Content associated with: General report, Ireland, 1901    Page 178

An Act for taking the Census in Ireland in the year one thousand nine hundred and one.

[9 April 1900]

63 Vict. c.6.

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
Census to be taken in 1901. 1. A census for Ireland shall be taken in the year one thousand nine hundred and one in the manner herein-after directed, and the census day shall be Sunday the thirty-first day of March in that year.
Enumerators and their duties. 2. (1.) Such officers and men of the police force of Dublin metropolis and of the Royal Irish Constabulary as the Lord Lieutenant may direct, together with such other persons as the Lord Lieutenant may appoint to assist therein, shall act as and be enumerators for the purposes of this Act.
(2.) Every enumerator shall, upon the Monday following the census day, and such one or more next consecutive days as the Lord Lieutenant may fix, visit every house within the district assigned to him between the hours of half-past eight in the forenoon and six in the afternoon, and take an account in writing, according to such instructions as may be given to him by the chief or under secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, of the number of persons who abode therein on the night of the census day, and of the sex, age, religious profession, birthplace, and occupation of all such persons.
(3.) Every enumerator shall take an account of the number of inhabited houses and of uninhabited houses and of houses then building within his district and of the number of rooms occupied by any occupier who is in occupation of less than five rooms; and shall also furnish such particulars as may be directed as to the counties, boroughs, towns, districts, and other areas for electoral or administrative purposes in which the houses are situate.
(4.) The enumerators shall also take an account of all such further particulars as they may be directed to inquire into by such instructions as are authorised to be issued under this Act.
(5.) Every enumerator may ask all such questions of all persons within his district respecting themselves or the persons constituting their respective families, and respecting such further particulars, as may be necessary for the purpose of taking the said accounts.
Governor, &c. of prisons, &c. to be appointed enumerator of the inmates thereof. 3. The governor, master, or chief resident officer of every prison, workhouse, barrack, hospital, or lunatic asylum, and of every public or charitable institution which may be determined upon by the Lord Lieutenant, shall act as and be the enumerator of the inmates thereof, and shall conform to such instructions as may be sent to him by the authority of the Lord Lieutenant for obtaining the returns required by this Act, so far as may be practicable, with respect to such inmates, but the initial letters only of the Christian names and surnames of such inmates shall be stated in any such return.
Provision as to houseless persons. 4. The Chief Secretary shall obtain returns of the particulars required by this Act with respect to all houseless persons, and all persons who during the night of the census day were travelling or on shipboard, or for any other reason were not abiding on that night in any house of which account is to be taken by the enumerators, and shall include such returns in the abstract to be laid before Parliament.
Forms, &c. to be furnished for their use. 5. (1.) The chief or under secretary to the Lord Lieutenant shall prepare and issue such forms and instructions as he may deem necessary for the taking of the census.
(2.) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the census shall be taken by means of, and in the manner prescribed by, the several forms and instructions which were issued under the authority of the Census (Ireland) Act, 1890, and which are contained in the Appendix to the General Report of the Commissioners appointed under that Act, dated the twenty-third day of June, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, and presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, and such matters and particulars as were contained in and prescribed by the said forms and instructions or as are required by this Act, and no other matters or particulars, shall be inserted in the forms and instructions to be prepared under the authority of this Act, and no question shall be put for the purpose of obtaining information other than the information required by such forms and instructions.
(3.) The expenses incurred with the approval of the Treasury for the purposes of the census shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.
Certificate of accounts and abstracts of returns. 6. (1.) Every enumerator shall sign and certify the account taken by him, and make a statutory declaration, to the effect that the said account has been truly and faithfully taken by him, and that, to the best of his knowledge, the same is correct, so far as may be known, and shall deliver the same to such officer of the said police force, or of the Royal Irish Constabulary, or other person, as may be appointed by the Lord Lieutenant to receive the same from him.
(2.) The accounts shall be examined, corrected, certified, and transmitted in such manner and within such time as the Lord Lieutenant may direct, and the same shall be digested and reduced into order, under the direction of the chief or under secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, by the Registrar-General of Births; Deaths and Marriages in Ireland, and by such other persons as the Lord Lieutenant may appoint for that purpose.
(3.) An abstract of the accounts taken under this Act shall b e laid before both Houses of Parliament within twelve months after the census day, if Parliament be then sitting, or, if Parliament be not then sitting, within the first fourteen days of the session then next ensuing.
Penalties.



52 & 53 Vict. c.52.		 7. (1.) If any enumerator makes wilful default in the performance of any of his duties under this Act, he shall for each offence be liable on conviction under the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Acts to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(2.) If any person refuses to answer or wilfully gives a false answer to any question necessary for obtaining the information required to be obtained under this Act, he shall for each offence be liable on conviction under the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Acts to a fine not exceeding five pounds: Provided that no person shall be subject to any such penalty for refusing to state his religious profession.
(3.) If any person employed in taking the census communicates without lawful authority any information acquired in the course of his employment, he shall be guilty of a breach of official trust within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act, 1889, and that Act shall apply accordingly.
Certificate of population. 8. A certificate from the General Register Office, purporting to be signed by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Ireland, shall be admitted in any court of law as evidence of the population, at the census taken under this Act, of any county, borough, town, district or other area to which it refers, and the said Registrar-General shall be bound, if possible, to deliver such certificate to any person on payment of a fee of one shilling.
Short title. 9. This Act may be cited as the Census (Ireland) Act, 1900.