Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The purpose of the project was to provide machine-readable economic and social history statistics relating to the whole of Ireland for the period 1821-1971. Further information about the project is available on the QUB Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis website.


Main Topics:

The main tables are:
Total number of persons who could read and write, read only, or neither read nor write, grouped by baronies and gender (1841-1861).
Total number of persons who could read and write, read only, or neither read nor write, grouped by counties, gender and age groups (1841, 1901-1911).
Total number of persons who could read and write, read only, or neither read nor write, grouped by counties and gender (1851-1861).
Total number of persons who could read and write, read only, or neither read nor write, grouped by counties, gender, age groups and religion (1871-1891).

Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.

This data collection contains data primarily from both the 1841 and 1851 Census of Ireland used in Fernihough and Ó Gráda (2022). Also contained, where available, are population counts from the 1821 and 1831 censuses. The data collection also includes an amended version of the Civil Parish Shapefile from townlands.ie (OpenStreetMap Ireland, 2020). Both data sources were adjusted to ensure concordance. The towlands.ie data is open data is open data, licensed under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL). Please contact Alan Fernihough for further details or queries.

The “shapefile” files are the GIS files one needs to load the spatial boundaries. The census data is included in the “data.csv” file and one must merge this to the shapefiles to work with these data. However, this is a simple process. The file “load and join.R” is an example of how this could be performed using the R statistical software package.

Was early 19th century Ireland overpopulated and fertility at an unsustainable level, or did other factors cause the Great Irish Famine? Did the famine-induced migration to Britain spread infectious diseases and have a substantial impact on British mortality rates? Similarly, what impact did the famine have on the British labour force and economy generally? This research project will answer these questions.

The Great Famine was a watershed in global history. It was the last major famine to occur in a Western economy, and had long-run impacts. The enduring legacy of the famine has sparked the interest of numerous novelists and playwrights.

Earlier this year, news that media group Channel 4 was considering commissioning a Great Famine-based sitcom stoked an intense public debate. Many felt that this would trivialise the tragedy. The length and breadth of this debate underlined the immense interest that still surrounds the famine. However, the spectrum of opinions as to the causes and consequences of the famine also highlighted the need for further historical research.

Let the Data Speak

Joel Mokyr's influential 1983 book Why Ireland Starved redefined famine research. Before, famine-related research was largely based on qualitative assessments that left ample room for both conjecture and, rhetoric, and errors. Unlike previous researchers, Mokyr, wanted to let the data decide whether or not it was Ireland's overpopulation that caused the famine. To do this he gathered data on the population density of Irish regions and found that it was Ireland's least densely populated regions that were the ones that suffered worse during the famine. Mokyr's test did not support the overpopulation theory (captured by what is known as the Malthusian model).

I hasten to add that the Malthusian model cannot be considered to have been refuted by this finding. For one thing, the possibility that more sophisticated econometric techniques and improved data will reverse the finding cannot be ruled out. (Mokyr, 1983).

Whilst striking, Mokyr's analysis was based on variation between relatively few data points (Ireland's 32 counties), as the quote above testifies. This study is motivated by the above quote. Better data (from over 3,000 civil parishes) and more sophisticated econometric techniques exist, and therefore Mokyr's findings can at last be re-evaluated, something this project will do.

Mokyr's philosophy of letting the data speak, can also be applied to help uncover some of the Great Famine's consequences. Specifically, this project will quantify the impact that famine-induced migration had on Britain.

The famine caused a mass movement of the Irish population to Britain. Before the famine, there were around 430,000 Irish born in Britain. By 1851, the Irish-born population had grown to 730,000. This crisis-driven mass-migration echoes Europe's migration crisis today, as people flea from war-torn and economically desolate nations in Africa and Asia. In this sense, the Great Irish Famine provides a form of historical natural experiment from which we can learn from and gain a greater understanding of the consequences of mass migrations.

What effect did the Irish famine have on Britain? This research will use newly available census data (released as part of the ESRC-funded ICeM project) to uncover how the Irish famine influenced the British economy and labour force. For example, did the influx of Irish in certain cities such as Liverpool and Manchester boost demand and help to speed up economic growth, or did this migration depress the wages of locals and therefore stifle economic advancement? In addition, this project will also use newly available records of regional mortality to calculate what impact, if any, the Great Famine had on mortality in England and Wales. If the Irish famine caused elevated levels of mortality, this implies that the ultimate death toll of the Irish famine is underestimated.

