The 1926 census returns in Irish: A rare window into language and identity

A chara, – The organisation of the 1926 census, giving people a choice of completing it in English or Irish, was a major administrative achievement for the new State. It must also have been a significant factor in the normalisation of the new police force, An Garda Síochána, as their members went from house to house distributing and collecting the forms.

While less than 1 per cent of the population made their return in Irish, it will be interesting to analyse who these people were. Already there are indications many of them were anti-Treaty republicans, at least some of whom were later to become part of the State’s political elite. I have looked at some of the forms that were returned in Irish and most of them were completed using the old Gaelic script (an cló Gaelach). The census forms themselves, however, were printed in the modern Roman script (an cló Rómhánach).

When I started school in the 1950s, we were still being taught Irish in the old script. This certainly didn’t make the learning of it any easier. Thirty years after the 1926 census, it seemed like the State was still undecided about the respective merits of the old script and the modern standard one.

I often think it’s a near-miracle that Irish has survived to the extent that it has and still shows signs of resilience. Despite all the obstacles it has faced in the last 100 years, it’s clear there’s still a lot of fight left in the Seanbhean Bhocht. – Is mise,