Attending the "Exploring the 1926 Census" Conference

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the "Exploring the 1926 Census" Conference in Dublin Castle.

Graced by An Uachtaráin and addressed by Minister Patrick O'Donovan, it was a wonderful event. The keynote speaker was Prof. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, University of Galway, who spoke eloquently about the culture, politics, economics and life experiences of the early years of the Free State setting the scene for the panel discussions that followed.

The first panel continued the theme of exploring the era in which the 1926 census was taken. A panel from the National Archives then described painstaking work involved in bringing the 70k plus forms from archive boxes to an accessible web interface for public use. After lunch, another panel, drawn from the world of arts and film, discussed the experience of creative interaction with archives and the 1926 census in particular. The final panel was made up genealogists, statisticians & social historians who discussed making use of the 1926 data.

Congratulations indeed to the staff of the National Archives both for such a fantastic event yesterday and indeed such a successful launch for the census itself in April.