1926 Census exhibition to visit Cork city next month

A specially-curated exhibition based on the recently released 1926 census will be visiting Cork’s St Peter’s next month.

The exhibition - The Story of Us - uses contemporary documents and images, audio-visual displays, and census returns to present a picture of life in Ireland in 1926.

It will be on display between 7-26 July and will give an insight into sport and entertainment, language, culture, religion, gender, and the working lives of the inhabitants of the Irish Free State a century ago.

The exhibition will be visiting ten other venues besides Cork in 2026, including Meath, Donegal, Wexford, Waterford, Limerick, Kildare, Westmeath, Kerry, Tipperary, and the 2026 Ploughing Championships in Laois.

It has previously been shown in Dublin, London, and Boston.

Orlaith McBride, Director of the National Archives which is responsible for the exhibition, said the census was not just a historical document, but “a living national resource”.

“It belongs not only to academic historians or archivists, but to the wider public.

“Hopefully in the months and years ahead, people will search the census to discover grandparents and great-grandparents, trace migration and family connections, understand changing patterns of work and language, and explore the everyday realities of life in Ireland in 1926,” she said.

Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport Patrick O’Donovan TD said the census offers something “deeply personal”.

“It brings history out of the abstract and into the everyday,” he said.