LAST UPDATE | 20 Apr

THE FIRST CENSUS of the Irish Free State was released over the weekend, giving us a sense of what people’s lives were like in 1926.

These records – which can be searched here – contain information on almost three million people who were in the state at the time.

As the first major State records following the more than a decade of upheaval, from the Rising through to the Civil War, they carry plenty of insights into households on 18 April a century ago.

Up to 92.6% of the Irish population in 26 counties was Catholic, and 18.3% spoke Irish.

They also include detail about the makeup of households, including records of ‘domestic servants’ who lived alongside families.

Elsewhere in the records is information on institutions in Ireland at the time, including prisons and Magdalene Laundries. In Tuam’s Mother and Baby Home, for example, the census return shows children listed as ‘illegitimate’.

So we’re asking what you’ve discovered in the 1926 census about your own family, or if you have anything of interest about your local area or otherwise.

If you’d like to be included, please contact The Journal by email through answers@thejournal.ie and describe what you have found in the 1926 Census in around 250-350 words.

Please include your age and county, please also tell us your first name or let us know if you would like your name to not be published.