Gaelic Census Returns
- jimryan1
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
If you think Irish research is already too complicated, look away now! As you are aware, on-line access to the 1901 and 1911 census returns has been one of the great developments in Irish genealogy. However, perhaps you are one of those who have not been able to find your family on the census? One possible reason is that the family may have completed the census, particularly the 1911 census, in the Irish or Gaelic language. Gaelic was once the only language spoken in Ireland but it has gradually been replaced by English over the centuries and it is now spoken by only a small minority, although most Irish people have some capability in the language. It is also an official language and all public documents and signage are in both languages. About 17% of Irish households in 1911 mainly (or solely) spoke the Irish language.
1911 was in a period of ‘Gaelic Revival’ during which all aspects of Irish heritage were popular. It was this movement which gave rise to the 1916 Rebellion and eventually to a rebellion which resulted in independence from Britain. The revival was promoted by many organisations, but particularly by the Gaelic League, which was established in 1893 to promote the use of the Gaelic or Irish language. One expression of the drive to embrace our Gaelic identity was the use of the Gaelic form of surnames. Names, I hear you say, are not usually translated into other languages! However, Irish history had seen a gradual process of anglicization of family names into forms which were sound-alikes or direct translations of the old names. My family name, Ryan, for instance was originally O'Riain. Other more complicated examples include Mac Giolla Bríde becoming Gilbride, or Ó’Murchú becoming Murphy. Other examples are in Figure 1 which is extracted from Woulfe's guide to surnames (1) and shows the anglicised forms and their Gaelic original. The Gaelic revival movement simply reversed this process and encouraged people to use the old form of their name. A very common expression of this was that families whose names originally started with O' or Mac' replaced these prefixes on their names. Thus, for example, a high proportion of Connors became O'Connors, and Nallys became McNallys.
Another action that could be taken to show Irish identity was the completion of official documents, including census returns, in Gaelic. About 17% of Irish households in 1911 mainly (or solely) spoke the Irish language. These were on the coastal areas of Western
counties. It was (and still is) also spoken by many enthusiasts in all parts of the country. Use
of Gaelic in a census return inn 1911 would have been seen as a minor form of defiance by some, and as a logical expression of their cultural identity by others. Whatever the motivation, the consequence for historians is that there are families whose 1911 census information is entirely in Gaelic.
Completion of the census forms in Gaelic by householders was particularly popular in certain areas, perhaps because the Gaelic League was active in those areas. Monaghan, for instance, is one of the counties where some householders completed their returns in Gaelic. Figure 1 shows an extract from a census search for part of Monaghan where almost all the householders use the Irish form of their name. The 'English' forms of the names shown, for example, are Conlan (O'Caoindhealbhain), McGowan (MacMathghamna) and Ward (Mac a' Bhard). The names of the O'Caoindhealbhain family in Figure 2 are shown in FIgure 3. Although this was a very small proportion of households overall, it clearly affects searches for certain families.
What can you do to check this possibility? The first thing to do is to establish the Gaelic form of your name, and then search the census again using this name. You can do this on several sites, including Gaois.ie. Alternately, if you know the area they were from, you can do a search for all households in the area and look for names that might be anglicized into the English form of your name.
Some census returns will probably also use the Irish form of Christian names and occupations as well, but these can be translated. Google Translate has a facility for translation from Irish, for instance.
One more complexity to add to the list folks, but show me where it said this was going to be easy! Slán.
(1) Sloinnte Gaedeal is Gall: Irish Names & Surnames. Patrick Woulfe. Dublin, M H Gill 1923
James G Ryan - https://jimryan43.academia.edu/
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