Irish Census records

**Lin1** · 03-03-2011 02:18 PM

Hi everyone,

I have only just discovered this site and look forward to meeting many of you during my family tree journey

I am trying to trace the strong Scottish side of my family, in particular my Maternal Grandmother. The very little information I could get from my mother suggested she came from Ireland (Fermanagh), this was backed up by her marriage certificate to my Grandfather (in Scotland), I think I may have found her on the Irish 1911 Census but am really confused as her mother and father are both listed as being born in Fermanagh and it shows them living there but every one of their 8 children (the youngest being just 4 months) were all born in Scotland. Does anyone know why she would want to go to Scotland to have her children? Is this something that other families would have done? I could understand it if she had come from there but that does not appear to be the case.
Any advice or rationale about this mystery would be very gratefully received.

Thanks
Lin

**Elwyn** · 03-03-2011 03:38 PM

I can’t answer your particular family question but there was a huge amount of migration between Ireland and Scotland, both for long term employment and for seasonal employment eg berry picking, so it was very common to see lots of children born in Scotland. People went back and forth all the time.

In the 1911 census for Fermanagh, 397 people were born in Scotland. For Co. Antrim the figure was 9161, so that gives you an idea of the levels of movement.

Ireland has few natural resources so, with the exception of linen, didn’t really see the new industries spring up as they did in Scotland and elsewhere eg coal mining, ship building, steel making etc. And that’s before you take into account the famine and other social problems in Ireland. Scotland was very easy to get to, not too expensive (compared with say the US), just an overnight boat to Glasgow, and for those of a Presbyterian background it was seen as the ancestral home anyway. So very popular for folk from Ireland. What you have found was pretty common.

Member Login

Thread: Irish Census records

LinkBack

Thread Tools

Display

Irish Census records Tweet

Posting Permissions