What can US census records tell me about an Irish ancestor?
More than families expect, if you read the columns in order. The 1850 census is the first to give each person's birthplace, though for the foreign-born it is only the country: Ireland. The 1880 census adds the birthplaces of each person's father and mother, which can confirm an Irish-born parent of an American-born child. The censuses of 1900 to 1930 each ask the year of immigration, and 1920 adds the year of naturalization. The same four returns record citizenship status in shorthand: Al for alien, Pa for first papers filed, Na for naturalized. The famous gap is 1890: that census was almost destroyed by fire in 1921, which is why so many Irish families vanish for twenty years between 1880 and 1900. Treat a stated immigration year as a pointer, not a fact. Families misremembered, and the same man can give three years across three censuses.
Useful pages: Irish in USA · The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · Coming home · Irish around the world
Sources
- National Archives and Records Administration (US): passenger lists, census clues and naturalization guidance, archives.gov
More in Irish in USA and the diaspora
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