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The religious inquiry in the Irish census of 1861

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2017

Malcolm P. A. Macourt
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Extract

The results of the religious inquiry in the Irish census of 1861 (which showed that the established church commanded the allegiance of only one-eighth of the population) were used extensively in the debate on church disestablishment, and the results of successive religious inquiries have been since used for a variety of purposes. This paper considers the origins of the inquiry, the controversy surrounding its first inclusion in the census, and the importance of church disestablishment in that controversy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 82 , September 1978 , pp. 168 - 187
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1978

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References

1 Lords' jn. Ire., iv, 370, 5 Apr. 1766.

2 Transcripts of the lists compiled were made by a genealogist, Tenison Groves, before the destruction of the originals in 1922. These transcripts are contained in P.R.O.I., G.S.O. collection M 207, M 208, M 2476, M 2478, M 3582, M 3585, M 5036.

3 William Shaw Mason, who was responsible for the 1813 statutory enumeration, attempted, as a private venture, during the progresss of the enumeration, to ascertain the proportion of the protestant and Roman Catholic portions of the population of Ireland. He appears to have obtained returns from the local clergy of the established church covering only about 15% of the population. His returns were published, along with a detailed account of 79 benefices, as Mason, W. S., A statistical account or parochial survey of Ireland (3 vols, Dublin, 1814–19)Google Scholar.

4 The King's Commission to the Commissioners, in First Report of tht commissioners of public instruction, Ireland, iii, [C 45], H. C. 1835, iii, 1 (hereafter cited as Public instruction report).

5 4 & 5 Will 4, c. 90, 1834.

6 The system was suggested by Lord Stanley in a speech to the house of commons on 9 Sept. 1831, Hansard 3, vi, 1249–61, and described at length in a letter from him to the Duke of Leinster in 1831, two versions of which are reproduced in Akenson, D. H., The Irish educational experiment the national system of education in the nineteenth century (London, 1972) pp 392–402 Google Scholar.

7 Public instruction report, p. iii.

8 Ibid., pp 1–2.

9 Ibid., p. 2.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid., p. 3.

12 One of the commissioners, William Tighe Hamilton, edited an abstract from the first report of the commissioners, in which he stated that ‘of the several branches of the enquiry directed by the commission, the enumeration of the persons belonging to each religious persuasion in the several benefices and parishes in Ireland, was that which attracted the largest share of public attention’. Hamilton, W. T., Abstract of the first report of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the state of religious and other instruction in Ireland (London, 1835) p. 10 Google Scholar.

13 Public instruction report, p. 3.

14 ibid.

15 Observations on the census of 1861, handwritten by Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom,under-secretary for Ireland, 1853–68, and inserted at the beginning of his collection of papers on the Census of 1861 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7750) (hereafter cited as Larcom observations).

16 Dublin Evening Post, 29 May 1860, p. 2.

17 Hume, Abraham, Results of the Irish census of 1861 (London, 1864) p. 21 Google Scholar.

18 Larcom observations.

19 13 & 14 Viet, c. 44 (1850), clause 2,‘ … such particulars and instructions having no reference to the religion of any person or persons’.

20 Census of Great Britain, 1851, religious worship, England and Wales, report and tables, vii, [G 1690]. H.C. 1852–3, lxxxix, 1 (hereafter cited as Horace Mann report).

21 A considerable amount of work has been done on the 1851 church attendance census; notable contributions include Inglis, K. S., ‘Patterns of religious worship in 1851’ in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, xi, no. 1 (1960) pp 74–86 Google Scholar, and Thompson, D. M., ‘1851 religious census: problems and possibilities’ in Victorian Studies, xi, no.1 (1967) pp 87–97 Google Scholar.

22 Horace Mann report, p. vii.

23 Mann, Horace, ‘On the statistical position of religious bodies in England and Wales’ in Journal of the Statistical Society of London, xviii, (1855) pp 141-59CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Ibid., p. 141.

25 Ibid., p. 142.

26 23 & 24 Vict. c. 61, c. 62, c.98 (1860).

21 Hansard 3, clix, 1695–1741 (11 July 1860).

28 As mentioned by Sir George Lewis, Hansard 3, clix, 1711 (11 July i860); the opposition was also noted by J. H. Burke, Irish Office, London, in a note to Sir Thomas Larcom, 1 May i860 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7750) • Lewis made the concession in reply to a question from Mr Dillwyn, Hansard 3, clviii, 1766 (25 May 1860).

29 Hansard 3, clix, 1696 (11 July i860).

30 Ibid., 1718, Mr Bernal Osborne.

31 Ibid., 1727, Mr Frank Crossley.

32 Ibid., 1708.

33 Ibid., 1711.

34 Ibid., 1733.

35 Ibid., 1715.

36 Ibid., 1712.

37 Ibid., 1713.

38 Ibid., 1713–14.

39 Ibid., 1714.

40 Ibid., 1729.

41 Ibid., 1736.

42 Ibid., 1737.

43 Dublin Evening Mail, 7 May 1860, p. 2.

44 Evening Packet, (Dublin) 8 May 1860, p. 2.

45 Ibid.

46 Daily Express, 8 May 1860, p . 2.

47 Hansard 3, clix, 1722 (11 July 1860).

48 Ibid., 1729.

49 Saunders’ News-Letter (Dublin), 29 Nov. 1870, in a review of Matheson, R. E., Brief notes on Irish censuses (Dublin, 1870), p. 2 Google Scholar.

