The Irish standard., 1909-02-13
CENSUS RETURNS.
Registering and Estimating the Popu-
. lation Of ireland.


| lation Of ireland.
At recent meeting Of the Statist;ca.
and Social Inquiry Society Of Ireland
held in the Leinster Lecture Hail
Wordsworth street, an address was de-
! llvered by Herbert Woods, B. A. entit!-
ed Methods of Registering and Esti-
mating the Population of Ireland before
1864" The lecturer, in the course Of
his address, pointed out that the Old
Age Pensions Act had excited much
curiosity as to the proofs of age which
would be required from applicants In
this country. Whilst in England this
registration Of births, deaths and mar
r:lges had been rendered obligatory py
the Act of 1886, in Ireland such regis
tration did not come into force till
1864, consequently claimants for pen
sions had been obliged to make search
in other directions.
The first appointment Of Registrar
General in Ireland dates back to 1917.
when Sir George Keane was appointed
Public Registrar of Births, Marriages
and Burials. In 1853 an attempt was
lcade by the Cromwellian Government
to institute a civil registration of births,
deaths and marriages. The registers
of the other denominations In Ireland
necessarily commenced at later period
than those Of the late Established
Church. Probably the best preserved
and most perfect series Of registers
was that of the Quakers, which COM
menced about 1850. Those Of the Cath
Ollie communion did not, In many cases.
commence before the middle of the
nineteenth century. from causes which
were sufficiently obvious. The registers
of the Proesbyterians and Methodists
were in the hands of the respective
clergy, and it was difficult to say with
what degree of care they had been pre-
served.
Dealing with the material and meth
DDS for calculating the population Of
ireland in the past, the lecturer said Il
was hard to realize that in these ooun-
tries, for long after Adam Smiths time,
the number of inhabitants Of the Brit
ish Empire could only be guessed at.
while Arthur Young, in 1870, strongly
recommended the Legislature Of IRELAND
to order an enumeration Of the whole
people. The first reliable census was
not taken in Ireland till 1921. and tie
fore that period they had nothing out
the results of the investigations Of
men like Sir William Petty. who was
Of the Survey Of Cne
Forfeited Lands after the rising Ut
letion of Ireland that they knew Of was
that of Fynes Moryson, who visited
Ireland under Lord Mountjoy, towards
the close of the reign Of Elizabeth. He
estimated that at the termination Of the
war there were only 100000 people left
in the country. The next estimate was
that of Sir w. Petty, who concluded
that in 1s41. before the war broke out.
there We're 1,466,000 persons in Ireland
ard that in 1862 the number was reduce
CO to $4,000 by massacres and emi-
grafton.
They found themselves on surer
ground in 1859, as in that year a poll
tax was taken. showing population Of
500,011. to which must be added tho
number of children, Is years and under,
which would amount to two-f1fths Of
the whole population. The materials.
however, upon which Petty and others
relied for their conclusions were. in
most cases, Hearth Money Returns,
under the tax imposed in reign IT
Chales II. The first real census which
was taken In Ireland was by the Mayor
and private persons for the City OF
Dublin in 1893; the number of inhabi-'
tants being 172091. From another in
uuiry in 1903 DR.. whitelaw calculated
The number Of inhabitants Of the city
as 169,52s. The first census of the
whole Of Ireland was taken in 1913.
but so few and unreliable were the re-
turns that they were deemed unsuitable
lie be presented to Parliament. Ac-
:ording to this census the population
Of Ireland was estimated at 5,9s7.sse
he next cansus, taken in 1921. found
a most valuable record of 6.3o1.s27 per-
sons.
For the purposes of the claimants COR
Old Age Pensions these volumes were
If little use. as only those Of 81 years
u age and upwards would find their
names recorded. The census of 1881
lid not record. the name and age Of
each person. but only the name of eac.,
The number Of the popu-
ation was found to be 1914 Meth
II the census Of 1881 nor 1884 was Of
my use TO- claimants for pensions as
The names Of the children We're not set
,ut. The census OF 1s41 had been found
H. A.sY .I-k~ 4-kf