Special exhibition on 1926 Census coming to Westmeath
A special exhibition on Ireland's Census 100 years ago is coming to Westmeath.
The specially-curated exhibition on the 1926 Census, entitled 'The Story of Us', is going on the road over the coming months with a series of tour dates across Ireland.
The exhibition is part of the National Archives public engagement programme developed to accompany the launch of Census 1926.
From August 25 to September 11 it will be on display at Mullingar Library, Mount Street, Mullingar, (Eircode: N91 FH4N).
Using contemporary documents and images, audio-visual displays and the census returns themselves, 'The Story of Us' explores the 1926 census to present a picture of life in Ireland a century ago: from sport and entertainment to language, culture, religion, gender and the working lives of the inhabitants of the Irish Free State a century ago.
Orlaith McBride, Director of the National Archives, said: "We are greatly looking forward to bringing 'The Story of Us' on tour over the coming months in partnership with our local authority colleagues.
"The exhibition has already been presented in Dublin, London and Boston where thousands of people enjoyed discovering more about Ireland in 1926.
"Census 1926 is not simply a historical document. It is a living national resource. It belongs not only to academic historians or archivists, but to the wider public.
"In the weeks since the launch and hopefully in the months and years ahead, people will search the census to discover grandparents and great-grandparents, trace migration and family connections, understand changing patterns of work and language, and explore the everyday realities of life in Ireland in 1926.
"This exhibition offers a further insight into that Ireland."
The National Archives released Census 1926 on 18 April, making it freely available and fully searchable on www.nationalarchives.ie.
The newly released records provide an unprecedented resource, allowing users to efficiently navigate detailed household returns from 1926 for the first time. Since its release, there have been over 40 million hits to the National Archives website.