The Irish were by far the largest group of immigrants to settle in Scotland. With fares from as little as 6d for a deck passage from Ireland to Greenock, emigration to Scotland was a regular feature of Irish life before 1830. In the 1820s, 6000–8000 Irish per year were making the harvest migration. By the 1840s this had grown to 25,000 over the agricultural season.
The United Kingdom Census of 1881 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of 3 April 1881, and was the fifth of the UK censuses to include details of household members. The Census of England, Wales, Scotland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man collected detailed information on each individual who spent the night in an individual household. Each householder was required to complete a census schedule giving the address of the household, the names, ages, sex, occupations and places of birth of each individual residing in his or her accommodation.