Ireland Census contains records from Scalp, Peterswell, County Galway, Ireland by Class: RG14; Census of Ireland 1901/1911. The National Archives of Ireland. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/: accessed 31 May 2013; Ancestry.com. Web: Ireland, Census, 1911 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. - .

Abstract

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system.

The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Household

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: No - Vacant units: No - Households: Yes - Individuals: Yes - Group quarters: Yes

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: A dwelling unit is living accommodation which is occupied or, if vacant, is intended for occupation, by one or more households. - Group quarters: Examples of non-private households are establishments or institutions. These include hotels, country clubs, guest houses, B&Bs, boarding houses, hostel, semiary, monastery or convent, hospital, nurses' home, nursing home, county home, orphanage, boarding school, garda stations, and military barracks.

Universe

All persons present in Ireland on the census night, including visitors and those in residence. Usual residents who were temporarily absent were excluded.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Central Statistics Office

SAMPLE DESIGN: A 10% random sample of the recoded household records from each county was selected. The records within each county were sorted randomly before output to the sample file.

SAMPLE UNIT: Household

SAMPLE FRACTION: 10%

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 365,323

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

There are 2 forms to be completed by households or individuals: (1) Form A - Census Form (or Schedule); and (2) Form A(P) - Personal Form. The information from Form A is used here.

Population aged 3 years and over by ability to speak Irish by Small Area. (Census 2022 Theme 3 Table 1 )Census 2022 table 3.1 is population aged 3+ by ability to speak Irish. Details include population counts by ability to speak Irish. Census 2022 theme 3 is Irish Language. Census Small Areas are the lowest level of geography for the dissemination of Census data and typically contain between 50 and 200 dwellings. They are generally comprised of complete neighbourhoods or townlands and they nest within CSO Electoral Divisions. Census 2022 Small Areas have been redrawn to ensure they remain consistent with the principle of data protection and are relatively comparable in size. This redraw was necessary following changes in population size and distribution between 2016 and 2022 and was done by the CSO with support from Tailte Éireann. Small Areas were first published for Census 2011 following work undertaken by the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) on behalf of Tailte Éireann and in consultation with the CSO. Coordinate reference system: Irish Transverse Mercator (EPSG 2157). These boundaries are based on 20m generalised boundaries sourced from Tailte Éireann Open Data Portal. CSO Small Areas 2022

From 1821 until 2011, the male and female populations of the 26 counties of the modern-day Republic of Ireland grew at a relatively similar rate, however some fluctuations did occur. During this time, the entire island of Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, after both islands were united by the Acts of Union in 1800. This graph shows the populations of the 26 counties that would later form the Republic of Ireland in 1921, and does not include the six counties that became known as Northern Ireland.

As we can see, both populations follow a relatively similar trend throughout their respective histories. In the first three entries, women outnumber men by 70,000 to 120,000, although these figures do not include military personnel which would narrow this margin. Both populations fall at a similar rate during and after the famine, however the male population does fall slightly faster, possibly due to an increased rate of emigration among males. Another point where both populations differ is in the early twentieth century, where the female population declines in a relatively smooth curve, although the male populations peak in the census data before and after both world wars. From 1956 onwards both populations follow a very similar trend, and grow at the same rate. The difference in population sizes never exceeds 30,000 people, until the final entry in 2011 where the population of men is 2.27 million and the population of women is 2.31 million.

The island of Ireland is split into 32 different counties, and from 1800 until 1921 the whole island was a part of the United Kingdome of Great Britain and Ireland (although Britain had been a controlling presence on the island for considerably longer than this). In 1921 the island was split into two separate states, where the six counties with the highest population of Protestants formed part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other 26 counties became the Independent Republic of Ireland. From 1821 until 1841, the population of these 26 counties was growing steadily, until the Great Famine from 1845 to 1849 swept across the island, particularly devastating the west and south.

The famine was caused by a Europe-wide potato blight that contributed to mass starvation and death throughout the continent, although it's impact on Ireland was much harsher than anywhere else. The potato blight affected Ireland so severely as the majority of potatoes in Ireland were of a single variety which allowed the disease to spread much faster than in other countries. People in the west and south of Ireland were particularly dependent on potatoes, and these areas were affected more heavily than the north and west, where flax and cereals were the staple. As the potato blight spread, the population became increasingly reliant on dairy and grain products, however a lot of these resources were relocated by the British military to combat food shortages in Britain. Due to disproportional dependency on potatoes, and mismanagement by the British government, over one million people died and a further one million emigrated. The Great Famine lasted from just 1845 to 1849, but it's legacy caused almost a century of population decline, and to this day, the population of Ireland has never exceeded it's pre-famine levels.

