National Archives Announces Census 1926 ‘Centenarian Ambassadors’
- Published on: 10 April 2026
- Last updated on: 10 April 2026
48 people whose records appear in original Census to act as representatives
National Archives also announces Story Of Us Exhibition which will tour 10 counties in 2026
The National Archives of Ireland has officially announced 48 ‘Centenarian Ambassadors’, ahead of the historic release on 18 April of the 1926 Census of Population records.
The ambassadors have been chosen from almost 100 people who were alive at the time the census was taken in 1926 and who contacted the National Archives. The selected ambassadors were born between 1920 and 1926, and today live all over Ireland, from Donegal to Waterford, and from Dublin to Galway. There are also Centenarian Ambassadors representing the Irish diaspora living today in the US, Canada, Britain and Australia.
The programme has captured the first-hand personal testimony of each of the Ambassadors, which offers a unique, living perspective on the past century of Irish life. These testimonies will be held by the National Archives as a permanent link to the past. Ambassador video and photo stories will also be used in association with Census 1926 activities around the country, while each Ambassador has also been presented with a specially-designed commemorative mug and certificate.
Joseph Davis from Cork, one of the chosen Census 1926 Centenarian Ambassadors, commented:
It’s an honour to be chosen as one of the Ambassadors for this programme. To still be here more than one hundred years after being recorded in the Census back in 1926 is a privilege and a gift. It was a trip down a long memory lane sharing my story with the team at the National Archives and I hope people find our stories interesting. I’m looking forward to exploring the rest of my family in the Census and hope others will do the same.
Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport Patrick O’Donovan TD commented:
I’m delighted to officially announce the chosen Centenarian Ambassadors, as we mark the forthcoming release of the 1926 Census. The release of the 1926 Census records is a historic moment, offering an invaluable account of life in the early years of the Free State, and tells the personal stories of families and communities. It’s particularly moving that we can honour the individuals who were recorded in the census in 1926 and are still with us today.
National Archives Director Orlaith McBride added:
The census isn’t about lists and numbers; it’s about the people living in Ireland in 1926 and all of their descendants today. First-hand stories are especially powerful and moving. The Centenarian Ambassador programme has been a real highlight for all of us at the National Archives. It has been a privilege to hear from centenarians and their families and to have them share their stories with us.
The Census 1926 Exhibition Tour
To celebrate the public release of the 1926 Census, the National Archives and Department of Culture, Communications and Sport announced a wide-ranging public engagement programme, which includes a book, The Story Of Us - Independent Ireland and the 1926 Census (Irish Academic Press), theatre production, The Good Luck Club (ANU Productions) and landmark RTÉ documentary, which will air next month.
The programme also includes major exhibitions running at Dublin Castle, as well as in London and Boston. The exhibition explores the world reflected in the census to reveal what life was like in the newly independent Ireland of 1926: in towns, cities, the countryside and the islands, from urban tenements to the mansions of the aristocracy. The Story of Us uses contemporary documents and images, audio-visual displays and the census returns themselves to present a picture of life in 1926: from sport and entertainment to language, culture, religion, gender and the working lives of the inhabitants of the Irish Free State a century ago.
The exhibition will also tour Ireland later in 2026, in partnership with local authorities around the country, and the National Archives have today announced the full schedule for the exhibition, which takes in ten counties as well as the National Ploughing Championships.
Minister Patrick O’Donovan TD, Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport commented:
The census is the story of us, and it’s really important to us that as many people as possible can engage with our shared history. This extensive public programme will ensure the stories, data, and human connections revealed by the census reach every community in Ireland and our diaspora worldwide.
National Archives Director Orlaith McBride added:
We’re grateful for the support of our partners at the National Ploughing Association and in local authorities across Ireland in helping us to bring Census 1926 to life for people through this touring exhibition. The national tour is just one part of our wider public programme, which also includes a book, theatre production and landmark RTÉ documentary.
The Release of the 1926 Census
These announcements come ahead of the landmark release of the 1926 Census on 18 April on www.nationalarchives.ie. The National Archives will make the entire census, comprising over 700,000 individual household returns, freely available and fully searchable online, marking a momentous occasion in Irish history.
