Census records provide a unique insight into the people who lived in Ballyoughter and the surrounding townlands, while published census statistics allow population change in the wider area to be traced over almost two centuries.
Household returns from 1901, 1911 and 1926 record the people living in individual homes, their ages, occupations, family relationships and other details of everyday life. Published census reports and later Central Statistics Office data also allow changes in the population of Ballyoughter townland and the Balloughter Electoral Division to be traced from 1841 to 2022.
Together, these records provide an important picture of how Ballyoughter developed over time and are a valuable resource for anyone researching local or family history.
The Irish Census
A census records information about the population at a particular point in time. In Ireland, censuses were carried out regularly during the nineteenth century, although most of the original household returns from this period no longer survive.
The first serious attempt to conduct an official census of Ireland took place in 1813, but the undertaking was largely unsuccessful. The first full census was successfully completed in 1821, followed by another in 1831.
The 1841 Census marked an important development in census-taking. For the first time, a separate family return was used for each household, recording detailed information about the people living there. The 1851 Census expanded the information collected further and included a detailed report on disease and disability, recording information on sickness and disabilities including deafness and blindness.
Fortunately, the complete household returns from the 1901 and 1911 censuses survive and can be searched online through the National Archives of Ireland.
No census was taken in Ireland in 1921 because of the Irish War of Independence. The next census was conducted in 1926 and became the first census of the newly established Irish Free State.
Although most nineteenth-century household returns have been lost, the published statistical reports produced from those censuses survive. These provide valuable information about population, housing and other aspects of life in Ballyoughter and neighbouring townlands.
Household Census Returns: 1901, 1911 & 1926
The surviving household returns from 1901, 1911 and 1926 allow individual families and households in Ballyoughter and the surrounding area to be traced across a period of major social and economic change.
The 1901 and 1911 censuses record information including names, ages, relationships within households, occupations, religion, literacy and place of birth.
The 1926 Census provides an important additional point of comparison, allowing many of the same families to be followed fifteen years beyond the 1911 Census.
This makes it possible to investigate questions such as:
- Who lived in a particular house or townland?
- How did families change between censuses?
- Which occupations were common in the area?
- Where had residents been born?
- Which households disappeared, moved or expanded over time?
- How did Ballyoughter’s population and settlement pattern change during the early twentieth century?
The National Archives provides free online access to the surviving census records.
The 1926 Census
The Census of Ireland taken on 18 April 1926 was the first census conducted following the establishment of the Irish Free State. One hundred years later, on 18 April 2026, the household returns were released online by the National Archives of Ireland.
The census provides a detailed snapshot of people living in Ballyoughter and neighbouring townlands fifteen years after the previous census in 1911.
The household returns record information including:
- name and surname;
- relationship to the head of household;
- age;
- sex;
- marital status;
- place of birth;
- ability to speak Irish;
- religion;
- occupation and employment;
- information relating to marriage and children; and
- details relating to agricultural holdings where applicable.
The 1926 records are particularly valuable for local history because they allow families identified in the 1901 and 1911 censuses to be followed into a new generation. They can reveal changes in occupations, family structure and residence during the years following independence.
The National Archives search facility allows records to be searched by name, county, townland or street and District Electoral Division, and also includes a map-based search.
A Developing Resource
The National Archives continues to review and improve the 1926 Census database. Transcription corrections and other updates are being incorporated as the records are checked and feedback is received from researchers and members of the public.
For this reason, anyone carrying out detailed family-history research should also examine the image of the original census return, rather than relying solely on the searchable transcription.
Interactive Census Map
The interactive map below has been developed to help visitors explore the 1901 and 1911 Census household returns for Ballyoughter and neighbouring townlands geographically.
Where the location of a household has been identified, a marker has been placed as close as possible to the site of the house recorded in the census. Selecting a marker provides access to information relating to the household.
The map makes it possible to see not simply who lived in the area, but also where families lived in relation to one another, helping to reconstruct the settlement pattern of Ballyoughter at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The newly released 1926 Census is not yet incorporated into the Ballyoughter interactive map. In the meantime, 1926 household returns can be searched directly through the National Archives of Ireland, including through its own geographical search facility.
