CENSUS 1926: Springtime in a new nation

Jimmy Geoghegan looks back at the Meath Chronicle editions of April 1926 and what was being reported in the early years of the new Free State as its first census was being taken

It didn’t do to become embroiled in a court case in 1926. A person’s reputation could be shredded as quickly as a sand castle is washed away by the incoming tide – but court cases was clearly what people wanted to read about back in those days.

They made up a very sizeable chunk of the eight-page Meath Chronicle that retailed at two pence a copy. Even the front page was festooned with tales from the courts – and those brought to answer before the law were mercilessly exposed to scrutiny in front of their neighbours in the reports carried by the newspaper. If a case made it into the Chronicle there was no hiding place.

The number of cases - and how they were extensively reported with every detail parsed and reflected upon - served also to highlighted what life was like for many people in Meath and surrounding counties in that year when the first Census was taken. There were cases, for instance, concerned with cattle stealing, rows between family members, as well as assault, drunkedness, vagrancy and an alleged non-payment of debt were just some of the other reasons why cases were brought before the courts. There was also an incident of domestic violence or, “family troubles” as it was referred to in the Chronicle. That too made it onto the front page.

In the issue of the 3rd April it was reported how at the court in Virginia, a complainant, Peter Lynch, brought a case against the defendant, James Brady, who was also his son-in-law. Lynch testified that he had witnessed the defendant “beating his wife on the side of a hill in his own field” after he had “pursued” her there. The defendant claimed he had asked his wife for his dinner but had been told to “get the dinner himself” a response that apparently provoked the reaction. The case was adjourned to the next session without sentencing.

As well as events that unfolded in Meath, the Chronicle also extensively reported on breaking news in Westmeath and Cavan. The paper, as it proudly announced in its masthead was the Meath Chronicle as well as the “Cavan and Westmeath Herald” – and it clearly took those titles seriously.

One of the more intriguing, compelling court cases from the time, carried by the paper on the front page, bears an intriguing headline that simply reads: ‘High Treason.’

The case involved two men including Gerard O’Reilly from Durhamstown who was “first arraigned on a charge under that of having on 23rd December, 1923, assisted in the formation and organisation of an association purporting to be a military force and which was not established by law.” Peter McMahon of Tierworker was similiarly charged.

With memories of the War of Independence and Civil War still very fresh, the authorities were clearly seeking to keep a close watch on any paramilitary activity with those so arraigned made to answer under the so-called ‘Treason Act.’ However, on this occasion both men were found, despite a considerable weight the evidence against them, not guilty by the jury and the case against them dismissed.

The chief way most people made a living in the newly-minted Irish Free Stage in 1926 was through farming and this reality was reflected in all sorts of ways – including the kind of products that were advertised in the Chronicle.

Dublin-based Keenans, a farm-products company, advertised the sale of “gates and haysheds” and their structures were to become familiar sights on farms right up to modern times. Every week there was an extensive list of when and where fairs would be held - offering farmers the chance to buy and sell cattle.

The importance of the bicycle as a mode of transport was reflected in how the theft of bikes was regarded as a very serious offence, with a number of such cases brought up before the courts.

The importance of the trusty old bicycle was also mirrored in newspaper advertisements. ‘Raleigh the All-Steel Bicycle’ thundered one ad that also included a list of 13 outlets from Delvin to Drogheda and Kells to Kingscourt where the famous mode of transport could be purchased.

A company that went by the name of Alesbury Bros - and who had an outlet in Athlumney, Navan - also advertised the availability of “the famous Alesbury gold medal cars.” These were not cars as we know them today but horse-drawn carts that could carry about six passengers. The gold medal car was clearly a mode of transport aimed at the upwardly mobile.

Trains still steamed and puffed their way through the Meath countryside but not everyone was happy with the kind of service they received. In a letter to the Chronicle by “an esteemed correspondent” the writer complained about the Great Southern Railway and the company’s decision to remove “the through carriages that had served Trim and Athboy on the evening train from Broadstone.“ This presented the intrepid traveller with a problem. “Passengers have now to change at Kilmessan with all their luggage,” wrote the correspondent. “The platform is ill-lighted, uncovered, and without a waiting room. Thus to the inconvenience is added danger on cold and wet nights. No wonder travellers are abandoning trains and using motors,” added the irate writer.

