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Papers: List of Papers 2002-04 |
The Coasting Trade Terry Conlan |
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Census of Population, Local and National |
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A lecture entitled "Census of Population, Local and National", was delivered by John Harte at the March monthly meeting of the Skerries Historical Society. The lecture took place in Keane's Bus Bar on Tuesday, 11th. March. John did an enormous amount of research, in order to produce this very detailed paper. Mr. Harte initially spoke about the 2002 Census, which had been postponed from 2001, due to fears that Census enumerators would spread Foot and Mouth disease among animals, as they travelled from farm to farm. Preliminary results are available from the Central Statistics Office at www.cso.ie and show that the population of the Republic of Ireland has now recovered to a level last seen in the 26 Counties in 1871. The County of Fingal continues to grow at a very fast rate (17% in six years) while Dublin city gained less than 3%. The Fingal increase is due in equal measure to the excess of births over deaths and net immigration to the area. Locally, the Skerries Electoral Division gained 18% and Holmpatrick E.D. increased by 29%. This latter E.D includes part of the town and stretches irregularly to the N1. Town boundaries expand with the population and the Skerries Town figures for 2002 will be known shortly when processing of Census forms and statistics is complete. Mr. Harte estimated that it would have been c. 8,900 in 2002 compared to c. 7,300 in 1996. A short history of the Census of Population in the world followed. The Sumerians, who lived in the area of modern day Iraq, conducted censuses almost 4000 years ago and recorded the results using cuneiform writing. The Romans thought it so important that they introduced it to their widespread provinces; "Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken …and everyone went to his own town to be registered" (St. Luke). Domesday Book in England was compiled on the orders of the conqueror, William, and provides amazing detail on his Kingdom. |
The lecture then dealt with early estimations of the population of Ireland from 1650 onwards. The motivation varied from land distribution by the English to Poll Tax and even a tax on all hearths or chimneys. In the latter case the number of hearths was then multiplied by 5/6 to arrive at a rough figure for the population. In the period from 1650 to 1813 the estimates indicate a rise from just over one million to six million. The British Government ordered full enumeration of all the people and this occurred every tenth year from 1821 to 1911. The results show a sharp rise in population to the 1840s followed by a dramatic decline in the famine years and a steady decline thereafter. Trend graphs for each of the local townlands were available on the big screen using a data projector. Many of these raise questions for the local historian. Why did the population of the townland of Holmpatrick decline from 140 to 40 between 1841 and 1851? Why did Milverton increase from under 70 to over 100 in the same period? Answers may be arrived at using other sources and thus the Census reports provide a starting point for further local research. The only two censuses which are fully available are 1901 and 1911. The forms, as completed by your great?-grand-parents, may be accessed on microfiche and printed out at the National Archives. For all the 19th. century censuses, only the statistical reports remain. The actual returns were destroyed by British Government order or by explosion and fire at the Four Courts during the Civil War. Mr. Harte thanked the many people who had assisted with his research and presentation. He announced that the topic would be continued through the 20th. century up to recent times in a paper to be read by Eric Embleton in May 2004. A vote of thanks was proposed on behalf of the Society by Roderick Neary. |