That sounds like a credible explanation, Jenny. Although the National Schools system got motoring in the early 1830s I hadn't thought of the "..........young people were more likely to emigrate than the elderly....." aspect. As you imply, a large proportion of those who had just gone through the new schools emigrated. In addition to being young and vigorous and naturally restless, the young schoolleavers ( = the literate ) would presumably have been those who read the letters being sent home from the new worlds, letters which would have surely made them even more restless. And then there was the "who-gets-the-farm" factor. Young sons who had no hope of inheriting the farm would naturally seek their fortunes elsewhere. I wonder whether the "literacy" referred to English or Irish or both. Pádraig (the Paddy that was) -----Original Message----- From: irl-clare-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:irl-clare-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of jnnyb@aol.com Sent: 03 January 2007 01:49 To: irl-clare@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [IRL-CLARE] 1841-1881 Population Figures - illiteracy Hi Padraig, The relatively high rate of illiteracy is probably linked to the age distribution. i.e if the number of young people who would/could have gone through the education system was low and the number of folder olk who didn't have that advantage was high, this may account for the figures. As young people were more likely to emigrate than the elderly, this might also contribute to the figures. Any chance of an age distribution Larry? Jenny ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CLARE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message