Life in 1916 Ireland: Stories from statistics

• The number of deaths per 1,000 of the population was 16.1 in 1916, two and half times higher than the death rate of 6.3 in 2014.
• The death rate in 1916 varied widely across the country with the lowest rates of 13 or below in Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Leitrim and Roscommon.
• The highest death rate by far in 1916 was in Dublin City at 23.8.
• By 2014 there was a much smaller variation in the death rate across the country. The highest rate was in Mayo at 8.1 deaths per 1,000 of the population followed by Kerry at 8 and Dublin City and North Tipperary at 7.8.
• Kildare, Meath and Dublin County had death rates of less than 5 in 2014. This variation in the death rate in 2014 reflects the younger population in the counties around Dublin and the older population in western counties.

Photo: Funeral procession passing through Berkeley Street Dublin circa 1904

• There were 50,627 deaths in 1916 in Ireland which gave a death rate of 16.1 per 1,000 of the population (when the population in 1911 was 3.1 million).
• In 2014, the population had increased to over 4.6 million but the number of deaths had fallen sharply to just 29,095, giving a death rate of 6.3, (for details on deaths in 2014 see Table 3.9).
• About one in eight deaths in 1916 was due to bronchitis and pneumonia which killed 6,708 people with another one in eight deaths caused by tuberculosis (or TB) which killed 6,471 people.
• Heart disease was identified as the cause of death for 5,373 people while cancer caused 2,679 deaths. Infectious diseases (such as measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, diphtheria) and influenza killed 2,092 people. 

• There were 29,095 deaths in Ireland in 2014 giving a death rate of 6.3 deaths per 1,000 population.
• Three out of ten of all deaths were due to diseases of the circulatory system, which caused 8,899 deaths. These diseases cover heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.
• A further three out of ten of all deaths were due to malignant neoplasms (cancer) which caused 8,880 deaths. Diseases of the respiratory system accounted for 3,388 deaths, or just over one in ten deaths.

This table compares causes of deaths where the classifications are similar in 1916 and 2014 but caution should be exercised in looking at these comparisons given that the classifications systems used for cause of death have radically altered between 1916 and 2014.

However even with this very important caveat some comparisons are possible.

• Diseases such as measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough and diphtheria caused hundreds of deaths in 1916 but there no deaths from these causes in 2014.
• Tuberculosis (TB) caused 6,471 deaths in 1916 but just 25 in 2014.
• Malignant diseases (cancer) caused 2,679 deaths in 1916 but this had increased to 8,880 by 2014. There are probably several reasons for this increase including that people are living longer in 2014 and therefore have a longer life during which cancer can develop as well as improved diagnosis.
• There were 239 deaths identified as being from diabetes in 1916 and this had increased to 474 in 2014.
• The figures for bronchitis and pneumonia are very stark - 6,708 people died from these conditions in 1916 compared to less than 1,000 in 2014.
• Pregnancy and childbirth claimed the lives of 372 women in 1916 but his number had dropped to 2 by 2014.
• There were 68 deaths by suicide in 1916 compared to 459 in 2014 but part of this increase is likely to be linked to the more comprehensive reporting of suicide as a cause of death today compared with 100 years ago.

• Most deaths in 2014 occurred in older age groups, with 80% of all deaths occurring in those aged 65 and over.
• In contrast, deaths in 1916 were spread more evenly across all age groups. Just over 10% of all deaths in 1916 were to babies under 12 months of age while nearly 10% of all deaths were to children between the ages of 1 and 14. Thus one in five deaths in 1916 occurred to a child under 15 years of age.
• Young adults aged between 15 and 34 accounted for just over 11% of all deaths in 1916 while those aged between 35 and 54 accounted for nearly 15% of all deaths.

Photo: Children Co. Dublin

• Life expectancy has risen strongly since 1911 for all age groups, with the greatest increases for younger age groups.
• A baby boy born in 2011 can expect to live for nearly 25 more years than a baby boy born in 1911, with life expectancy at birth increasing for males from 53.6 years to 78.3 years between 1911 and 2011.
• A baby girl born in 2011 can expect to have an extra 28.6 years of life compared to a girl born in 1911, with life expectancy at birth increasing for females from 54.1 years to 82.7 years over this time period.
• Life expectancy for boys aged 15 increased by 14.5 years over the last 100 years while girls of this age gained an extra 18.7 years in life expectancy.
• A man of 65 in 1911 had an average further 13 years of life remaining and 100 years later this life expectancy was 17.6 years, a gain of 4.6 years. The improvement for women at age 65 was higher, with a gain of an extra 7.2 years in life expectancy over the last 100 years. Thus a woman aged 65 in 1911 could expect to live for 13.4 more years but by 2011 her life expectancy was over 20 years.