The new statistics from the Irish Census about post-Famine Ireland are an extraordinary treasure trove.

Every Census from 1926 is now online at this URL. Most important, however, the statistics also quote extensively from previous Census material, dating back to 1831.

Since practically every Census from the 19th century was destroyed by the authorities or in the great blaze that happened at the Four Courts in Dubin on the outbreak of the civil war in 1921, these are the only documents that can show an Ireland that was profoundly different to what we have today.