Dunsany man is 1926 Census Ambassador as National Archives set to release records

George O'Connor is 102 years old

Dunsany resident George O'Connor has been selected as a ‘Centenarian Ambassador’ as the National Archives prepares for the historic release of the 1926 Census of Population records this Saturday, 18th April.

Some 48 ambassadors have been chosen from around 100 people who were alive at the time the census was taken in 1926 and who contacted the National Archives. The ambassadors were born between 1920 and 1926, and live all over Ireland. There are also Centenarian Ambassadors representing the Irish diaspora living in the US, Canada, Britain and Australia.

George O'Connor, who is aged 102, lives in Killeen with his daughter, Leslie, and son-in-law, Johnny. An old family in the area, Leslie inherited the O'Connor family homestead in Killeen, which George's father, John, was born in. The O'Connors were a mechanical minded family, many who worked as drivers, and John was working as a driver for the Leenane Hotel in Galway, before becoming an engine driver for Dublin Fire Brigade at Tara Street, becoming station officer. He drove the fire engine from Dublin to Navan to tackle the fire at the Palace Cinema in Navan in 1949.George was born in Dublin, and was an engineer during his working life, coming to live in Killeen in recent years after the passing of his wife, Nuala, and celebrated his 100th birthday in Killeen in May 2023. He was invited to the Dublin Lord Mayor's centenarian party by Cllr Emma Blain.

To celebrate the public release of the 1926 Census, the National Archives and Department of Culture have announced a wide-ranging public engagement programme, which includes a book, 'The Story Of Us - Independent Ireland and the 1926 Census' (Irish Academic Press), theatre production, 'The Good Luck Club' (ANU Productions) and a landmark RTÉ documentary, which will air next month.

The programme also includes major exhibitions running at Dublin Castle, as well as in London and Boston. The exhibition explores the world reflected in the census to reveal what life was like in the newly independent Ireland of 1926: in towns, cities, the countryside and the islands, from urban tenements to the mansions of the aristocracy. 'The Story of Us' uses contemporary documents and images, audio-visual displays and the census returns themselves to present a picture of life in 1926: from sport and entertainment to language, culture, religion, gender and the working lives of the inhabitants of the Irish Free State a century ago. The exhibition will also tour Ireland, coming to St Marys’s Community Centre, Navan, from 12th June to 2nd July. See www.nationalarchives.ie.