The population decline continued well into the twentieth century, during which time the Republic of Ireland achieved independence from the British Empire. After centuries of fighting and rebellion against British rule, Irish nationalists finally gained some independence from Britain in 1921, establishing an Irish Republic in the 26 counties. There was a lot of conflict in Ireland in the early 1900s, through the War of Independence and Irish Civil War, however the population of the Republic began growing again from the 1960s onwards as the quality of life improved and the emigration rate declined. The population was at it's lowest from 1926 to 1971, where it remained at just under three million, but in the following fifty years the population has grown by over two million people.

This feature layer was created using Census 2016 data produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and Local Electoral Area boundary data (generalised to 20m) produced by Tailte Éireann. The layer represents Census 2016 theme 4.1, families, family members and children in families. Attributes include family size by number of families, number of persons and number of children (e.g. 2 persons (No. of families), 3 persons (No. of persons), 5 persons (No. of children)). Census 2016 theme 4 represents Families. The Census is carried out every five years by the CSO to determine an account of every person in Ireland. The results provide information on a range of themes, such as, population, housing and education. The data were sourced from the CSO.For the purposes of County Council and Corporation elections each county and city is divided into Local Electoral Areas (LEAs) which are constituted on the basis of Orders made under the Local Government Act, 1941. In general, LEAs are formed by aggregating Electoral Divisions. However, in a number of cases Electoral Divisions are divided between LEAs to facilitate electors. The current composition of the LEAs have been established by Statutory Instruments No’s 427-452/2008, 503-509/2008 and 311/1998.

This dataset provides census estimates for the number of usual residents living in households in Northern Ireland for the census years 1851 - 2021. It also includes an estimate of the number of households and average household size.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

The quality assurance report can be found here

This feature layer was created using Census 2016 data produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and NUTS 3 boundary data (generalised to 100m) produced by Tailte Éireann. The layer represents Census 2016 theme 6.4, permanent private households by number of rooms. Attributes include a breakdown of private households by number of rooms, number of households and number of persons (e.g. 3 rooms (No. of households), 6 rooms (No. of persons)). Census 2016 theme 6 represents Housing.The Census is carried out every five years by the CSO to determine an account of every person in Ireland. The results provide information on a range of themes, such as, population, housing and education. The data were sourced from the CSO.NUTS 3 boundaries generalised to 100m. The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) were drawn up by Eurostat in order to define territorial units for the production of regional statistics across the European Union. The NUTS classification has been used in EU legislation since 1988, but it was only in 2003 that the EU Member States, the European Parliament and the Commission established the NUTS regions within a legal framework (Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003). The Irish NUTS 3 regions comprise the eight Regional Authorities established under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993 which came into operation on January 1st 1994. The NUTS 2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed to by Eurostat in 1999, are groupings of the Regional Authorities.

The 2021 Northern Ireland Census marked the first time since records began where the Catholic share of the population was larger than the combined Protestant share. In 2021, over 42 percent of the population classified themselves as Catholic or from a Catholic background, in comparison with 37 percent classified as Protestant or from a Protestant background. Additionally, the share of the population with no religion (or those who did not answer) was 19 percent; larger than any individual Protestant denomination. This marks a significant shift in demographic and societal trends over the past century, as Protestants outnumbered Catholics by roughly 2:1 when Northern Ireland was established in the 1920s. Given the Catholic community's historic tendency to be in favor of a united Ireland, many look to the changing religious composition of the population when assessing the potential for Irish reunification. Religion's historical influence A major development in the history of British rule in ireland was the Plantation of Ulster in the 1600s, where much of the land in the north (historically the most rebellious region) was seized from Irish Catholics and given to Protestant settlers from Britain (predominantly Scots). This helped establish Protestant dominance in the north, created a large section of the population loyal to the British crown, and saw a distinct Ulster-Scots identity develop over time. In the 1920s, the republican movement won independence for 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, however, the six counties in Ulster with the largest Protestant populations remained part of the UK, as Northern Ireland. Following partition, structural inequalities between Northern Ireland's Protestant and Catholic communities meant that the Protestant population was generally wealthier, better educated, more politically empowered, and had better access to housing, among other advantages. In the 1960s, a civil rights movement then emerged for equal rights and status for both sides of the population, but this quickly turned violent and escalated into a the three-decade long conflict now known as the Troubles.

The Troubles was largely fought between nationalist/republican paramilitaries (mostly Catholic), unionist/loyalist paramilitaries (mostly Protestant), and British security forces (including the police). This is often described as a religious conflict, however it is more accurately described as an ethnic and political conflict, where the Catholic community generally favored Northern Ireland's reunification with the rest of the island, while the Protestant community wished to remain in the UK. Paramilitaries had a large amount of support from their respective communities in the early years of the Troubles, but this waned as the conflict progressed into the 1980s and 1990s. Demographic and societal trends influenced the religious composition of Northern Ireland's population in these decades, as the Catholic community had higher fertility rates than Protestant communities, while the growing secularism has coincided with a decline in those identifying as Protestant - the dip in those identifying as Catholic in the 1970s and 1980s was due to a protest and boycott of the Census. The Troubles came to an end in 1998, and divisions between both sides of the community have drastically fallen, although they have not disappeared completely.

The UK censuses took place on 21st April 1991. They were run by the Census Office for Northern Ireland, General Register Office for Scotland, and the Office of Population and Surveys for both England and Wales. The UK comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Statistics from the UK censuses help paint a picture of the nation and how we live. They provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics, and underpin funding allocation to provide public services.

The Northern Ireland Individual SAR is a 2% sample of individuals which was drawn from the full set of 1991 Census records. It was released to the then Census Microdata Unit (now the Centre for Census and Survey Research) in May 1994 who then undertook quality assurance work and produced documentation and additional derived variables.

The dataset contains 31,967 person records and 53 variables. A number of protections are in place to ensure the anonymity of cases in the data including the low sampling fraction, grouping of some rare categories, limitation of geographical detail and record reordering so that the cases are not ordered geographically.

Once the Household SAR (held under SN 7213) had been removed to avoid an overlap between the two files, remaining records were stratified into groups of 99 and two individuals were chosen from each group. Individuals in communal establishments were stratified geographically into groups of 50 people and one person was chosen at random from each group. Unlike Great Britain, 100% of Northern Ireland records were coded.

For many variables, the codes that are used in the Northern Ireland SARs differ from those used in the GB SARs. Where this is the case, the Northern Ireland coding follows on numerically from the GB coding but it will not necessarily start at 1 and have a value for every succeeding integer. For example, 'household family type' uses quite different coding to the nearest GB equivalent 'family type': the GB codes run from 00 through to 08, whilst the Northern Ireland codes pick up from 09 and run through to 23.

Further information, including guides and other documentation, may be found on the Cathie Marsh Centre for Survey Research Samples of Anonymised Records (SARS) website.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents aged 1 and over in Northern Ireland by address one year ago. The estimates are as at census day, 21 March 2021. Address one year ago statistics should be viewed in light of the fact that Census 2021 took place during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when travel restrictions were in place.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

This dataset provides census estimates for the number of usual residents in Northern Ireland for the census years 1851 - 2021 by broad age bands, and by sex.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents aged 3 and over in Northern Ireland who can speak Irish by frequency of speaking Irish. The estimates are as at census day, 21 March 2021.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify male usual residents in Northern Ireland by five year age bands. The estimates are as at census day, 21 March 2021.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The purpose of the project was to provide machine-readable economic and social history statistics relating to the whole of Ireland for the period 1821-1971. Further information about the project is available on the QUB Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis website.


Main Topics:

The dataset contains census of industrial production data covering output, capital employed, wages, persons employed, firm size and location; and trade statistics covering commodities imported and exported and value of trade between countries. All the relevant background material is incorporated either in the documentation files or in the scanned images of the tables of contents, prefaces, and notes in the original source.

The main census of industrial production tables are:

Gross value of output, cost of materials, total net output, salaries, wages, remainder of net output, and number of persons engaged for each industry or trade (1926, 1929, 1932-1971) Republic of Ireland only.

Value of industrial commodities for each industry or trade (1926, 1929, 1932-1947) Republic of Ireland only.

Value of stocks of materials, work in progress, stocks of goods made by the establishment, and stocks of goods purchased for resale without further processing for each industry or trade (1953-1963 and 1966-1971) Republic of Ireland only.

