The Census undertaken in Ireland in 1911 returned the population of Kerry as 158,297 men, women and children. It is a wonderful resource for us which gives us a window into to the lives of our ancestors.
Over the past few months I have begun to explore the Census in different ways. One aspect I am fascinated with is that this Census tells us where people were born.
In Kerry in 1911 there are
701 people listed as born in England
466 people born in the United States (367 state America as their place of birth and 99 as the U.S.)
161 born in Scotland
41 in Wales
37 in India
13 in Australia and
4 in Canada.
So though the number is relatively small, it is clear that at least some people returned home.
From this we can glean, for example, that Canadian born Margaret Mary Cullen, 17, of Ballyseedy whose mother Margaret Cullen is a widow aged 67, must have lived in Canada approximately 17 years before.
A quick glance at the 1891 Census of Canada brings us one return for a Margaret Cullen, born in Ireland, living with her husband Denis in Haldimand, Ontario. Denis is a stonemason. There is one daughter and four sons living with them, ranging in age from 19 to 12. The three oldest children were all born in England and the two youngest in Ontario, Canada. This quick glance cannot determine if this is our Margaret but it opens up other avenues of research we can use.
Copyright Martine Brennan
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