National Archives: The 1926 Census with over 700,000 individual household returns
The first Census of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann)
The first census of the Irish Free State, taken on April 18, 1926, recorded a total population of 2,971,992 persons.
This figure represented a population decrease of 5.3% from the last all-Ireland census in 1911, under British rule. The data from the 1926 census provides a detailed snapshot of the newly independent nation, with statistics on various aspects of life.
In 1926, the first Census of the Irish Free State recorded a Foreign—Born population of approximately 67,076 people, representing 2.5% of the total population.
