Ireland’s Elders Reflect on 100 Years of Change and Life Experience
The National Archives of Ireland has released the 1926 Census of Population records. The publication surprised several centenarians named as ambassadors for the launch. Filmogaz.com spoke with three of them about a century of life and change.
Centenarian ambassadors and the 1926 census
The archives identified 48 centenarian ambassadors. Each was alive at the time of the 1926 census. They were born between 1920 and 1926, the first census after the State’s 1922 foundation.
Joe Davis: industry, sport and modern communications
Joe Davis was born on March 19, 1923, while the Civil War still raged. He grew up on Gardiner’s Hill in Cork. He is 103 years old.
Davis recalled attending the 1939 All-Ireland hurling final at Croke Park. The match, known as the “Thunder and Lightning Final”, saw Cork lose to Kilkenny by one point. He travelled to that game as a teenager from Freshford in County Kilkenny.
He started work at Dunlop in Cork in 1943 as a tyre builder. He later rose to managing director and managed factories in India. He married his late wife Pat in 1955 and had three children.
Davis emphasised how communications transformed his life. He described swapping weeks-long letter waits for calls to a grandson in Australia from his mobile. He also uses an iPad and watches little television.
Sister Miriam Twohig: teaching, travel and family ties
Sister Miriam Twohig was born on March 14, 1924, at Coolavokig near Macroom. She was the fourth of eight children of John and Mary Twohig. She is 102 years old.
She taught as a lay teacher before joining the Sisters of Charity at age 32. The vocation included a year of study in Rome. In her 80s, she travelled to Australia and New Zealand to visit other convents.
Twohig now lives at Marymount University Hospital and Hospice in Cork, following a broken hip four years ago. She praised the huge improvements in travel. She recalled cycling everywhere as a young woman.
Twohig is a distant cousin of actor Cillian Murphy. She received a signed photograph from him to mark her 100th birthday in 2024.
Pauline Kearns: education and a long teaching career
Pauline Kearns was born in June 1924 in a Protestant area of Belfast. Her family later moved south to the Republic. She is among those born before the April 18, 1926 census date.
Kearns remembers hearing news of the second World War at Mass as a teenager. Her father followed war reports closely on the radio. She praised Winston Churchill’s broadcasts for their morale effect.
She became a Montessori teacher. She taught at Willow Park Junior School. Her former pupils include broadcaster Ryan Tubridy and Dr John Hillery of the Mental Health Commission.
Kearns now lives at the Clevis Unit in Leopardstown Park Hospital. She has a wide extended family, including seven grandnieces and nephews. She will attend a lunch with Taoiseach Micheál Martin to mark the 1926 census launch.
Reflections on a century
All three ambassadors highlighted shifts in daily life. They pointed to faster travel, new technologies, and changing communication habits. Their accounts illustrate Ireland’s elders noting 100 years of change and rich life experience.
Filmogaz.com compiled these recollections as part of coverage of the 1926 census release. The new records provide fresh material for families tracing roots and for historians studying social change.
