Lifestyles and living standards never stand still and so over the lifespan of most people they will experience changes in many aspects of their lives. Often we don't particularly notice these changes as it is seldom that any will have a very sudden and significant impact on our daily lives. Some changes which I have noted so far are mentioned to a greater or lesser extent in the following blog.
The crimes for which people in County Cork were put in prison in the mid 1800's are summarised in an article entitled "Sample of County Cork Prison Records (1840-1870)". This gives several examples of offences committed and statistics too.
Prisoners
So which were the frequently used first names in Ireland in the 1911 Census? A summary is available giving the first names used by over 90% of the population in the Census of 1911.
Census 1911 First Names
Similarly, you may browse over 1,400 surnames and see the number of occurrences of these names in Ireland in 1911. The list includes just over 64% of the population and further reading is available
Census 1911 Surnames
Ireland has 32 County divisions. These are further sub-divided and a Barony is the largest sub-division which itself has a number of sub-divisions called Civil Parish (Parish) units. The Poor Law Union (PLU or Union) is another division of the Country into about 160 units which does cross County boundary lines at times. The District Electoral Division (DED) is a sub-division of the PLU. Finally the Townland is the smallest unit or parcel of land in Ireland. There are over 65,000 Townlands with names often being repeated, even within a County, but not in the same DED of course.
Electoral Area
Bantry Town Commissioners / Bantry Town Council like so many similar Bodies in Ireland ceased to exist after May 2014. Frank O'Donovan compiled a Summary of the Minutes of the Town Commissioners / Town Council over its 118 year lifespan. It gives to us examples of life in the early 1900's in Bantry which no doubt was similar to elsewhere in the County and Country. The summary is available by clicking
Commissioners
Estimated population in 19th century in Ireland including births, deaths and emigration.
Population
Murphy was the most common surname in Ireland and Kelly was the second most popular in Census 1911. Mary was the most common first name then in Ireland and John was second in popularity. So how popular were the names Mary Murphy, Mary Kelly, John Murphy and John Kelly in Ireland? What was the distribution of the names by County? What were the numbers for each age category?
Click to view report
Bandon Town 1901 and 1911
Data of Bandon town from the Census of 1901 and Census 1911 summarised under various headings.
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West Cork Towns 1911
A comparison of the four West Cork Towns of Bandon, Bantry, Clonakilty and Skibbereen under various headings taken from the returns of the 1911 Census of Ireland
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Examples from County Cork Prison Records
Looking at a sample of 1,200 prison records for County Cork for the period 1834 to 1839 inclusive we find offences included Breaking windows, Robbing an orchard, Stealing a watch, Trespassing on a bog, Being a vagrant, Breaking trees, to name but a few. More details are on the pdf file herewith.
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Crowley / Crowly and Keohane / Keoghane / Keohan surnames
Review of the frequency and location of Crowley / Crowly and Keohane / Keoghane / Keohan surnames in Ireland in Tithe Applotment Books, Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, Census 1901 and Census 1911.
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