Irish Census records
1901 and 1911
Information Given
Although these returns are very late and therefore of limited value for some purposes, the information they contain can still be extremely useful. The 1901 returns record the following:- name;
- relationship to the head of the household;
- religion;
- literacy;
- occupation;
- age;
- marital status;
- county of birth;
- ability to speak English or Irish.
The returns also record details of the houses, giving the number of rooms, outhouses and windows and the type of roof. Family members of those not present when the census was taken are not given. The same information was again collected in 1911, with one important addition: married women were required to state the number of years they had been married, the number of children born alive and the number of children still living. Unfortunately, widows were not required to give this information, although a good number obliged in any case. Only the initials, not the full names, of policemen, soldiers and inmates of mental hospitals or workhouses were to be recorded, though this rule was occasionally not followed.