Townlands Covered by Interactive Map
The interactive census project currently includes household records from Ballyoughter and the following neighbouring townlands:
- Ballyoughter
- Ballyclogh
- Ballyeden
- Ballygullen
- Clonmore
- Medophall
- Medophall Demesne
- Toberanierin Upper
- Toberanierin Lower
- Tullabeg
- Worlough
Help Us Locate a Census Household
Identifying the exact location of houses recorded in the census is an ongoing project.
If you know where a particular family or household lived and its location has not yet been identified on the map, your help would be greatly appreciated.
Please send:
- the name of the family or head of household;
- the census year;
- the townland;
- a link to the relevant census return, if available; and
- the location of the house or a Google Maps pin.
Information supplied by local families can help connect the documentary census records with the actual places where people lived.
Population Change in Ballyoughter and the Balloughter Electoral Division
Nineteenth-Century Population Change
Although most of the original nineteenth-century household census returns for County Wexford no longer survive, the published census reports provide valuable evidence of how the population of Ballyoughter and neighbouring townlands changed over time.
These statistical reports record information such as the number of people, houses and families living in each townland. They reveal a period of profound demographic change, particularly during and after the Great Famine of the 1840s, when population decline, emigration and wider economic change transformed many rural communities.
Ballyoughter was particularly affected. Its recorded population fell from 158 people in 1841 to 54 in 1851 and continued to decline during the second half of the nineteenth century, reaching 25 people by 1881.
The surviving published census statistics therefore provide an important record of a community whose population and settlement pattern changed considerably during the nineteenth century.
Why Did the Household Returns Not Survive?
Ireland conducted censuses throughout the nineteenth century, but most of the original household returns have been lost.
Most of the original returns from the 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 censuses were destroyed in the fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin during the Civil War in 1922. Only fragments from certain counties survive.
The original returns from the 1861 and 1871 censuses were deliberately destroyed in 1877 after the statistical information had been analysed and published. The 1881 and 1891 returns were pulped during the First World War, probably because of paper shortages, after their statistical information had been analysed.
While the individual household returns for County Wexford from these censuses no longer survive, the published statistical reports remain an important source for tracing changes in Ballyoughter’s population and housing.
A Note on Spelling: In the census records, “Balloughter” refers to the Electoral District, while “Ballyoughter” refers to the townland. However, the two spellings are used interchangeably in some other historical records.
1851 Census Statistics
The 1851 Census was taken only a few years after the worst years of the Great Famine and provides a striking picture of population change in Ballyoughter and the surrounding townlands.
The extract below is taken from the published Census of Ireland 1851: Part I, Area, Population and Number of Houses, by Townlands and Electoral Divisions — County of Wexford.
Source: Census of Ireland, 1851: Part I, Area, Population and Number of Houses, by Townlands and Electoral Divisions — County of Wexford. Digitised by JSTOR Community Collections.
What the Figures Show
Ballyoughter experienced a particularly severe population decline. Its population fell from 158 residents in 1841 to just 54 in 1851, a decrease of approximately two-thirds in a single decade.
The effects were not uniform across neighbouring townlands. Clonmore appears as two separate townlands in the census returns, one in Liskinfere Parish and the other in Toome Parish. The Liskinfere portion shows relatively little population change, while the population of the Toome portion fell by approximately half.
Toberanierin Lower followed a different pattern. Its population increased from 46 residents in 1841 to 51 in 1851, showing that the demographic effects of the period varied considerably even between neighbouring townlands.
1881 Census Statistics
The published returns from the 1881 Census allow population change to be followed further into the second half of the nineteenth century.
Although the original household returns from the 1881 Census were later destroyed, the published statistical reports survive. These record population, housing and other information for individual townlands and Electoral Divisions.
The extract below comes from the Census of Ireland 1881: Part I, Area, Population and Number of Houses; Occupations, Religion and Education, Volume I — Province of Leinster.
Source: Census of Ireland, 1881: Part I, Area, Population and Number of Houses; Occupations, Religion and Education, Volume I — Province of Leinster. Digitised by the University of Southampton/JSTOR Community Collections.
What the Figures Show
The long-term decline in Ballyoughter’s population is striking. The townland had 158 residents in 1841, but by 1881 only 25 residents were recorded.
Much of the initial decline occurred during the Famine decade, when the population fell to 54 by 1851. The population remained comparatively more stable for a period afterwards before declining sharply again between 1871 and 1881.
