Census of Ireland, 1821

Matthew Woollard

The second census of Ireland was carried out in 1821; in many respects one can say that it was the first successful census of Ireland, but a number of commentators have judged the results untrustworthy.

The Census (Ireland) Act, 1815 (55 Geo. III. c.120) was passed for taking the 1821 census, almost six years in advance of the census date. This Act provided a more stable infrastructure for the census than its predecessor, and in most respects was carried out in an efficient manner. Ultimate responsibility was transferred from the Grand Juries to the Bench of Magistrates. As in the previous census, enumerators were appointed (mostly from the pool of tax collectors) but for the first time in the British Isles, the enumerator was instructed to write down the details about each individual within a note book. This personal information collected included the name, relationship to head of household, age, occupation, number of acres for landholders and any observations. These details were not used in the tabulations of material published subsequent to the census. Some fragments of these enumerations survive (Royle, 1978). The census was taken on 28 May 1821, the same day as in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Much of the information collected remained unpublished. An example of the tables which could have been published was given in the Appendix to the Report (Abstract of the answers and returns, 390–391); there was no provision for producing abstracts of the events from parish registers, like in Great Britain, because of the state of these registers in Ireland.

Some of the success of this census was due to the fact that the tabulation was carried out centrally, leading to uniformity of returns of families. It has also been suggested that the clergy ameliorated some of the concerns of the population.

The publication of the results from this census, were however, virtually the same as their British counterparts. The main summary tables crossed two pages with columns for houses (inhabited, number of families, uninhabited, and building), persons (male, female and total), occupations (agriculture, 'trades, manufacturing or handicraft', and others with a total number occupied). Unlike in Great Britain an additional section was provided giving numbers of boys and girls at school. Additionally, for each parish or township some notes were appended giving mainly educational or geographical material. After this double page spread, a table giving ages tabulated in quinquennial groups up to 20 and decennial thereafter was provided, but with no breakdown by sex.

The main unit of analysis was the parish, though in some areas, parishes were sub-divided into townships (or ploughlands).

The total population was reported differently in three places, ranging from 6.64 million to 6.84 million. Lee considers these to be underenumerations suggesting a total population of c.7.2 million.

REFERENCES

Census of Ireland, 1821, Abstract of the answers and returns made pursuant to an act of the united parliament, passed in the 55th year of the reign of his late majesty George the third, intituled "An act to provide for taking an account of the population of Ireland, and for ascertaining the Increase or diminution thereof". Preliminary observations. Enumeration abstract. Appendix BPP 1824 XXII, 411– (577). [View this document: Preliminary observations, enumeration abstract, appendix, Ireland, 1821]

K. H. Connell, The population of Ireland (Oxford, 1950).

E. M. Crawford, Counting the people. A survey of the Irish censuses, 1813–1913 (Dublin, 2003).

D. V. Glass and P. A. M. Taylor, Population and emigration (Dublin, 1976).

J. Lee, 'On the accuracy of the pre-famine Irish censuses' in J. M. Goldstrom and L. A. Clarkson, eds, Irish Population, Economy, and Society: essays in honour of the late K. H. Connell (Oxford, 1981), 37–56.

S. A. Royle, 'Irish manuscript census records: a neglected source of information', Irish Geography, 11 (1978), 110–125.