A Census of Population was taken on the night of Sunday, 28 April 1996, in accordance with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order, 1996 (S.I. No. 91 of 1996). Census data is collected every 5 years. The Small Area Population Statistics (SAPS) datasets break the national Census data down by various geographic levels - (i) District Electoral Divisions and Urban and Rural Districts of each county; (ii) Wards of the County Boroughs of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway; (iii) Towns with legally defined boundaries; (iv) Towns of 1,000 population and over (including suburbs or environs, if any); (v) The total suburbs or environs, if any, of each city or town; (vi) Where a town of 1,000 population and over is situated in more than one county, separate data will be available for the part in each county; (vii) Aggregate Town and Aggregate Rural Areas for each County and for the State (viii) Counties, County Boroughs and Municipal Boroughs; (ix) Regional Authority Areas; (x) Health Board Areas; (xi) The Gaeltacht Area of each County; (xii) The total Gaeltacht Area of the Country; (xiii) County and Borough Electoral Areas; (xiv) Constituencies.

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper