Ireland, National Army Census, 1922

General collection information

This collection includes information about military personnel from the Irish National Army Census conducted in 1922. Personal details and military unit information were noted for each individual. The collection includes transcribed information and images of the original census pages with handwritten entries.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

This collection can be used to verify that your ancestor was a member of the Irish National Army when the census was conducted.

Collection in context

The original records were created by officers at military posts throughout Ireland. The census logs are primary historical sources, and the original documents are housed at the Defence Forces Ireland Military Archives in Dublin.

On December 6, 1921, Irish and British leaders signed a treaty that ended the two year long Irish War of Independence. The treaty gave Ireland dominion status and allowed for the creation of the first Irish National Army. Some Irish leaders denounced the treaty because an independent Irish republic had not been established. Pro-treaty and anti-treaty factions developed and a civil war followed.

The National Army Census was conducted during the third week of November in 1922, which was about the midpoint of the civil war. There were 32,000 people counted in the census, including some soldiers as young as 14. The census was undertaken because military leaders needed an accurate count of the strength of their forces to make decisions about feeding, clothing, and arming the troops.

Bibliography

Defence Forces Ireland Military Archives. "History." Accessed September 2, 2022. https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/irish-army-census-collection-12-november-1922-13-november-1922/history.

---. "Irish Army Census Records." Accessed September 2, 2022. https://census.militaryarchives.ie/.

Malone, Brenda. "The Signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, 1921." National Museum of Ireland. Accessed September 2, 2022. https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Collection/Documentation-Discoveries/Artefact/The-Signing-of-the-Anglo-Irish-Treaty,-1921/7a49e7e5-7cf7-4218-b3b4-c974d4adafa6.

McGee, Mary. "A snapshot of Ireland's first ever National Army, 1922." IrishCentral. Accessed September 2, 2022. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/a-snapshot-of-the-new-irish-national-army-1922.