Value of stocks of materials, work in progress, stocks of goods made by the establishment, plant and machinery, and building and land for each industry or trade (1953-1963 and 1966-1971) Republic of Ireland.

Annual change in value of fixed capital in each year including cost of plant, machinery and vehicles, cost of new buildings including extensions and substantial alterations, cost of land and other fixed assets, value of sales of plant and machinery, value of sales of vehicles, value of sales of land and buildings for each industry or trade (1945-1954, 1956-1965 and 1968-1971) Republic of Ireland only.

Value of various fuels consumed by each industry and trades (1926, 1929 and 1932-1947) Republic of Ireland only.

Total number of proprietors, salaried employees, industrial wage earners, other wage earners for each industry or trade, grouped by gender and age under or over 18 (1926, 1929, 1932-1947) Republic of Ireland only.

Wage rates both for salaried employees and wage earners for each industry or trade (1926, 1929, 1936-1947) Republic of Ireland only.

Average earnings per week and average hours worked by week for each industry or trade, grouped by gender and age under or over 18 (1937-1944, 1958-1967 and 1969-1971) Republic of Ireland only.

Number of wage earners for each industry or trade grouped by wage rate and gender(1937, 1958-1967) Republic of Ireland only.

Number of wage earners for each industry or trade grouped by wage rate and age under or over 18 (1938-1944) Republic of Ireland only.

Size of labour force in firms for each industry or trade (1929, 1935-1938 and 1944-1947) Republic of Ireland only.

Number of firms, gross output excluding excise duty, net output, and average number of persons engaged grouped by county for each industry or trade (1936-1947) Republic of Ireland only.

Value of sales and work done, value of stocks of finished products and work in progress at beginning and end of year, cost of outward transport of goods sold, gross output, net output, persons employed, output per person employed, costs of purchases of materials and fuel, stocks of materials and fuels at beginning and end of year, cost of inward transport of materials and fuels used, and amount paid for work given out for each industry or trade (1951-1957) Northern Ireland only.

Gross output, sales, purchases of materials and fuels, net output, net output per person, persons employed, and wages and salaries paid for each industry or trade (1963 and 1968-1972) Northern Ireland only.

Gross output, cost of materials and amount paid to other firms for work given out, cost of inward transport, net output, persons employed, and output per person employed for each industry or trade (1930, 1935 and 1949-1968) Northern Ireland only.

Number of working proprietors and directors, number of administrative, technical and clerical staff, number of operatives, salaries of administrative, technical and clerical staff, earnings of operatives for each industry or trade (1949-1972) Northern Ireland only.

Value of plant and machinery and plant acquired during the year, value of vehicles acquired during year, capital expenditure on new buildings, disposal of plant, machinery and vehicles for each industry or trade (1949-1968) Northern Ireland only

New building work, land and existing buildings, plant and machinery, vehicles, total disposals, net capital...

Chart and table of Ireland population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

This feature layer was created using Census 2016 data produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and Constituency boundary data (generalised to 50m) produced by Tailte Éireann. The layer represents Census 2016 theme 2.3, the population usually resident in Ireland by usual residence 1 year before Census Day. Attributes include population breakdown by usual residence (e.g. same address, outside Ireland). Census 2016 theme 2 represents Migration, Ethnicity and Religion. The Census is carried out every five years by the CSO to determine an account of every person in Ireland. The results provide information on a range of themes, such as, population, housing and education. The data were sourced from the CSO. Constituency Boundaries generalised to 50m are based on the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013.

This feature layer represents the proportion of the population 15 years and over who have achieved at least primary education. Attributes include a breakdown by gender and level of education achieved. The layer has been developed as a proxy to represent SDG 4.6.1 ‘Proportion of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex' for Ireland. Census 2016 data produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and Administrative County boundary data produced by Tailte Éireann were used to create this feature layer.In 2015 UN countries adopted a set of 17 goals to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to help achieve the goals set out in the agenda by 2030. Governments are committed to establishing national frameworks for the achievement of the 17 Goals and to review progress using accessible quality data. With these goals in mind the CSO and Tailte Éireann are working together to link geography and statistics to produce indicators that help communicate and monitor Ireland’s performance in relation to achieving the 17 sustainable development goals.The indicator displayed supports the efforts to achieve goal number 4 which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.