Where were you in 1911?

People may or may not be aware that the 1911 census records for Dublin were made available to search online about a year ago. This search function has subsequently expanded to include counties Antrim, Down and Kerry and it is planned that other counties will become available in the coming months. It is an interesting bit of family history to delve in and see what your ancestors were up to on one night in 1911... it is particularly interesting if you have family of one or two generations removed still living who can often remember some of the people who appear on the 1911 reports. No doubt some people's grandparents will be on the reports too, mine are (were) slightly too young to appear on them.

On my father's side of the family half my family is from the Midlands so we will have to wait to have a look at those reports but of those living in Dublin it is interesting to see what is going on. My great great grandmother was a widow and thus head of the house which she shared with her three sons (one being my great grandfather) as well as her brother, a clerk, and three borders whose contribution presumably helped fund the family. There was also a visitor from England on the evening in question. Given that she is one year younger than my great great grandmother's brother and they share a common religion (Salvation Army) which is apart from the rest of the household one might suppose that they could have been romantically involved.

It is interesting to compare the various circumstances which people you know found themselves. For instance, the difference between my family and my girlfriend's family on the night in question are quite stark. Hers was a household of 13, a husband and wife along with their sister, six children and 4 servants described as 2 maids, a cook and the description for the third we can't make out. The premises consisted of a house, 2 coach houses, a stable, harness room, fowl house, workshop and shed!

See what you were up to!
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

My grandparents would all have remembered that night. They're all dead now, mind. Were the records for the West of Ireland kept too, or were they destroyed at the Four Courts?

My Granny's brother was at St. Patrick's Drumcondra training to be a teacher. I have his Irish textbooks in front of me.

SeathrúnCeitinn wrote:

My Granny's brother was at St. Patrick's Drumcondra training to be a teacher. I have his Irish textbooks in front of me.

Small world Seathrún. So was my wife's Grandad's brother. There were about 80 or so lads there that night I think.

I have posted on this census over yonder in the last year, I'll try to find it...

Here we go.

http://www.politics.ie/history/21832-1901-1911-census-data-coming-online-soon.html

Also check out http://brsgenealogy.com/

Click on the map and click the county if you know where the person is from/was born/got married/died.

If you're sure you found the right person, I think it's 5 quid for a report/cert.

It is getting updated all the time and goes way back.

I'm still waiting for Cork South and Dublin City to come online.

I'm waiting patiently for these census records to be released so I can find out a bit more about my great grandparents, of which I know nothing really. The records for counties outside Dublin are being digitised at a slower rate than expected so I'm a bit concerned that they wont reach the counties in question (Wterford and Tipperary, both near the bottom in order) before funding for the project is cut.

Anyway, the alternative is to talk to elderly relatives - 1911 brings me back as far as my parents parents time so isn't actually that long ago.

Art wrote:

johnfás,

Well done and thanks for highlighting that the census is available for viewing. Only one of my grand parents is alive, my grandmother. So I looked her family up, her parents were living in Parnell Street in 1911, it was called Great Britain Street at that time. But it was fascinating reading the information and she was delighted when I rang to tell her about it. She wasn't alive at the time, shes 92 now (i think), but three of her brothers and sisters were and her fathers in-laws were present in the house that night (along with an assistant and servant!).
Anyway thanks for bringing joy to my old Nana in the current gloom.

Ye's musta been another of those rich families!!!

Glad to hear it brought some happiness to your Nana, mine was delighted when I showed her some of the records earlier in the year.

toxic avenger wrote:

My grandparents would all have remembered that night. They're all dead now, mind. Were the records for the West of Ireland kept too, or were they destroyed at the Four Courts?

