1901 Census Research for Belan, Co. Kildare

There was 309 people resident in the Belan Electoral Division on Census Night March 31st 1901. The 4 townlands included in this file, with their populations are as follows:

1. Ballyvass (110);
2. Belan (147);
3. Hobbardstown East (11)
4. Hobbardstown West (41)

Please note the spelling “Hobbardstown” is the one to search on if looking at the 1901 Census, where it is spelt incorrectly. The correct spelling is “Hobartstown”. 

Unlike many of the large houses in Ireland, the demise of Belan House, the family seat of the Earls of Aldborough, occurred in the first half of the 19th century. After 1823 the estate became neglected due to the gambling of the 4th Earl of Aldborough and was uninhabited by 1837. It is safe to assume, therefore, that those living in the area in the 1850’s were not gainfully employed at Belan House. 

Of the decline in population by 44% between 1851 and 1901, half of it occurred in the 1850’s when the population declined from 552 to only 408. The decline was most pronounced in the townland of Hobbardstown West (this is the spelling in the 1901 Census but on old maps it is spelt Hobartstown)  which declined 43% in the 1850’s from 110 to 63, and then to only 24 residents by 1871. It had recovered to 41 by 1901. 

The Ballyvass townland population decreased by 25% in the 1850’s from 176 to 132 residents. In contrast the townland of Hobbardstown East suffered its steepest decline in the 1880’s when the population declined from 31 to 13 in that decade. 

Meanwhile in the townland of Belan, the largest by far and the most populated, the decline in population was more gradual throughout the fifty years but began to accelerate in the 1890’s. 

Edward Buttler, aged 80 and living in the townland of Belan was the oldest resident in this area in 1901. Edward was a widowed carpenter and he lived with two unmarried daughters, 40 year old Ellen and 36 year old Mary.

Six children had yet to celebrate their first birthday that Census night of March 31st. They were:

1. Mary Moore, Mary Elan Lawlor, Joseph Murray, and Edward Horan, all of the townland of Belan; 
2. Ellen Murphy of Ballyvass, and
3. Agnes Coogan of Hobbardstown West.

1. A link to the Belan ED GEDCOM file is immediately provided when purchase is completed. Download the digital file to your computer then upload it to your preferred genealogy programme,  such as Ancestry.com, Findmypast.ie, MyHeritage.com etc. See our Toolkit tab for some short “How to” videos.
2. You get a spreadsheet list of all 309 residents, which includes names, address, age, occupation, religion, literacy, special illnesses and a url link to the Census record for ease of reference. We recommend that you use the spreadsheet as a control sheet to record the changes your research has found, such as maiden names of wives/widows, dates of birth and marriage, marital links to other families etc.