Census 1911

Sixteen men were executed after the Easter Rising. Fourteen of these men were executed at Kilmainham Gaol – the seven signatories of the Proclamation and seven others thought to be leaders. Thomas Kent and Roger Casement were executed outside Dublin.  Thomas Kent was held, court-martialled and executed at Cork Detention Barracks. Of the sixteen executed, Casement was the only one to be given a public trial; he was tried at the Old Bailey in London, found guilty of treason and hanged at Pentonville Prison.

The seven men who were thought to be leaders of the Rising (but who had not signed the Proclamation) and who were executed in Kilmainham Gaol were Con Colbert, Edward (Ned) Daly, Seán Heuston, Michael Mallin, Major John MacBride, Michael O’Hanrahan and William Pearse. Census records exist for each of these men and also for Thomas Kent. There is no Census record for Roger Casement as he was not in Ireland at the time.

This section is focused on the nine executed men who were not signatories of the Proclamation. Only one of these men, Michael Mallin, signed the Census form as head of household. All the other men lived in a house where the head of household was a parent or they lived in a boarding house. Thomas Kent was the oldest at the time of the 1911 Census at 43 years of age followed by Major John MacBride at 42. The youngest men were Seán Heuston (20), Con Colbert (21) and Edward Daly (21). The Census reveals the various occupations the men had. Michael Mallin was a silk weaver, Con Colbert was a bookkeeper in a bakery, Major John MacBride worked as a water bailiff for Dublin City while Seán Heuston was a clerk in a railway office. Michael O’Hanrahan was an unemployed reader for the press, (a proofreader), Thomas Kent worked on the family farm and William Pearse was a teacher at St. Enda’s school. There is no 1911 Census record for Edward Daly but there is a 1901 Census return, where he was aged 10 years of age and was living with his family in Limerick.

 Go to Con Colbert