Sweeny family name history and map
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Sweeny in 1911 Ireland
The 1911 Census recorded 792 people named Sweeny in Ireland; roughly one in every 5,500 people carried the name. The name was split fairly evenly between men and women: 391 men and 401 women.
Counties with Sweeny in Ireland
Cork had the largest share of Sweenys, 17.4% (138 people). Next came Donegal (127), Mayo (90), Roscommon (71) and Dublin (48).
Sweeny average age in 1911
The average Sweeny in 1911 was 31.1 years old, 31.3 for men and 31.0 for women; slightly older than the national averages of 29.6 for men and 30.5 for women. That low figure reflects just how many children there were in Edwardian Ireland, along with high infant mortality and the limits of public health at the time. For comparison, average life expectancy in Ireland today is around 83.
Sweeny literacy in 1911
Of the Sweenys whose literacy was recorded, 80.3% could both read and write, 3.5% could read but not write, and 16.1% could do neither. The figures were much the same for men and women. Bear in mind these figures include young children; the census itself only counted people aged nine and over when calculating illiteracy, on the grounds that it was unfair to label a child illiterate before they'd had a chance to learn.
Sweeny common first names
The most common male names were John (53), Patrick, Michael, James and Thomas; the same five names that topped the list nationally. For women it was Mary (50), followed by Bridget, Margaret, Catherine and Annie.
Sweeny occupations in 1911
The most common entry on a Sweeny's census form was "Scholar"; 19.9% (158) were children at school. Among the rest, the most common occupations were farmer (17.4%), farm labourer (5.7%), domestic servant (5.4%) and general labourer (3.3%). Grouped by sector, agriculture accounted for 23.5% of all Sweenys, followed by domestic service, general labourers and retail & commerce.
What religion is Sweeny?
Sweenys were overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, 94.9% of them. The remainder were mostly Anglican (2.9%), Presbyterian (1.3%) and Baptist (0.4%).
Visitor Notes
Review type for post source and surnames source type not found
Added by
Pete F
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Sweeny statistics (1911)
Number: 792
Rank: 946
Average Age: 31
Sweenyin the USA (2020)
Number: 2,066
Rank: 13,977
Note: If there were less than 100 in the USA census it will show as zero.