The precise causes of this later decline cannot be established from the census statistics alone. However, continued emigration, economic hardship and movement of people away from small rural communities are likely to have contributed to the wider population decline experienced across rural Ireland during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Taken together, the nineteenth-century census statistics show how dramatically Ballyoughter changed during the decades after 1841. The decline from 158 residents in 1841 to 25 in 1881 represents a loss of more than four-fifths of the townland’s recorded population in just forty years.
Population of Balloughter Electoral Division, 1841–1926
The published census returns allow population change across the wider Balloughter Electoral Division to be traced over more than eighty years. The figures below bring together the recorded population of the Electoral Division from 1841 to 1926.
Source: Compiled by Shane Eivers from published Census of Ireland reports and Central Statistics Office census data.
What the Figures Show
The population of Balloughter Electoral Division fell from 1,322 in 1841 to 928 in 1851, a decline of almost 30% during the Famine decade. The downward trend continued over the following decades, reaching 448 residents in 1901.
There was a temporary increase to 504 residents in 1911, before the population fell again to 434 by 1926. Overall, the population of the Electoral Division declined by approximately 67% between 1841 and 1926.
Population of Balloughter Electoral Division, 1841–2022
Extending the population series beyond 1926 reveals how the decline continued into the mid-twentieth century before a gradual recovery began during the decades that followed.
Source: Compiled by Shane Eivers from published Census of Ireland reports and Central Statistics Office census data.
What the Figures Show
The long-term population trend for the wider Balloughter Electoral Division provides further context for the changes seen in Ballyoughter townland. The population of the Electoral Division fell from 1,322 people in 1841 to 928 in 1851, a decline of approximately 30% during the Famine decade.
Population continued to decline over the following century, although not continuously, reaching a low of 326 people in 1961. This represented a fall of approximately 75% from the 1841 population.
From the 1960s onwards, the longer-term trend began to reverse. The population increased from 326 in 1961 to 555 in 2022, a rise of approximately 70%. Despite this recovery, the population recorded in 2022 remained approximately 58% below its 1841 level.
The figures illustrate both the scale of nineteenth- and twentieth-century population decline in the area and the more recent recovery in population.
Ballyoughter Townland, 1841–1926
Source: Compiled by Shane Eivers from published Census of Ireland reports and Central Statistics Office census data.
What the Figures Show
Looking specifically at Ballyoughter townland, the population fell from 158 people in 1841 to 54 in 1851. It declined further during the second half of the nineteenth century, reaching 17 people in 1891.
A partial recovery followed, with 25 residents recorded in 1901, 23 in 1911 and 36 in 1926. Despite this increase, the townland’s population in 1926 remained approximately 77% below its 1841 level.
Townland-by-Townland Population Trends
Population change was not uniform across the Electoral Division. The individual townland graphs below allow changes between 1841 and 1926 to be compared across the townlands that formed Balloughter Electoral Division.
Source: Compiled by Shane Eivers from published Census of Ireland reports and Central Statistics Office census data.
Sources and Further Reading
- National Archives of Ireland — Census Records, 1821–1891 — information on the survival and destruction of Ireland’s nineteenth-century census records.
- National Archives of Ireland — Census of Ireland, 1901 and 1911 — searchable household returns and digitised original census forms.
- National Archives of Ireland — Census of Ireland, 1926 — searchable household returns from the first census of the Irish Free State, taken on 18 April 1926.
- Central Statistics Office — Census Through History — background on the development of census-taking in Ireland, including the 1813 attempt and the censuses of 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851.
- Central Statistics Office — Census 2022: Balloughter Electoral Division Profile — population and demographic information for Balloughter Electoral Division from the 2022 Census.
- Census of Ireland, 1851: Part I, Area, Population and Number of Houses, by Townlands and Electoral Divisions — County of Wexford — published statistical return used for the 1851 population analysis.
- Census of Ireland, 1881: Part I, Area, Population and Number of Houses; Occupations, Religion and Education, Volume I — Province of Leinster — published statistical return used for the 1881 population analysis.
- Central Statistics Office — Census Reports 1821–2006 — historical census reports used in compiling the long-term population series for Balloughter Electoral Division.
- University of Southampton / JSTOR Community Collections — digitised historical census publications reproduced on this page.