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Births

3.1 Birth rates, 1916 and 2012
  per 1,000 population per 1,000 population
Area19162012
Total BirthsBirth rateTotal birthsBirth rate
Ireland64,81420.671,67415.6
     
Leinster24,57521.141,19616.4
     
Carlow63417.592116.8
Dublin City8,56728.17,89415.3
Dublin County 2,77016.113,29317.7
Kildare1,27619.23,64517.2
Kilkenny1,50920.11,38814.5
Laois1,06719.51,27615.7
Longford84919.464616.3
Louth1,29020.31,88315.2
Meath1,25919.33,18817.1
Offaly1,08019.01,15415.0
Westmeath1,11218.51,44716.7
Wexford1,98719.42,21815.2
Wicklow1,17519.42,24316.3
     
Munster21,15320.418,48014.8
     
Clare1,89618.21,70514.5
Cork7,96820.38,06315.5
Kerry3,58722.51,93613.5
Limerick 3,28423.02,87515.1
Tipperary North1,13418.01,03814.6
Tipperary South1,69919.01,19113.3
Waterford 1,58518.91,67214.7
     
Connacht12,38620.37,93114.7
     
Galway 3,72620.43,89915.8
Leitrim1,21919.245514.2
Mayo4,18621.81,75313.4
Roscommon1,70318.186213.4
Sligo1,55219.696214.8
     
Ulster (part of)6,70020.24,06713.8
     
Cavan1,75919.31,15815.7
Donegal3,57921.22,06812.8
Monaghan1,36219.184113.7
Source: Registrar-General Annual Report for 1916, Vital Statistics CSO
1 Births data for 2012 is final occurrence data.

Photo 3.1

Photo: Two babies in a pram

  • The number of births per 1,000 population in 1916 was 20.6 with the highest birth rate in Dublin City at 28.1.
  • The lowest birth rates in 1916 were in Dublin County at 16.1 and in Carlow at 17.5.
  • By 2012 the birth rate had fallen to 15.6 for Ireland and the highest rates were in Dublin County at 17.7, Kildare at 17.2 and Meath at 17.1.   The lowest birth rate in 2012 was 12.8 in Donegal.             
3.2 Births in and out of marriage, 1916 and 2012
 
Area 191620121
Total BirthsBirths within marriageBirths outside marriage% outside marriageTotal birthsBirths within marriageBirths outside marriage% outside marriage
Ireland64,81463,2841,5302.471,67446,49525,17935.1
         
Leinster24,57523,8107653.141,19625,82115,37537.3
         
Carlow634623111.792155336840.0
Dublin City8,5678,1883794.47,8944,3923,50244.4
Dublin County 2,7702,712582.113,2938,6494,64434.9
Kildare1,2761,224524.13,6452,4121,23333.8
Kilkenny1,5091,467422.81,38895243631.4
Laois1,0671,047201.91,27680247437.1
Longford84984180.964642222434.7
Louth1,2901,257332.61,8831,08380042.5
Meath1,2591,236231.83,1882,20698230.8
Offaly1,0801,061191.81,15472043437.6
Westmeath1,1121,079333.01,44792951835.8
Wexford1,9871,915723.62,2181,26795142.9
Wicklow1,1751,160151.32,2431,43480936.1
         
Munster21,15320,5905632.718,48012,1766,30434.1
         
Clare1,8961,863331.71,7051,14156433.1
Cork7,9687,7881802.38,0635,5572,50631.1
Kerry3,5873,522651.81,9361,31662032.0
Limerick 3,2843,1681163.52,8751,7911,08437.7
Tipperary North1,1341,113211.91,03868235634.3
Tipperary South1,6991,619804.71,19173745438.1
Waterford 1,5851,517684.31,67295272043.1
         
Connacht12,38612,299870.77,9315,7392,19227.6
         
Galway 3,7263,685411.13,8992,93796224.7
Leitrim1,2191,21360.545533711825.9
Mayo4,1864,164220.51,7531,21354030.8
Roscommon1,7031,690130.886261924328.2
Sligo1,5521,54750.396263332934.2
         
Ulster (part of)6,7006,5851151.74,0672,7591,30832.2
         
Cavan1,7591,740191.11,15878037832.6
Donegal3,5793,506732.02,0681,40166732.3
Monaghan1,3621,339231.784157826331.3
Source: Registrar-General Annual Report for 1916, Vital Statistics CSO
1 Births data for 2012 is final occurrence data.

Photo three children

Photo: 3 children blowing bubbles

  • Just 2.4% of births in 1916 were outside marriage.
  • By 2012 over a third of births were outside marriage.
  • The highest rates of births outside marriage in 2012 were in Dublin City, Waterford, Louth and Wexford where rates were over 40%.
19162012
Carlow1.7350157728706639.956568946797
Dublin City4.4239523753939544.3628071953382
Dublin County 2.0938628158844834.9356804333108
Kildare4.0752351097178733.8271604938272
Kilkenny2.7833001988071631.4121037463977
Laois1.8744142455482737.1473354231975
Longford0.94228504122497134.6749226006192
Louth2.5581395348837242.4853956452469
Meath1.8268467037331230.8030112923463
Offaly1.7592592592592637.6083188908146
Westmeath2.9676258992805835.798203178991
Wexford3.6235530951182742.8764652840397
Wicklow1.2765957446808536.0677663843067
Clare1.7405063291139233.0791788856305
Cork2.2590361445783131.0802430857001
Kerry1.8120992472818532.0247933884297
Limerick 3.5322777101096237.704347826087
North Tipperary1.8518518518518534.2967244701349
South Tipperary4.7086521483225438.1192275398825
Waterford 4.2902208201892743.0622009569378
Galway 1.100375738056924.6729930751475
Leitrim0.49220672682526725.9340659340659
Mayo0.52556139512661230.8043354249857
Roscommon0.76335877862595428.1902552204176
Sligo0.32216494845360834.1995841995842
Cavan1.0801591813530432.6424870466321
Donegal2.0396758871193132.2533849129594
Monaghan1.6886930983847331.2722948870392
3.3 Infant mortality rates, 1916 and 20141
 per 1,000 births
Area19162014
Ireland81.33.7
  
