926 Census was not carried out in as great detail as for previous censuses. It was decided to limit the classifications to Roman Catholics, who represented 92.6 per cent of the population, and Protestant Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Jews and Baptists who accounted for a further 7.1 per cent.

From 1911 to 1926 Roman Catholics decreased by only 2.2% the smallest decrease over recorded – Protestants, taken as a whole, decreased by 32.5%. Baptists decreased by 54.18%, Methodists by 35.1%, Protestant Episcopalians by 34.2%, Presbyterians (of whom two-thirds resided in the border counties - Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan) decreased by 28-7%, Jews by 3.1% and others by 12.7%.

Protestants in the Irish Free State decreased by 106,456 from 1911 to 1926. About one-fourth of this latter decrease could be attributed to the withdrawal of the British Army and the disbandment of the Royal Irish Constabulary and their emigration and the emigration of their dependents.

On emigration numbers, in 1926, Ireland was absolutely unique amongst the countries of the world in relation to the very high number of Irish people living outside of Ireland especially as a proportion of the overall population of their mother country.

Compiled from the census returns of the five countries to which the Irish had migrated most to, they showed that in 1920-21 there were 1,762,335 natives of Ireland residing in these five countries - 1,037,234 in the USA, 364,747 in England and Wales, 159,020 in Scotland, 93,301 in Canada, and 105,033 in Australia.

In addition there were 34,419 Irish-born in New Zealand, 12,289 in the Union of South Africa, and 8,414 in India.

The combined figures came to a total of 1,817,457, which was equivalent to 43% of the population of Ireland in 1926.

To be continued…

Monday afternoon, 4 May: The Marina, meet at western end adjacent Shandon Boat Club, The Marina at 2pm.

Sunday afternoon, 10 May: Blackpool: Its History and Heritage; meet at the square on St Mary’s Road, opposite North Cathedral at 2pm.

Friday evening, 15 May: Cork Through the Ages, An Introduction to the Historical Development of Cork City; meet at the National Monument, Grand Parade at 6.30pm.

Sunday afternoon, 17 May: The South Bank – The South Parish and its Histories, meet at the Ronnie Herlihy Pocket Park, Langford Row, just opposite intersection of High Street, Summerhill South and Douglas Street at 2pm.

Sunday evening, 24 May: The Lough and its Curiosities; meet at green area at northern green of The Lough, entrance of Lough Road to The Lough, Lough Church end at 6.30pm.