Newly digitised tables from the Census of Ireland, 1911 identified Dublin County (excluding the City Centre) as the county with the highest literacy rate at the time (96.6%) (See Table 2.1).
The county with the lowest literacy rate in 1911 was Donegal at 79.4% (See Table 2.1).
Inishcaltra South, in Scariff, Clare, and Lullymore in Edenderry, Kildare, were the District Electoral Divisions (DEDs) with the highest literacy rates (100%) (See Table 2.2).
Lettermore in Oughterard, Galway was the DED with the lowest literacy rate of 38.8% (See Table 2.3).
This release marks the publication on PxStat of the second detailed statistical table from Census of Ireland, 1911 – Table XXXIII. The table explores Literacy, Population, and Religion down to District Electoral Division (DED) level. The population of those aged nine years and over was provided along with the number and percentage of those who were illiterate. These statistics were used to derive the literacy rate of those aged nine years and over. More information on how literacy was calculated can be found in the Background Notes.
The story selected for this release is literacy rates across Ireland in 1911. The release strives to remain true to the original publication in as far as possible. For example, place names from the original publication are retained.
Ireland in 1911 was very different to Ireland today. To find out more about what Ireland was like then, see Life in 1916 Ireland.
The interactive online statistical tables can be accessed on PxStat.
The original Census reports from 1911 have been scanned (with text indexed) and are available to download. The DED boundary data used for this release are also available to be consumed as a service.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (12 March 2024) released Stories from Census 1911: Literacy.
Commenting on the publication, Eimear Crowley, CSO Statistician, said: “The CSO has today published the second release in our Stories from Census 1911 Series. A team of CSO volunteers have worked to unlock Stories from Census 1911 and today’s release looks at literacy levels in Ireland at that time and provides further insights into how people lived in 1911. This release uses Table XXXIII (Table 33) from The Census of Ireland, 1911, which is available on the CSO’s PxStat database.
The first release in this series, Stories from Census 1911: Wealth and Poverty, was published in April 2023 and looked at valuation and population statistics from Table VI (Table 6) in the Census of Ireland, 1911 to gain insights into wealth and poverty in the country at that time.
Literacy in 1911
When we are talking about literacy rates at that time, we are referring to someone aged nine years and over who could read (See Background Notes for more information). Looking at findings from today’s release, we observed there were much lower levels of literacy along the Atlantic coast while higher rates of literacy tended to be centred around Tipperary, Dublin and the North East.
When looking at the counties with the highest literacy rates in Ireland in 1911, it was found that the top four areas included Dublin City, Dublin County, Belfast City, and Antrim.
Eleven of the 20 District Electoral Divisions (DEDs) with the highest literacy rates were in Leinster, and seven were in Belfast City, Antrim, or Down.
Thirteen of the 20 DEDs with the lowest literacy rates were in Galway, the highest amount for any county. The remaining DEDs with the lowest literacy rates were in Donegal (5), Kerry (1), and Mayo (1). Notably, none of the DEDs with the lowest literacy rates were in Leinster.
Table XXXIII, which this release is based on, provides statistics for different geographical divisions by population, degree of literacy, population aged nine years and over who were classed as illiterate, and by religious profession in 1911. This table provides data for all counties, urban/rural districts, and DEDs.
For example, these tables tell us that Donaghadee Urban DED in Down had one of the highest literacy rates in 1911 with a literacy rate of 99.7%. This area had a population of 1,797 aged nine years and over of which five were classed as illiterate.
Lettermore DED in Galway was identified as the DED with one of the lowest literacy rates in 1911 with a literacy rate of 38.8%. It had a population of 1,003 who were aged nine years and over, of which 614 were illiterate.
Our Chapter on Literacy also looks at two different households using their 1911 Census return forms to tell their stories: the Louden household from the high literacy area of Donaghadee Urban DED in Down; and the O’Tooles from Lettermore DED in Galway, which was an area of low literacy.
The interactive online statistical tables can be accessed on PxStat and provide an opportunity for our users to explore and create their own stories from Census 1911. Detailed geographical level data from Table XXXIII can also be explored using an interactive map which has been recently added to PxStat. This digitised map of DEDs for the island of Ireland shows literacy and illiteracy levels across the country, broken down by sex and religion.
About The Release
Today’s release is part of the CSO’s Historical Statistics Recovery (HSR) initiative which began in 2022 and aims to recover and make high value statistics contained in Irish historical statistical publications accessible to all. The HSR aims to bring back to life the valuable statistical information hidden away in historical publications.
This initiative is driven by volunteers within the CSO who are committed to ensuring this valuable information will be made available to all over time. Making the data available online allows historical statistics to be preserved in an electronic format, making it easier for anyone to access the information, as well as aiding the discovery of new insights into our past.
The Census of Ireland, 1911 is the first publication in this initiative where a selection of tables have been digitised.
How to Find Your Story from 1911
The release also provides information for anyone who wants to create their own customised data tables or investigate the 1911 census forms for themselves. A video on how to search the data tables is available to help you find your family’s story from 1911.”