February Document of the Month

 (NAI, 1911 Census, DED 71/7)

The February Document of the Month is a 1911 census House and Building Return (Form B1) and an Enumerator’s Abstract Form (Form N) for Bishop Street, and a Household Return (Form A) for the Fox family. The 1911 census provides researchers with a valuable insight into Irish society in the years preceding the 1916 Rising. Changes in social conditions and status are evident for many people between 1901 and 1911.

Many people are very familiar with the Household Return Form and have used this information extensively for family research purposes. The census also includes very valuable information about each locality, however. This information is included in the House and Building Return (Form B1) and the Enumerator’s Abstract Form (Form N).

The Household Return for the Fox family shows that the family is headed by Michael Fox, a general labourer. He lives with his wife, Ann, and their four adult children, three sons and a daughter. John, the eldest, is a van driver, while his brothers’, Patrick and Peter, aged 21 and 19 respectively, are listed as grocer’s poter [porter]. Their sister, Elizabeth, aged 23, like many other women in the locality, is a ‘packer in Bisquit factory’. The factory in question is Jacob’s Biscuit Factory, now the location of the National Archives and the Dublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street. Jacob’s Biscuit Factory was to play a central role in the 1916 Rising.

The Enumerator’s Abstract Form (Form N) contains very revealing information about the social conditions of the day. The form tells us there are 24 houses, divided into 27 dwellings, on Bishop Street. The total number of people living in these dwellings amounts to 492, of which 249 are male and 243 are female. This number is further broken down according to religion. There were 221 male Roman Catholics and 215 female Roman Catholics living on Bishop Street in 1911, compared to 20 male Protestants and 25 female Protestants. The Enumerator’s Abstract Form also contains the name of the head of household and what number house they are living in. Michael Fox lives in number 10, along with 13 other families. The majority of families living in Bishop Street in 1911 are living in one room.

The 1901 and 1911 census was digitised by the National Archives in partnership with Library and Archives Canada. Since its launch, the census website has been visited over 22 million times.

For further details about how the census is conserved, please see Conservation and the February Document of the Month.