THE Irish government is hoping to engage with members of the public who were alive when the first census of the Irish Free State was carried out in 1926.
Ahead of Census 2026, which takes place next April, the government is planning a programme of events to celebrate the upcoming centenary release of the 1926 Census of Population records by the National Archives.
As part of this, they hope to find ‘Centenarian Ambassadors’ who were alive at the time of the census in 1926.
“The release of the 1926 census records is a historic moment, offering an invaluable account of life as the Irish Free State took its first steps as an independent nation,” Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan said.
“It’s a fascinating snapshot of the foundation of our state, and, more powerfully, a story of families and communities.”
He added: “It’s particularly moving that we can honour the individuals who were recorded in the census, and who are still with us today, through our Centenarian Ambassadors programme.
“This extensive public programme will ensure the stories, the information, and human connections revealed by the census reach every community in Ireland and our diaspora worldwide.”
Next April Ireland’s National Archives will make the entire 1926 census - comprising over 700,000 individual household returns - freely available to the public online, which they claim marks a “key moment in Irish history”.
The accompanying public programme will include an RTÉ documentary, a theatrical production with ANU Productions, major exhibitions in Dublin, London, Boston and across Ireland, and the search for Ireland's official ‘Centenarian Ambassadors’.
"The team at the National Archives has completed unbelievable work in preserving, cataloguing, and digitising these priceless documents in-house, using world-class machine-learning technology,” National Archives Director, Orlaith McBride, said.
“The records will provide a comprehensive and publicly accessible dataset of life in Ireland following the establishment of the State.”
The National Archives’ Centenarian Ambassadors Programme is a search for people who are people who were born before April 18, 1926 and are still alive today.
“It is estimated that there are over 1,000 people still alive who were recorded in the census, and these individuals offer a unique, living perspective on the past century of Irish life,” a spokesperson for Mr O’Donovan’s department explained.
"The census isn’t about lists and numbers; it’s about the people living in Ireland in 1926 and all of their descendants today," they add.
"It’s the story of us, and we want to hear from as many people as possible who are in the unique position of having been recorded in this historic document."
Anyone—or their families—interested in becoming a Centenarian Ambassador should contact the National Archives at: [email protected].
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