All the records from the 1901 and 1911 census returns survive. They can be seen in the National Archives, Bishop Street. The census returns from 1821, 1831, 1841, 1851, 1861 and I think 1871 were destroyed when the IRA boobytrapped the Public Records Office. (The stores were designed to withstand fires, bombs, anything other than some republican neanderthals actually attaching boobytraps to the shelves in the basement.) The census returns from 1881 and 1891, and possibly 1871 were destroyed by some plonker in Dublin Castle who without authorisation thought that it would be a good idea during WWI to re-use the paper! (Asshole)

The odd other records survive. My mother's parish-based census records from 1821 miraculously were one of only a handful to survive the 1921 crime. So while I cannot trace back my father's family beyond 1800 I can get the names on my mother's side a couple of generations earlier as the 1821 records listed children, parents and grandparents alive at the time.

If you check the records of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints they may also have the records on line. The LDS believe they can baptise non-LDS members after death so buy up copies of records from all around the world and place them on line. They offer a brilliant free service. so they have state records and church records from all over. unfortunately I cannot access my local parish records through them as the local bishop (he who is about to be rocked by a Cloyne-style scandal!) won't allow the LDS access. He claims it is because they aren't Catholic, which is bullshit. It is because the greedy bastard wants to charge everyone for seeing their own family records and so won't tolerate free competition like the LDS (even the Vatican co-operates with the LDS because everyone in genealogy praises them because they give free access to millions of records with no strings attached). But then given that my local bishop is about to find himself at the centre of the massive scandal (the boys in blue are checking it out and the media all know it is coming) he may need the money the greedy pig exploits off everyone to see records to pay his legal bills, compensation, etc. Serves the fucker right!

Papal_knight Two wrote:

toxic avenger wrote:

My grandparents would all have remembered that night. They're all dead now, mind. Were the records for the West of Ireland kept too, or were they destroyed at the Four Courts?

All the records from the 1901 and 1911 census returns survive. They can be seen in the National Archives, Bishop Street. The census returns from 1821, 1831, 1841, 1851, 1861 and I think 1871 were destroyed when the IRA boobytrapped the Public Records Office. (The stores were designed to withstand fires, bombs, anything other than some republican neanderthals actually attaching boobytraps to the shelves in the basement.) The census returns from 1881 and 1891, and possibly 1871 were destroyed by some plonker in Dublin Castle who without authorisation thought that it would be a good idea during WWI to re-use the paper! (Asshole)

The odd other records survive. My mother's parish-based census records from 1821 miraculously were one of only a handful to survive the 1921 crime. So while I cannot trace back my father's family beyond 1800 I can get the names on my mother's side a couple of generations earlier as the 1821 records listed children, parents and grandparents alive at the time.

If you check the records of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints they may also have the records on line. The LDS believe they can baptise non-LDS members after death so buy up copies of records from all around the world and place them on line. They offer a brilliant free service. so they have state records and church records from all over. unfortunately I cannot access my local parish records through them as the local bishop (he who is about to be rocked by a Cloyne-style scandal!) won't allow the LDS access. He claims it is because they aren't Catholic, which is bullshit. It is because the greedy bastard wants to charge everyone for seeing their own family records and so won't tolerate free competition like the LDS (even the Vatican co-operates with the LDS because everyone in genealogy praises them because they give free access to millions of records with no strings attached). But then given that my local bishop is about to find himself at the centre of the massive scandal (the boys in blue are checking it out and the media all know it is coming) he may need the money the greedy pig exploits off everyone to see records to pay his legal bills, compensation, etc. Serves the fucker right!

If there were such a system here, I'd give you rep for that post, I'll have to work out who you are over on p.ie and do it there instead! I knew about the Mormon thing alright, but I didn't have any luck on their website. I'm not sure I could go back much further than the famine anyway, and I already know all my relatives back to then through relatives who remembered people who remembered them. Or something. The vandalism of those idiots with the gelignite at the Four Courts was almost Talibanesque.

The PRO was used as a weapons store - I don't think it was booby trapped. in fact, given the lack of casulties on the Free state army side, I seriously doubt it. If sounds like propaganda put about by the state to demonise the republicans. The National Army started shelling the place so would have been very keen to do so. In fact the sources for this are Tim Healy (an outright bastard) and the national army itself (keen to downplay the effect its actions had on the loss, remember that they used high-explosive artillary on the buildings)