The Republic of Irelands 1926 Census is set to go online in April 2026. The digitalisation of the census will allow people a greater understanding of Ireland’s unique language, occupation, age, housing situation, religion and population.
The €5 million euro project will be undertaken by The National Archives of Ireland who plans to release all data to the public completely free of charge. This information will undoubtedly provide a fascinating snapshot of life in Ireland in 1926 and will be of great use to the Irish public.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin said:
I am pleased to provide funding of €5 million for the digitisation and publication of the 1926 census. It is my firm belief that census records and other genealogical records should be easily accessible and provided free of charge to the public. The €5 million funding will provide for the complex, time consuming and multistage process to digitise all of the information collected by the first census of the Irish State. I am confident that work will be completed in time for release 100 years after the census was taken. Given the success of the digitised 1901 and 1911 census returns, I’m sure that the 1926 Census will be equally as popular and have a significant global reach once released. The census is a fundamental part of our national heritage and collective knowledge.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin
Ireland’s 1926 Census collected the following data:
1) Age.
2) Relationship to head of household.
3) Name and surname.
4) Birthplace.
5) Marriage or orphanhood.
6) Sex.
7) Occupation / employment.
8) Religion.
9) Irish language.
10) Employment company / name of employer.
11) Women and men’s marriage information: number of completed years and months of current marriage, and number of alive children born into the marriage.
12) Widowers and widows: living daughters, sons, step-sons and step-daughters under 16 years of age, whether residing as members of this household or elsewhere.
13) The total area in statute acres of all agricultural holdings (if any) situated in the Irish Free State of which persons usually resident in this household are the rated occupiers.
100 years must pass until the personal information from a census can be published for public consumption. Ten years ago, personal information was published collected from the 1901 and 1911 census, and since then, general interest in genealogy has bloomed, creating much excitement around the information in Ireland’s 1926 census.
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- woman in grey suit jacket holding a baby in a white dress: instant images