Leinster107.03.0
   
Carlow77.33.2
Dublin City153.53.3
Dublin County102.22.9
Kildare98.70.6
Kilkenny76.92.3
Laois76.94.2
Longford73.06.6
Louth78.33.3
Meath55.62.6
Offaly64.84.5
Westmeath73.72.2
Wexford95.12.9
Wicklow72.34.5
   
Munster74.55.0
   
Clare54.98.1
Cork72.53.3
Kerry51.08.2
Limerick101.17.3
Tipperary North60.07.4
Tipperary South91.82.6
Waterford97.23.1
   
Connacht50.84.4
   
Galway53.43.9
Leitrim45.92.5
Mayo51.45.4
Roscommon34.66.3
Sligo64.43.6
   
Ulster (part of)65.24.0
   
Cavan59.14.8
Donegal71.83.2
Monaghan55.84.9
Source: Registrar-General Annual Report for 1916, Vital Statistics CSO
1 Note: data for 2014 is provisional.

Grave with children commissioned by Mr Medlycott, Portlaw 1913

Photo: Grave with children commissioned by Mr Medlycott, Portlaw 1913

  • The infant mortality rate was 81.3 in Ireland in 1916, i.e., for every 1,000 babies born during 1916, 81 died before they reached twelve months of age. The infant mortality rate was highest in Dublin City at 153.5, followed by Dublin County at 102.2 and Limerick at 101.1.
  • The lowest rates of infant mortality in 1916 were in Roscommon at 34.6, Leitrim at 45.9, Kerry at 51 and Mayo at 51.4. Presumably higher population densities in urban areas (such as in the one room tenements in Dublin City) contributed to the spread of diseases. Poverty was widespread in both urban and rural areas but the rural poor had access to fresh air and better quality food, for example, they could grow their own vegetables and get eggs from their own chickens.
  • By 2014 the infant mortality rate in Ireland was very low, at 3.7 per 1,000 births.
  • See here for a link to a 1911 Census return for Joseph and Ellen Mooney and their four children who lived in the Coombe in Dublin. Ellen stated on the Census return that she had given birth to nine children of whom four were still living. See here for the link to the page on the National Archives website for this Census return.
Infant mortality 1916
Carlow77.2870662460568
Dublin City153.495972919342
Dublin County 102.166064981949
Kildare98.7460815047022
Kilkenny76.8721007289596
Laois76.8509840674789
Longford73.0270906949352
Louth78.2945736434109
Meath55.5996822875298
Offaly64.8148148148148
Westmeath73.7410071942446
Wexford95.1182687468546
Wicklow72.3404255319149
Clare54.8523206751055
Cork72.5401606425703
Kerry51.0175634234737
Limerick 101.096224116931
North Tipperary59.9647266313933
South Tipperary91.8187168922896
Waterford 97.1608832807571
Galway 53.4084809447128
Leitrim45.9392945036915
Mayo51.3616817964644
Roscommon34.6447445684087
Sligo64.4329896907217
Cavan59.1245025582717
Donegal71.8077675328304
Monaghan55.8002936857562
3.4 Infant deaths under 1 year of age by cause, 1916
    
Cause of deathMaleFemaleTotal
Ireland14,2383,3897,627
    
of which:   
Measles454186
Scarlet fever6511
Diptheria, Croup141226
Whooping cough212223435
Influenza131124
Diarrhea and enteritis363296659
Gastroenteritis107120227
Gastritis11677193
Tuberculosis diseases10866174
Premature birth412307719
Congenital malformation116109225
Atelectasis2543488
Infantile attrophy, debility, marasmus21,1569002,056
Injury at birth341347
Erysipelas2459
Syphillis262046
Rickets7613
Meningitis (not Tuberculous)7244116
Convulsions507385892
Bronchitis350307657
Laryngitis131124
Pneumonia288149437
Source: Registrar-General Annual Report for 1916
1 Data is for whole island of Ireland.
2 Atelectasis is complete or partial collapse of a lung, marasmus is severe malnutrition and erysipelas is a bacterial infection of the skin.
  • There were 5,271 deaths in the area now covered by the Republic of Ireland of babies under 12 months of age in 1916 and the number of deaths for the whole island was 7,627. The data available from 1916 on the causes of deaths in infants under 12 month of age (shown in the table above) refers to the whole island of Ireland.
  • The main cause recorded for deaths in babies less than one year old in 1916 was malnutrition and weakness which accounted for 2,056 deaths or 27% of the total on the island.
  • Convulsions was stated as the reason or 892 infant deaths, or 11.7% of the total, while diarrheal diseases accounted for 886 deaths (11.6%).
  • Premature birth was recorded in 9.4% of cases while Bronchitis was recorded in 8.6% of cases. Common infective diseases (measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, croup, whooping cough and influenza) accounted for 582 deaths of infants or 7.6% of the total.

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