1851 Ireland Census – 31 March 1851

Very few 1851 Ireland census records have survived a catastrophic fire at the Four Courts, Dublin which destroyed so many Ireland census records between 1821 and 1851. However, the 1851 Ireland census is hugely important because of its historical setting. Taken directly after the Great Potato Famine, it was timed perfectly to measure its devastating impact. Also, it was the last Ireland census of the 19th Century for which any census records still exist.

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Administration

The 1851 Ireland census shared its census day with the census of Great Britain but, as usual, was held quite separately and was unique in many ways from its Great British counterpart.

Census Commissioners administered the census, as they had for the 1841 Ireland census. The Registrar General for Marriages in Ireland, a role established in 1845, was appointed Chief Census Commissioner and William Wilde, father of Oscar Wilde, was appointed Assistant Commissioner.

William Wilde had been a medical adviser for the 1841 Ireland census and, due to his influence, the 1851 Ireland census focused heavily on sickness and disability.

The way in which the Ireland census was conducted remained broadly the same as the ground breaking Ireland census of 1841. However, there were a dizzying number of new census forms, particularly institutional forms.

Form A – Family Return (Householder’s Form)

This form continued with the three table format first adopted in 1841. This involved householders entering the following details; in the 1st table, of anyone who stayed overnight; in the 2nd table, absent family members; in the 3rd table, family members who had died since the previous census.

There were a couple of new questions. The ‘education’ question was extended to include an Irish language question, designed to gather more information about Irish speaking areas. In line with the rest of the UK, there was also a new ‘infirmity’ question. The householder was also asked to describe occupations more fully e.g. ‘silk weaver’ not just ‘weaver’ etc. The penalty for non-compliance was reduced from £10 to £5.

Once again, these forms were not destroyed once the census had been completed and this means that any surviving Ireland census records are usually in the householder’s own writing (in contrast to the rest of the UK where the original forms were destroyed).

Form B – House and Building Return (Enumerator’s Buildings Survey)

This house survey, carried out by the enumerator, now asked for the number of family members who were sick on census night and the question relating to farms (acres and livestock) was scrapped:

Form B – Ship Return (extension to Form B)

This was a new table added to Form B in which enumerators entered the number of individuals on shipping vessels on census night. No personal information was recorded.

Form C – Sick Return – Form C (additional householder’s form)

If any family member was ‘labouring under sickness’ on census night, the head of family was asked to complete this additional form. The personal information required from this new Form was similar to Form A, but it also asked for details of each person’s disease, its length, and whether it prevented the individual from carrying out his or her usual occupation.

Form D – For Lunatics and Idiots

Continuing the focus on health, this was a new enumerator’s form in which the personal details of any person deemed ‘insane’ or an ‘idiot’ were entered. Where the afflicted individual was in the care of friends, the form was to be completed with the ‘greatest delicacy’.

Forms E – L

One of the most striking innovations of the 1851 Ireland census was the sheer number of new forms and, in particular, forms for almost every type of institution. The forms were as follows: Form E (workhouses), Form F (hospitals), Form G (colleges and schools – residents), Form H (barracks), Form I (lunatic asylums/prisons), Form K (houses of correction i.e. prisons/bridewells), Form L (pupils attending schools). These forms were completed by the heads of these various institutions, rather than the enumerator. Unfortunately, these forms (apart from the ‘educational’ forms G and L) generally only recorded the initials of those listed.

Form O – Return of Emigrants and Passengers

It was ‘deemed advisable, in consequence of the great emigration now in progress’ to include this return. Enumerators were to record, at the port of departure, the ship name, destination and departure date. It recorded the personal details of all those boarding the ship including name, age, sex, occupation, where from and where going. Interestingly, it also asked whether the individual intended returning.

Form P – Return of Inquests

This recorded brief personal details of individuals who were the subject of an inquest and included cause of death (including details of any violence committed).

Enumerator’s ‘questions with reference to the deaf and dumb’

Enumerators were required to complete a supplementary questionnaire on behalf of anyone identified ‘deaf and dumb’ on the householder’s Form A (or one of the other institutional forms for workhouses, hospitals, lunatic asylums/prisons and pupils attending schools). The answers recorded enabled William Wilde to conduct a genetic study of the population. Apart from listing maternal ‘fright’ as a possible cause of birth defects, most of the questions have stood the test of time. Questions include; whether afflicted from birth, whether hereditary, whether due to intermarriage of cousins, whether other family members similarly afflicted etc. Enquiries were to be made with the ‘utmost delicacy’.

William Wilde also had an opportunity to iron out some obvious errors; one enumerator described every baby as being ‘deaf and dumb’ on the grounds that it could not yet speak.

Census substitute

1851 Ireland census records had been used as proof of qualifying age for the old age pension which was introduced in 1909 (i.e. over a decade before the almost total destruction of these census records). ‘Census Search Forms’, used to collect information from both this census and also the 1841 Ireland census, act as invaluable census substitutes.

Population – 6,574,278

To appreciate the significance of the 6.5 million population figure recorded in this census, it needs to be viewed against the population recorded in the 1841 census of just under 8.2 million. These two population figures are a testament to the devastating impact of the Potato Famine.