The online platform will provide an unprecedented resource, allowing users to efficiently navigate detailed household returns and offering a unique snapshot of life one hundred years ago.
The preparation of the 1926 Census for public release has been a monumental project for the Archives. This initiative involves the careful preservation, high-resolution scanning, and transcription of every sheet, making the first census taken after the establishment of the State accessible to genealogists, historians, and members of the public, both in Ireland and around the world.
ENDS
The full list of 1926 Census Centenarian ambassadors:
- Sr. Eileen Creagh, Australia
- John Larkin, Canada
- Charlotte Elizabeth Kinkade, Cavan
- Joan Coll, Clare
- Sr Miriam Twohig, Cork
- Joseph Patrick Davis, Cork
- Kathleen Gibbings, Cork
- Kathleen Fitzgibbon, Cork
- Noelle Newenham, Cork
- Margaret Mary Walsh, Cork
- Mary Hosford, Cork & Dublin
- Susie Boyle, Donegal
- Sr. Florence Hutchinson, Donegal
- Catherine Leahy, Dublin
- Eileen Casey, Dublin
- Joseph Courtney, Dublin
- Máire Walsh, Dublin
- Mary Gilsenan, Dublin
- Moya Connelly, Dublin
- Michael Hickey, Dublin
- Pauline Kearns, Dublin
- Sarah Dwyer, Dublin
- Jeremiah Murphy, Dublin
- Seamus Shelly, Dublin
- Denis O’Donovan, Dublin
- Marie Tubbert, Dublin
- Sr. Mary Patricia Lynn, Fermanagh
- Bridget Mary O’Connor, Galway
- Sr. Agatha Durkan, Galway
- Sr. Dorothy Duggan, Galway
- Sr. Felicitas Geraghty, Galway
- Sr. Paul Carmody, Galway
- Anne Meskell, Limerick
- Bridget Landers, Limerick & Cork
- Mary Bannon, London
- Patrick Kenny, London
- Breda Bridget Robertson, London
- Bridget Joyce, Mayo
- George O’Connor, Meath
- Ann Carey, Meath
- Sr. Bosco Daly, Offaly
- Maureen Hanley, Offaly
- Frances Conroy, Tipperary
- Nancy Lally, Chicago
- Moira Toomey Putman, Illinois
- Bridget Keating, Waterford
- John Patrick McNaboe, Westmeath
- Iris Suzannah Dungan, Wexford
Case studies and interviews with selected Centenarian Ambassadors are available upon request
National and International Exhibition
- Dublin – Dublin Castle, 18 April 2026 – 15 August 2027 (NB. Opens to members of the public on 19 April. Dublin Castle will be closed to the public for the EU Presidency from 15 June to end of 2026)
- London – British Academy, 24 April – 15 May 2026
- Boston – Boston College, 13 May – 6 September 2026
Irish Touring Exhibition
- Meath – Saint Marys’s Community Centre, Navan, 12 June – 2 July 2026
- Kildare – Naas Library & Cultural Centre, 4 – 28 July 2026
- Cork – St. Peter’s, Cork, 7 – 27 July 2026
- Waterford – Central Library, Waterford City, 1 – 20 August 2026
- Wexford – Wexford County Council, County Hall, 3 – 22 August 2026
- Westmeath – Westmeath County Council Buildings, 24 August – 5 September 2026
- National Ploughing Championships – Screggan, Co. Offaly, 15 – 17 September 2026
- Kerry – Kerry County Library Tralee, 1 – 17 October 2026
- Limerick – Civic Offices, Merchants Quay, 2 – 16 October 2026
- Tipperary – Source Arts Centre Thurles, 2 – 21 November 2026
- Donegal – Donegal County Museum, Letterkenny, 25 November – 20 December 2026
Note for editors
About the National Archives of Ireland
The National Archives preserves the memory of the State in the form of its written records. It acquires and protects Ireland’s public records, thereby ensuring their availability as a resource for all. These records relate to the social, cultural, economic and political history of the island of Ireland from the Middle Ages through to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 and into the modern era.