Join with genealogists and family historians in calling on the Irish Government to release the 1926 Census. The current restriction on public access to the census returns taken since independence in 1922, commonly known as the 100-year rule, was introduced as part of the Statistics Act 1993. However, during the legislative debate, the then Minister of State Noel Dempsey TD gave a commitment to the Seanad to reduce the lock to 70 years. While the 2011 Programme for Government made a commitment to release the records, every effort to date to change the law and allow for the release of records has been blocked.

The 1926 Census would be a powerful genealogical tourism tool. For family historians it would be wonderful to track each part of our family line between the 1911 census and 1926 census during this period of Irish history.

We can access the 1940 US Census, the 1939 Register of England and Wales, the 1920 Canadian Census but alas not the 1926 Census of Ireland. The 1950 US Census will be released in 2022 – five years before Ireland releases the 1926 Census. The information in the 1926 Census has been sealed in the interests of confidentiality. However, it is highly likely that every adult recorded in that Census is now dead. Furthermore, the information recorded simply comprises of forename, surname, age, marital status, relationship to head of household, religion, occupation and townland where born, employer, and if unemployed normal profession – and so we wonder why the need for secrecy. Why can’t the 1926 Census be released?

The information would be invaluable for the countless who hunger for information on their identity and roots, not to mention the benefits to tourism a release of this nature will attract.

In July 2016 Jillian van Turnhout, former Senator and founder of Genealogy.ie, wrote an Open Letter to Government calling for release of 1926 Census of Ireland.

For background reading here are extracts Jillian put together of the original Oireachtas Debate on Statistics Bill 1993

She has received the following responses:
Letter from Chief Whip Regina Doherty, July 2016
Letter from Minister for Arts Heritage, Regional, Rual and Gaeltacht Affairs, 19 August 2016
Letter to Minister Shane Ross from Dept of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht,19 August 2016