The 1926 Census returns of the Irish Free State were released on line as of yesterday. The first census after independence. What a treasure trove they are.

Born on the 18th February, my late mother only just made it onto the record, but here she is at 0 years and exactly 2 months old.

On the household record, my grandparents’ ages are recorded: 28 for him, and 23 for her. I had never thought of my grandmother being so young. And this was not even her first child. Little Catherine, who preceded my mother, had already been born and died, hence my mother’s birth in a nursing home in Waterford rather than in her own home in Carrick Beg, Co Tipperary.

And finally, my grandfather’s signature, as head of the household, on the original form. And I just love the underlining (on the form’s heading) of the word “carefully”.

Honestly, I could cry looking at these (in fact I have …)

Well, that set me off. I knew my grandfather, Kieran Bennett came from the townland of Cuddagh in Co Laois, and I knew he had an elder brother, Michael, who had inherited the farm, so off I went to find that family. And here is Michael’s record that links to that whole family. And there is my great-grandfather (William) who passed his name to my mother’s brother Liam. And there is my great-grandmother Kate, who must have been Catherine, hence my mother’s elder sister’s name. And Kate’s daughter, also Kate. But my other great-aunt, Maggie Bennett, I don’t think I ever heard of her. Three adult children living at home. I know that Michael never married, but what became of those young women? I have no idea.

As always, the women are more difficult. I know from my mother that her parents met while my grandmother, Mary Lawlor, was working in the post-office in Borris, Co Carlow. But I assumed that meant she was from Borris. Apparently not. I think this is her, in the 1911 census when she was 9 years of age living in Raheendoran in Co Carlow. Her age is a little out; she was 23 on the 18th April 1926; and here she is at 9 years of age on the 2 April 1911. So she was born in either 1902 or 1903. But no other record of a Mary Lawlor comes close to her in age, and when the head of the household is a 35-year old quarry labourer, with six children ranging in age from ten to one, I guess it’s easy enough to forget the precise age of your eldest daughter. That was my great-grandfather, James Lawlor. Again, I never heard of him. (But I guess the underlining of “carefully” in 1926 was borne of hard experience). But what confirms that this is the right record is the name of the youngest child: Anastatia (don’t you just love the spelling?). My mother mentioned an aunt Anastasia, and it’s such an unusual name, it thankfully lodged in my memory. This has to be the right family.

Anyway, that’s about all I can spare the energy for. There’s a lot to contemplate in the 15 years between 1911 and 1926, and how the lives of my grandparents were impacted. And how I wish I could trace the same details for my father’s people, but alas, in the North the records were lost or burned or dropped or some such. So in this format, I have only my mother’s people. But what a joy to find them.