When is the Census?
The 2011 census will take place on Sunday April 10th next, when every household in the country will complete their Census form.

What is the Census?
The census is a count of the population of the country. It also asks questions relating to every person in the country on census night to collect information on a variety of important topics including age, education, language spoken, employment, health etc. The information provided is strictly confidential and only statistical reports are published.

Who carries out the Census?
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) conducts a census of Ireland every 5 years. It employs a temporary field force of nearly 5,500 to carry out the census across the country, including almost 5,000 census enumerators who will deliver and collect census forms to every household.

Why is a census conducted?
The census will give a comprehensive picture of the social and living conditions of our people in 2011. Only a census can provide such detail. The results are essential tools for effective policy, planning and decision-making.
An accurate census is in everyone’s interests. It provides the knowledge so that public resources can be shared evenly across the country and to ensure that services at local level are relevant to all the people who live there.

Census figures are important to each and every community in Ireland because they provide information about the population down to the local level across a range of different criteria e.g. age, education, employment, language spoken, health, etc. This information can be used to tell at a community, regional and national level about the composition of the population and to identify the needs and requirements of each group in planning for the provision of services.

And the beauty of the census information is that everyone can use it – it’s free, it’s easy to access and it’s extremely useful.

Census History
Ireland has been conducting Censuses of Population since 1821. This enables us to track developments over a long period of time with considerable accuracy. The census is therefore a fundamental part of our national heritage and our collective knowledge about the Irish people.

Unfortunately, most of the census returns prior to 1901 have been lost, either deliberately destroyed (1861 and 1871 returns), pulped because of paper shortages during World War 1 (1881 and 1891 returns) or destroyed when the Customs House was burned in 1922 (1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 returns).

Of the pre-Independence censuses, only the 1901 and 1911 census returns remain intact today.  The publication of these records online at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/  has provided millions of Irish people and their descendants all over the world with the opportunity to discover their ancestors. This has been an extremely popular facility, with millions of visitors to the site since the 1901 records were first published in 2008.

Census 2011 for Schools
In the lead up to the 2011 census, sets of resource materials have been developed for schools to assist teachers and students to learn about the census and to understand how it impacts in our daily lives and in the context of some of the subjects studied at primary and second level.

These have been developed and piloted by primary and secondary teachers and in association with professional development services. The aim of these lessons is to create awareness of the census and its benefits amongst young people and to demonstrate how they can use census information as part of their studies in addition to providing an opportunity to teach skills in the collection, representation and interpretation of data.

By learning about Census 2011 and by engaging in related activities to solve real problems, students will value the importance of census statistics in helping to build our future as a nation. Each lesson has been developed specifically to incorporate the principles of the school curriculum.

Census School resources are available for both primary and second level as follows:

Primary Students
A set of topic-based lessons featuring Census Charlie has been developed to help children understand what the census is about and to learn how and why a census is conducted.
 
These have been developed and piloted by primary teachers for use in classes from first to sixth class. The aim of these lessons is to enable children to understand the census process and to teach skills in the collection, representation and interpretation of data. Census Charlie has lots of activities to make the learning fun.

Each lesson has been developed specifically to incorporate the principles of the Primary School Curriculum.

Census Lesson Packs include:
• Comprehensive teacher notes and lesson plans
• Census information and key messages
• The Census Story
• Census flashcard/fact cards
• Sample Classroom Census forms
• Graph templates and tally sheets
• ICT tasks
• Integration and linkage ideas
• Assessment tasks
• Home/school links
• Extension activities.

Second level
Resources are available for the following subjects:
• History
• CSPE
• Geography

History resources
This includes a set of History resources which has been developed by secondary teachers and is aimed at both teachers and students of junior and senior history. It addresses the use of old census records and the information these contain. The resources have been designed to be used by students at the following levels:

• Junior cycle: Using the 1901 and 1911 census. This resource is aimed specifically at First and Third year groups. Students can benefit in two areas from the use of census materials.  In first year, the work of the historian is introduced, and students should find that the 1901 and 1911 census material is easy to engage with. In third year, the census material can be used to illustrate changing life-styles in Ireland from 1900. The single units on the 1901 and 1911 census returns of the family of Thomas Bateman (Dublin), and the 1901 return for Mary Anne Collins (County Cork) are suitable for use in first or third year

• Transition Year: Using the 1901 and 1911 Census. Students can undertake a more detailed examination of census materials, prior to undertaking a personal project based in part or in whole on the 1901 and 1911 census. The section on Evidence and Enquiry: Using the 1901 and 1911 census in the History classroom is suitable for use in whole or in part in the transition year classroom. Transition Year students will also draw on a series of exercises based on the census taken for Dunlavin, County Wicklow.

• Leaving Certificate. Students have the opportunity to use the 1901 and 1911 census materials for the research study report. Students can base their study on the 1901 and 1911 materials. Advice is given on how to proceed with a research study report using census materials, and some exemplars are given how evidence from the census can be used in the presentation of the “extended essay” using census information, including the 1901 census

Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) resources

This module has been written to enable students and teachers of Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) to explore the use of a Census in general and to raise awareness about Census 2011, in particular, in schools. It focuses on the concept of community development and how census information enables local authorities and central government to plan future developments. It also includes an Action Project - students can carry out their very own Class/Year Group Census and present the results.

The resource aims to:
• Raise awareness about Census 2011.
• Enable students to understand a Census.
• Show students how Census information is used.
• Take part in a Census Action Project.
Duration: 6 - 10 classes

Geography resources
This material has been developed to enable geography students and teachers to explore the use of the Census in the context of the geography curriculum.  The first lesson gives an overview of the census and introduces the student to mapping in the context of the census. The subsequent lessons will guide students to explore the census results in the context of analyzing data for different geographical areas. This guides students through the use of the  SAPMAP mapping tool, which is available along with extensive census publication data on the Census Publications page of the CSO website at www.cso.ie/census, to find the census data geographically by small areas and to analyse, compare and contrast data and report on selected population attributes. Outputs from the exercise include population pyramids, graphical representation of data and reporting of analysis and conclusions.

 The resources are available online at http://www.census.ie.

If you require further information on the census, please visit the Census 2011 website at www.census.ie  or contact:

Central Statistics Office
Unit 4 Swords Business Campus
Swords, Co. Dublin
Lo Call 1890 313414 or Email: censuspublicity@cso.ie