RTÉ

Come To Your Census: The Podcast

Arts EN ↓ 6 episodes

In April 1926, a few short years after the foundation of the Irish Free State, a census was taken to count and record people resident here. Nearly three million people were recorded in that census, every household return capturing the fabric of everyday life: names and families, occupations and languages, faith, birthplace. The details that shaped communities across the country. A century later, the release of the 1926 Census of Population into the public domain offers a rare and intimate glimpse into a pivotal moment in Ireland’s history as the foundations of a new state. To mark this histori...

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Episodes

Dublin’s Social Housing 18.04.2026 24:39

This episode delves into the 1926 Census to explore the stories behind some of Dublin’s earliest public housing projects. In it, Liz Gillis is joined by local historians Maria O’Reilly and Eamonn Delaney, both with personal family connections to some of these schemes. From The Tenters in Dublin 8, an ambitious 1922 development on the edge of the Liberties, to the visionary Marino estate on the nor...

Foreign Nationals And The Free State 18.04.2026 29:31

In this episode, we look beyond the idea of a newly independent Ireland as isolated or inward looking and turn to the 1926 Census to uncover a more complex picture. Liz Gillis speaks with Dr. John Gibney from the Royal Irish Academy about the foreign-born nationals captured in the census.  They explore the legacy of British military presence, the impact of major civic projects drawing workers...

The Protestant Population Of Ireland’s Border Counties 18.04.2026 30:15

In this episode, Dr. Cormac Moore joins Liz Gillis to explore what the 1926 Census reveals about the Protestant population in Ireland’s border counties. While the data points to an overall decline, Liz and Cormac look at how that trend was notably bucked in Drum, Co. Monaghan, where the Protestant population grew, and in Pettigo, Co. Donegal, a town newly divided by the border. Here, demographic s...

Be Our Guest – A Temporary Bed For The Night 18.04.2026 30:14

In this episode, Liz Gillis is joined by Zoe Reid, the National Archives’ Keeper of Manuscripts, to explore the stories hidden in census entries from those who were not at home on census night. From hotels and guest houses to city lodgings, the records offer a snapshot of an emerging tourism industry in the Free State, Irish people travelling for work, and visitors passing through a newly independ...

Revolutionaries – Where Are They Now? 18.04.2026 38:15

By the time the 1926 Census was taken, Ireland had endured fifteen turbulent years that reshaped the nation, from the 1916 Rising to the War of Independence and Civil War. In this episode, Liz Gillis speaks with Greg Walls, a historian and PhD candidate from Trinity College Dublin, to uncover where some of the revolution’s most recognisable figures found themselves after the creation of the Irish...

From Gola Island To The World 18.04.2026 36:16

In this episode, Liz Gillis speaks with Orlaith McBride, Director of the National Archives of Ireland, who reflects on the personal and national significance of the Census. From her family’s home on Gola Island in Co. Donegal, she shares how census records have helped preserve the story of a small island community across generations, and reveals the immense, labour-intensive effort undertaken by h...