50 Many pamphlets were published on the issue of disestablishment of the Irish church. A large collection of these is held by the Representative Church Body, and housed in its library at Braemor Park, Rathgar, Dublin. Several of these pamphlets contain comments on the results of the 1861 religious census. (The census showed that the established church commanded the allegiance of only 11.9% of the population).

51 Horace Mann Report, p. cxix, quoted by Mr Baines, Hamard 3, clix, 1700.

52 Ibid., p. cxix, quoted by Mr Baines, Hansard 3, clix, 1700–01.

53 Mr Beresford Hope, Hansard 3, cciii, 817 (22 July 1870).

54 Hansard 3, clix, 1697.

55 Ibid., 1698.

56 Ibid., 1703.

57 Ibid., 1708.

58 Ibid., 1729.

59 Ibid., 1721.

60 Ibid., 1718, Mr Bernal Osborne.

61 Ibid., 1728.

62 Larcom observations.

63 Evening Packet, 26 Apr. 1860, p.2.

64 Evening Packet, 12 July 1860, p. 2.

65 The Freeman's Journal, 13 Dec. 1860, p. 3.

66 This quotation and those following are from The Freeman's Journal, 2 Jan. 1861, p. 3.

67 Dublin Evening Post, 10 Jan. 1861, p. 2.

68 Dublin Evening Post, 12 Jan. 1861, p. 2.

69 21 Jan. 1861 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7582).

70 Dublin Evening Post, 21 Feb. 1861, p. 2.

71 Dublin Evening Mail, 20 Feb. 1861, p. 2.

72 Larcom observations.

73 24 Jan. 1861 and 28 Jan. 1861 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7750).

74 As noted by Cardwell to Larcom, 29 Mar. 1861 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7750) where Cardwell expressed anxiety about securing ‘the truthfulness of the religious census’.

75 Ibid.

76 Reprinted in General report of the census of Ireland 1861 appendix cxxxix, [C 32O4-IV], H.C. 1863, lxi, 1 (hereafter cited as 1861 general report).

77 Evening Packet, 12 Jan. 1861, p . 2.

78 5 Apr. 1861 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7750).

79 Reprinted in The Freeman's Journal, 5 Apr. 1861, p . 3.

80 6 Apr. 1861 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7750).

81 Report on religions and education, census of Ireland, 1861, 8./3204-III/, H.C. 1863, lix, 1 (hereafter cited as 1861 religious report). The form used to obtain this information is reprinted in 1861 general report appendix, p. clix.

82 Non-subscribing presbyterians and the Irish census in the nineteenth century: an example of confusion for statisticians', in Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society, xvi, no. 3 (September 1977) pp 133–5.

83 Irish Times, 23 Apr. 1861, p . 3.

84 Hume, Census, p.38.

85 Ibid., and noted in Morrison, W. R., The question of disestablishment and disendowment considered (Manchester, 1868, third ed.), p. 22 Google Scholar.

86 Wilde to Larcom, 2 Aug. 1861 (N.L.I., Larcom papers, MS 7750). Wilde noted that of the fifteen complaints made, the only one unresolved at the time of writing concerned a dispute between the ministers of the established church and the presbyterian church in the Parish of Ahoghill, Go. Antrim. The minister of the established church concerned, Alfred T. Lee, was later the author of a widely circulated pamphlet on the disestablishment of the Irish church; see note 50. Also noted in the 1861 religious report, p. 8.

87 Hansard 3, cclv, 748 (9 Aug. 1880).

88 Hansard 3, cciii, 1004 (26 July 1870).

89 Ibid., 1004–05.

90 Hansard 3, ccliv, 891 (20 July 1880).

91 Hansard 3, cciii, 1006 (26 July 1870).

92 Hansard 3, cciii, 1406 (2 Aug. 1870).

93 Hansard 3, cciii, 811 (22 July 1870), Mr Bruce.

94 Ibid., 809.

95 Hansard 3, cclvi, 1086 (2 Sept. 1880).

96 Hansard 3, cccxlvii, 534 (22 July 1890).

97 Reported in [R.]Stat. Soc. Jn, iii, (1840) p . 9 8 ; xxiii, (i860) p. 222; xxxiii, (1870) p . 113; xliii, (1880) p. 137; lxxii, (1909) p. 57.

98 1861 : 971 unknown; 1861 religious report, p. 559. 1871 : 1044 unspecified; Census of Ireland, summary tables, 1871, 83, [C 1106-VII], H.C. 1874, lxxiv. 1. 1881 : 530 refused; 1881 general report 139, [C 3365], H.C. 1882, lxxvi, 385. 1891 : 871 refused 1891 general report 143, [C 6780], H.C. 1892, xc, 1. 1901 : 695 refused; 1901 religious report 145, [Cd 1190], H.C. 1902, cxxix.

99 Oldham, G. H., ‘Reform of the Irish census of population’ in Stat. Soc. Ire, Jn., lxxx, (1927) p. 201 Google Scholar.

100 for further comment on the religious inquiry, and particularly on its usefulness as a source of evidence for sociologists of religion, see Macourt, Malcolm P. A., ‘The nature of religion in Ireland’ in Hill, Michael (ed.) A sociological yearbook on religion in Britain, no. 7 (London 1974) pp 26–45 Google Scholar, and ‘The religious inquiry in the census of population of Ireland’, unpublished B.Phil, thesis, University of Dundee, 1973.