The prevelence of smoking, especially pipe-smoking, was seen in how, in 1926, the manufacturors of various products sought to get the attention of the public with their sizeable ads that highlighted the pleasures using their products. There was one ad, for example, for “Clarke’s Perfect Plug’ while another simply read: "Mick for Meath” referring to the availability of the popular ‘Mick McQuaid Tobacco.’ Both products were promoted by large and presumably relatively expensive ads.

However, some people in Meath were, in 1926, as much interested in growing tobacco as they were in smoking the stuff. The Chronicle extensively covered a sitting of a Dail Committee into “home grown tobacco duties” with two local producers Fr J F Sweetman and Major Everard who were asked to appear before the Committee to talk about the sector.

Fr Sweetman outlined how “recently I have been growing from a quarter of an acre to one third of an acre.” The type of tobacco he was producing was exclusively for cigars and how he had “two or three girls employed making cheroots.”

Major Everard (of Randelstown House, although that wasn’t clearly outlined in the report) spoke of how home growers in Ireland were facing problems caused by cheaper imported tobacco. “ We could not compete with that,” he added. The problems facing tobacco growers was further highlighted in a Chronicle editorial that went by the name of ‘Casual Comments.’ In the extended piece the writer plainly outlined the dire consequences for the local community from a collapse of a sector that once thrived in the Royal County. A reporting relating to the once busy Beauparc Copper Mines and whether they could be opened or not, outlined how the mine was now “flooded” and that reality diminished any prospect of a re-opening.

For those who stayed in their homeland and avoided the “sorry succour of the emigrant ship” there was diversions from the many hardships of life in the various entertainments provided in Meath in 1926.

Whist drives were popular while Navan Races at Proudstown Park were held on Monday 24th April. For others more into the arts there was an opera – ‘The Gondoliers’ – on offer at the CYMS Hall in Navan on the Sunday while the Japanese Operetta – ‘Princess Chrysanthemus’ - was on show at the St Vincent de Paul Hall, Kells with front seats costing three shillings, second seats, two shillings while a place “at the back of the hall” could be secured for one shilling. A ‘Grand Concert and Dramatic Entertainment’ was on offer in Kilskyre Temperance Hall.

For those who wished to travel further afield they could opt for “Clery’s Special Excursions to Dublin” and catch a specially provided bus from Oldcastle, Kells, Navan, Beauparc, Duleek and other locations at a cost, depending on where they got on. The bus was available to anybody “whether they come to Clery’s or not.”

Under the title of ‘Gaelic Pastimes’ events on the playing fields of Meath - and even more so, Cavan - were recorded.

At the end of April “a senior football league final of 1925” between Donaghmore and “An Uaimh Gaels” was included in the column. “A measure of the gaiety was added to the occasion by the presence of An Uaimh Brass and Reed Band, which formed up in the town (presumably Navan although that wasn’t outlined) and led the way to the grounds where they played several selections during the afternoon, which the gathering much appreciated,” ran the report. The Gaels won the game 1-10 to 1-3.

On the same page there were extensive reports of Cavan league matches between Maghera and Kingscourt as well as Cavan Slashers and Virginia, a contest the Slashers won, 1-7 to 1-1. Life in all its fullness was on view in all sorts of ways in Meath and surrounding counties in the spring of 1926.

The Story of Us: Census 1926 is a landmark exhibition marking this historic release of census records, hosted by Meath County Archive at Meath County Council for the National Archives.

It explores the world reflected in the census and reveals what life was like in 1926: in towns and cities, across rural communities and islands, from crowded urban tenements to the mansions of the aristocracy.

Using contemporary documents and photographs, audio‑visual displays, and — at its heart — the census returns themselves, the exhibition presents a vivid portrait of Ireland a century ago. Visitors will encounter stories of work and daily life, language and culture, sport and entertainment, religion, gender, and the social realities of a newly independent state.

Venue: St Mary’s Community Centre, Trimgate Street, Navan, C15 C8KX.

Saturday 13th June– Sunday 28th June, 9am-5pm.