Census of Ireland


The Census of Ireland is typically held on a quinquennial basis by the Central Statistics Office to determine the population of the Republic of Ireland. The most recent census was held in 2022., the next census is planned to occur in 2027. Prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, censuses covered the entire island of Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. The last all-Ireland census was the 1911 census of Ireland, no census having taken place in 1921 due to the Irish War of Independence.

Dates of census while part of the United Kingdom

All censuses were held on Sundays.
Under Article 16 of the Constitution of Ireland, revisions of Dáil constituencies by the Oireachtas are required at a minimum every 12 years. However, they must also have due regard to changes in the population. Under the Electoral Reform Act 2022, the Electoral Commission is required to conduct a review of constituency boundaries after every census. From 1997 up to the establishment of the Electoral Commission in 2023, this function was carried out by a Constituency Commission created for this function.

Urban geography

From 1971 to 2006, census towns were "defined as a cluster of 50 or more occupied dwellings where, within a radius of 800 metres, there was a nucleus of 30 occupied dwellings". From 2016, a new census settlement was defined "as a minimum of 50 occupied dwellings, with a maximum distance between any dwelling and the building closest to it of 100 metres, accompanied by evidence of an urban centre". For the 2022 census, the CSO developed a new urban geography term the Built Up Area to define urban areas.

Surviving Census

Due to the explosion in the Public Record Office in Dublin during the Irish Civil War in 1922, the 1813–1851 census were destroyed except for a few enumerators books and transcribed records. Furthermore, all censuses from 1861-1891 were deliberately destroyed, the 1861–1871 were destroyed for the protection of privacy. Furthermore, in 1918, due to a paper shortage, the 1881–1891 were pulped, against the request of the staff at the Public Record Office in Dublin.
All Free State censuses survive, only the 1901 and the 1911 Census are currently public due to Section 35, of the 1993 Statistics Act which bans the release of census return forms until 100 years after the enumeration date.
There is an active attempt at recovering these censuses and re-constructing them with the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland. In July 2025, "over 200,000 names" were released by the Virtual Record Treasury in their new Knowledge Graph.