The Story of Us: Independent Ireland and the 1926 Census

by John Gibney, Orlaith McBride

216 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication August 27, 2026

About the author

John Gibney is a historian attached to the Royal Irish Academy's Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Project. He is a long-time contributor to History Ireland and is the author of A short history of Ireland, 1500-2000 (Yale University Press, 2018).

Reviews

[Michael Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting account of this impressive project of rendering the 1926 census available to the public.
I was able to find the returns of my maternal grandfather and granduncle born in Cloyne and living in Dublin.
Many trends compared to the 1911 census are related. The stories behind several returns are particularly interesting.

[Roisin Shanahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written book sharing both some individual stories of people that filled out the census in Ireland in 1926 amid the backdrop of a changing Ireland. I am fascinated by history so this book was a no brainer for me. In fact it made me determined to look out for census results from my own relatives.

A book on a census would be soulless without the background on the social history of the time but this book does a good job of giving the reader the context of the time and fascinating was the inclusion of 2 TD's census returns alongside ordinary folk.

For the gaelgoir's there are 2 chapters in Irish about the reducing gaeltacht areas in the country.

[Jerry]

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