Ireland's rich list 1911: New online census documents show stark inequality a century ago

One of the pictures used by the CSO from the Clonbrook Photographic Collection c1900 to illustrate its new online collection 'Stories from Census 1911: Wealth and Poverty'. Picture courtesy of National Library of Ireland

If you were to be part of the wealthy elite more than 100 years ago, Co Meath was the place to live, according to a new analysis.

Data collated by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) from the 1911 census paints a picture of the haves in the eastern part of the country, while the have-nots toiled away in the west, with those in Co Mayo eking out a particularly difficult existence, at least when it came to having money.