As part of the release of the 1926 Census, the National Archives will bring a specially curated exhibition, ‘The Story of Us’, to 11 venues across Ireland over the coming months as part of its public engagement programme developed to accompany the launch of Census 1926.
The exhibition will begin a tour to 10 Local Authority venues over the coming months, commencing in Meath this month, and taking in Cork (St. Peter’s) from July 7th-26th), followed by the Central Library in Waterford City (August 1st-20th). Later in the tour, Limerick Civic Offices, Merchants Quay, will play host from October 2nd-16th, with the Source Arts Centre in Thurles, Co Tipperary hosting the exhibition from November 2nd–21st.
‘The Story of Us’ will also be presented at the Ploughing Championships at Screggan, Co. Offaly.
Local Authorities were invited by the National Archives to host the exhibition which explores what life was like in the newly independent Ireland of 1926. Using contemporary documents and images, audio-visual displays and, above all, the census returns themselves, ‘The Story of Us’ explores the 1926 census to present a picture of life in Ireland in 1926: from sport and entertainment to language, culture, religion, gender and the working lives of the inhabitants of the Irish Free State a century ago.
With the exhibition already having been presented in already been presented in Dublin, London and Boston, Orlaith McBride, director of the National Archives, said that Census 1926 ‘is not simply a historical document’,…. ‘It belongs not only to academic historians or archivists, but to the wider public.
“In the weeks since the launch and hopefully in the months and years ahead, people will search the census to discover grandparents and great-grandparents, trace migration and family connections, understand changing patterns of work and language, and explore the everyday realities of life in Ireland in 1926. This exhibition offers a further insight into that Ireland.”
The National Archives released Census 1926 on 18th April, making it freely available and fully searchable on www.nationalarchives.ie. The newly released records provide an unprecedented resource, allowing users to efficiently navigate detailed household returns from 1926 for the first time. Since its release, there have been over 40 million hits to the National Archives website.
