The Irish Census

There is much celebration about the US releasing the 1940 Census, and it is a wonderful thing to take a step back in time and see where your family was sixty years ago.

I know, because a few years ago, my cousins found our grandfather's family in the 1911 Irish census. And we all took a look at our family 100 years ago.

I went on to identify all four of my grandparents' households. The Murphys, Moores, Kevlehans and Kellys, all in their home towns. The mixture of Monaghan, Sligo and Kilkenny that became my family. Farmers and laborers and housewives. The housefull of scolars at Annaughkilly...

The census reported how many children were born, how many had died, and if the household members could read or write. And to see the signatures of my great-grandparents was a pretty amazing experience.

And now the 1901 census is on-line, and we can look back to the turn of the century. I can find my great grandmother, who had died by 1911... My great grandfather too.

What a gift to all of us now... The gift of our history.