By 1901, Kildare’s population had declined 45% in 60 years to 63,566 residents
The number of persons in the County of Kildare was 63,566 on census night, March 31st 1901. Though the census returns every ten years from 1821 to 1891 have been inadvertently destroyed, high level statistical reports have survived, allowing us to make some comparisons to the 19th century and to gain some insights into the life and times to those living in Kildare 1901.
The first census of 1821 recorded a population of 99,065 in County Kildare. The pre-famine 1841 Census records a peak population of 114,488 before the post famine census of 1851 reported a 16.4% decline to 95,723.
The population fell in every decade after that and by 1881 it had fallen to 75,804, by a further 7.4% to 70,206 in 1891 and then by another 9.5% in the last decade of the 19th century to 63,566 in 1901, by which time there were now 20% more men than women.
Up to 1851, the number of men only slightly exceeded the number of women, but this all changed by the next census in 1861, when men outnumbered women by 17%. In the1850’s the Kildare’s female population declined 11% while the male population actually increased by 0.9% since 1851.
The most likely explanation for this anomaly was the development of the permanent military structures on the Curragh from 1855 which was capable of accommodating 10,000 infantry men. Therefore, it is most likely Kildare’s male population declined in the 1850’s at the same rate as the female population, but the influx of infantry to fill the newly created Curragh garrison skews the bare statistics somewhat. Â
12,528 Families in Co. Kildare in 1901 living in 12,160 houses
The number of distinct Families in the County at the time of the 1901 Census was 12,528, the average number of persons in a family being thus 4.9; and the number of Inhabited Houses was 12,160, showing an average of 5.0 persons to each house. In calculating these averages, the Special Inmates of Public Institutions such as workhouses and hospitals have been omitted.
The number of Occupiers (or Heads of Families) in occupation of less than five rooms in 1901 was 9,790, or 78.1% of the total number of families in the County, and of these 2 were occupiers of part of a room only, 864 or 6.9% of the total number of Families in the County were occupiers of one room; 3,464 or 27.7% occupiers of two rooms; 3,478 or 27.8% occupiers of three rooms; and 1,982 or 15.8% occupiers of four rooms.
The number of Tenements of One Room in the County was 865, comprising 279 cases in which the room had only one occupant; 417 where the room had 2, 3, or 4 occupants; 134 cases in which there were 5, 6 or 7 occupants; and 35 cases where the occupants exceeded 7 in number, including 8 cases of 10 persons, 2 of 11 persons, and 1 of 12 persons in the room.
72% on those living in Kildare on Census night were born in the County
Of the persons enumerated in the County in 1901, 72.37% were born in Co. Kildare, 14.35% in other Counties of the Province of Leinster; 2.66% in Munster; 1.92% in Ulster; 1.20% in Connaught; 6.77% in Great Britain; and .73%. were born abroad.
Ony 547 of the county inhabitants on Census night 1841 were British born, compared to 4,303 in 1901, reflecting the scale of the increased military presence in the county since the famine.
86.3% of the Kildare population professes to be Roman Catholic
54,863 Roman Catholic (86.3%; 1891 84.1%), 7,392 Protestant Episcopalians (11.65%; 1891 13%), 688 Presbyterians (1.1%; 1891 1.9%), 419 Methodists (0.7%; 1891 0.8%) and 194 members of other religious denominations (0.3%; 1891 0.2%). Ten inhabitants refused to declare their religious persuasion in 1901.
Literacy rates for Kildare residents improved to 75.3% in 1901
Restricting the analysis of the returns to 5-year-old’s and upwards, the improvement in literacy rates continued. In 1861 24,147, or 29.6%, of the Kildare population over the age of five was illiterate that year, but this had fallen to 8,992 or 14.1% in 1891 and to 6,422 or 11.2% in 1901, 11.1% of the males, and 11.2% of the females.
Taking Religious Professions and Education in combination, it appears that in 1901, excluding children under five years of age, 12.6% of Roman Catholics, 2.4% of Protestant Episcopalians, 1.2% of Presbyterians, 1.0% of Methodists, and 1% of “all other Denominations ” were Illiterate.
School attendance up to 52.1% of persons aged 5 to 20
The number of children attending school in the County of Kildare, according to the Census of 1891 (week ending 30th May), was 9,757; or 43.1% of persons aged 5 years and under 20 in the County, in 1901 the number returned (for week ending 11th May), was 9,896, or 52.1% of the persons aged 5 and under 20.
One in every 108 Kildare residents were sick on Census Night in 1901
In 1891 the number of persons in the County of Kildare returned as Sick, on the night of the Census, was 735, or one in every 96 of the population; in 1901 the number so returned was 620, or one in every 108 of the population; of the latter number 163 were at their own homes, and 457 were in hospital.
One in every 36 Kildare residents were receiving Poverty Relief in 1901
The number of persons returned in 1891 as receiving relief under the Poor Law System was 2,196, or 1 in every 32 of the population; of this number 698 were inmates of Workhouses, and 1,498 were in receipt of outdoor relief; in 1901 the number returned was 1,784, or 1 in every 36 of the population; 783 of these being in the Workhouses, and 1,001 on outdoor relief.
3,081 marriages in the County Kildare in decade ending in 1901
For the purposes of Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, the Poor Law Union forms a “Superintendent Registrar’s District.” Each Union or Superintendent Registrar’s District is divided into Dispensary Districts for the Medical Relief of the Poor under the Medical Charities Act; which Districts, save in a few instances, are identical with the Registrars’ Districts. Dispensary District is composed of a certain number of District Electoral Divisions.
According to the Returns of the Registrar-General, the number of marriages registered in the County of Kildare during the ten years ending 31st March, 1901, was 3,081, equal to an average annual rate of 4.6 per 1,000 of the population. The number registered in the whole of Ireland during the same period, affords an average annual rate of 4.8 per 1,000.
14,438 Births in County Kildare in the decade ending in 1901
The number of Births registered in the County during the ten years was 14,438, affording an average annual rate of 21.6 per 1,000 of the population, the average yearly rate for the whole of Ireland during the same period being 23.0 per 1,000.
11,590 Deaths in County Kildare in the decade ending in 1901
The Deaths registered during the decennium amounted to 11,590, being equal to an average annual rate of 17.3 per 1,000; the corresponding rate for the whole of Ireland was 18.2 per 1,000.
Emigration slowed to 2,113 Kildare residents in decade ending March 31st 1901
The number of Emigrants during the ten years ending 31st March, 1901, who stated that they were from the County of Kildare, amounted to 2,113 (1,251 males and 862 females); the number for the decade ending 31st March, 1891, was 8,249 ; for that ending 31st March, 1881, 5,883; for that ending with March, 1871, 7,419 ; and for that ending with March, 18611 12,267, making a total of 35,921 for the fifty years.