John Gibney

What kind of occupations would have disappeared in 1911, you know?

So that's one question that is often opposed by historians.

I know it's a contentious one, but you can't really provide a credible answer without data.

And what the census does is provide that data.

They would and there wouldn't be plenty of other Italian people to have a chat about that.

You know, like one thing, especially if you're talking about businesses.

And don't forget that the census, important as it is, is one strand of data.

Like you could find someone who's listed in the census as running a particular business.

There may well be a newspaper ad about that business that sheds more light on it.

So you can build, it can be the basis to build up a picture as well, you know.

Yeah, and that's one thing that I couldn't overemphasise enough.

I mean, the census, there's an intensely personal element to the census returns, but it's also, you know, you might look for your grandfather or whatever, okay, but what if they lived somewhere different to where you live now?

You know, I'd be looking for, I mean, I'd be looking for, you know,

various people in South Inner City Dublin later on you know but I don't live in South Inner City Dublin you know so what the census does is provide the people it provides information not just about your forebears but the people who came before you in the place in which you live in your community you know in the house in which you live in the street in which you live in the town or village in which you grew up you know it's information about who came before you whether or not you're related to them Absolutely and Orla when can we delve into all of this?