The Features
One hundred years after it was taken, the first census of the Irish Free State is fully digitized, freely accessible, and packed with details that genealogists have been waiting decades to see.
One hundred years after it was taken, the first census of the Irish Free State is fully digitized, freely accessible, and packed with details that genealogists have been waiting decades to see.
This 1926 Census covers 26 counties of the Irish Free State. The National Archives of Ireland released the 1926 Census to the public. It is online, free to search, and accessible to all with an internet connection. There is no subscription, and no paywall.
For genealogists trying to connect families across generations, or identify a great-grandparent's village of origin, or understand the working lives of their ancestors, this census provides the answers. Researchers will find digitized and indexed handwritten household forms that ancestors filled out.
For example, little was known about Elizabeth Murphy of Donegal until her Uncle was identified. It is known she is not Catholic but Church of Ireland, but it was the 1926 Census that attached her to her uncle, Robert Chambers. It also tells the researcher that she was not born in Cullinean as her Uncle, but in Tullynavinn, a rural townland located on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland
Even though more information is needed, we have now connected two generations.
A Census Unlike Any Before It!
The 1926 Census wasn't just a head count. It was the first census conducted by an independent Irish government, taken a decade after the War of Independence and the Civil War. This 1926 Census was the result of a new nation taking "stock, an enumeration of itself.
This was the first Irish census to exclude Northern Ireland, covering only the 26 counties of the Free State. Some forms were completed in Irish.
Questions:
The 1926 Census wasn't just a head count. It was the first census conducted by an independent Irish government, taken a decade after the War of Independence and the Civil War. This 1926 Census was the result of a new nation taking "stock, an enumeration of itself.
This was the first Irish census to exclude Northern Ireland, covering only the 26 counties of the Free State. Some forms were completed in Irish.
Questions:
- employers by name
- duration of current marriages
- number of children born
- language recognition: forms could be completed entirely in Irish, reflecting the new state's commitment to the language's revival. Previously, many used anglicized English equivalents required by the British Colonial rule.
Instructions on Form A, Census of the Irish Free State, 1926
• Full name, relationship to the head of household, and exact age in years and months
• Specific birthplace down to the townland level, and whether the person could speak Irish
• Occupation and the specific name of their employer or workplace
• For married women: duration of the current marriage and the number of living children
A Snapshot of a Nation in Transition
The data proves these 26 counties are not exclusively Catholic. Roman Catholics made up 92.6% of the Free State's nearly 3 million people. The remaining 7.4%, over 220,000 individuals, belonged to other faiths:
 |
| Religion, Church of Ireland, Protestant Episcopalians |
- Protestant Episcopalians (Church of Ireland); primarily
- Presbyterians concentrated in Donegal
- Methodists in Dublin and Cork
- Jewish and Baptist communities in Dublin.
 |
| Name: Russia; Religion:Hebrew; Occupation: House Furniture Shop Keeper |
How to Access the Record
The digitized household returns are available through the National Archives of Ireland's 1926 Census Search platform. Researchers can search by county, townland, street, or directly by first name and surname.
Since many forms were completed in Irish or used traditional Gaelic spellings, be sure to try multiple versions of your ancestor's name. An interactive map also lets you browse households by location.
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