1901 Ireland Census held on 31 March
The 1901 Ireland Census is the first Ireland census for which full census records exist; it is one of only two Ireland censuses (along with the 1911 Ireland census) for which census records are currently available to the public.
As with all pre-partition Ireland censuses, the 1901 Census of Ireland was held on the same day as the 1901 Census of Great Britain. Once again, however, it was subject to its own census legislation and was held quite independently.
Census Forms
The 1901 Ireland census continued to ask more questions than its counterpart in the rest of the UK, and continued to be the only part of the UK to retain the original census forms once the census data had been extracted. As we shall see, the Ireland Census also involved an almost bewildering number of census forms that householders, institutions and enumerators had to complete.
Householder’s Census Forms
Form A – ‘Family Return’
The ‘Family Return’ (Form A) needed to be completed by all householders and is the main focus for researchers of Ireland family history.
Unlike the census of 1851 (the last Ireland census for which there are any surviving records), householders no longer needed to complete separate census tables for absent family members or those who had died since the previous census.
Householders were now instructed to complete one table, providing the following information on all those individuals who stayed overnight on census night (or returned the next morning, and not recorded elsewhere).
- Name.
- Relation to head of family.
- *Religion.
- *Education i.e. ‘read and write’, ‘read’, ‘cannot read’.
- Age.
- Gender.
- Rank, Profession or Occupation. (If at school/home schooled, ‘Scholar’ was entered)
- Marriage. Options: married, widower, widowed, not married.
- Where born. Options: county or city (if born in Ireland) otherwise, country.
- *Irish Language. Options: ‘Irish ‘or ‘Irish and English’. (If no entry, the person spoke English only).
- Disability. Options: ‘Deaf and dumb’, ‘dumb’, ‘blind’, imbecile or idiot’ ‘Lunatic’.
*These questions were not asked in other parts of the UK (although similar versions of the language question applied to Scotland and Wales). The ‘religious profession’ question was voluntary.
Form C – ‘Return of the Sick’
If anyone in the household ‘laboured under sickness’ on census night, the householder needed to also complete Form C. This form asked similar questions to Form A (name, relation, age, gender, and rank, profession or occupation). It also asked for description of the disease, for how long afflicted, and whether the sick person was able to carry out his or her usual occupation.
Census forms for Institutions
There were also various census forms that required completion by various institutions:
- Form E: Paupers in workhouses.
- Form F: Hospitals.
- Forms G, L1, L2, L3 & L4: Educational establishments (universities, colleges and schools).
- Form H: Barracks.
- Form I: Lunatic asylums.
- Form K: Prisons.
Apart from educational establishments, the heads of these institutions rarely entered the full names of the inhabitants – in many cases, just their initials were recorded. As such, it can be difficult for family historians to trace the occupants accurately.
Enumerators’ Forms
Form B1 – House and Building Return
There were a number of forms that enumerators had to complete but the form of most interest to family historians was the House and Building Return (Form B1). This is because, cross referenced with Form A, it described the conditions in which each household lived.
The House and Building Return was used to record the type of dwelling. Inhabited houses were classified according to their construction, number of rooms and front windows. Form B1 also recorded the numbers of families per house, rooms per family, and people per family (and number in each family who were sick).
Form D – ‘Return of Lunatics and idiots not in Institutions’
This was another important enumerator’s form; unlike census form I, used for occupants of lunatic asylums, Form D recorded the individual’s full name.
Outbuildings, shipping returns and and other enumerator’s forms
Other enumerators’ forms included Out-offices and Farm-Steadings (Form B2), Shipping Return (Form B3), Agricultural Holdings and Valuation (Form M1), and Amalgamation of Holdings in Occupation of Same Person (Form M3). Of these forms, B2 and B3 did not record personal details; M1 recorded the landowner’s name only (if applicable); and Form M3 recorded the name and address of any landowner of multiple farms (or one farm covering more than one townland).
The Enumerator’s Abstract (Form N) was the main enumerator’s summary that identified the householder by cross referencing with Form B1.
There were other various enumerator’s abstracts and summaries resulting in a bewildering amount of paperwork for enumerators to wrestle with.
Administration
The administration remained largely unaltered since the Ireland census of 1851. The enumerators were, once again, recruited mainly from either the Royal Irish Constabulary or the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Their duties included the distribution (shortly before census day) and the collection (on 31 March or as soon as possible afterwards) of the various census forms mentioned above.
Population
The population recorded in the 1901 census was 4,458,775. Whilst this did represent a population decrease of just over 5% since the 1891 Census of Ireland, the catastrophic population decline that had left such a scar on 19th Century Ireland had largely stabilised.
Sources
Census of England and Wales, 1921, Preliminary report including tables of the population enumerated in England and Wales (administrative and parliamentary areas) and in Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands on 19-20th June 1921 BPP 1921 XVI [Cmd.1485] p.62 & 63
Ireland. Census Office. Census of Ireland, 1901. Dublin: Printed for H.M. Stationery Off., by Cahill, 190102.