On the night of April 18, 1926, Ireland paused. A century on, the 1926 census stands as more than a demographic snapshot. The 1926 census was not Ireland’s first. The most arresting number in the 1926 census is not how many people lived in the Free State, but how few. Few questions in the 1926 census carried as much symbolic weight as the one on the Irish language.

Source: Irish Examiner January 02, 2026 09:00 UTC