A-Z of Irish Genealogy Terms | Irish Family Detective

Occupation	Description
Accoucheur	A professional obstetrician. Assisted women in childbirth.
Accoutrement Maker	Supplier or maker of military clothing and accessories.
Alderman	A senior member of a town council who would have been selected by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council member elected by voters.
Apiculturist	A keeper of bees.
Artizan	One who is employed in any of the industrial arts; a mechanic, handicraftsman, artificer.
Ballad Seller	Seller of sheet music.
Barker	Tanner i.e. tans (cures) animal hides into leather.
Carter	Carries or conveys goods in a cart.
Chandler	A candle maker, or someone who would sell groceries or provisions to ships.
Colporteur	Travelling Bible or religious books and pamphlets salesman.
Compositor	Set the type ready for printing.
Cooper	Maker of wooden barrels.
Cork Cutter	Someone who cuts the bark of the cork tree into cylindrical pieces to be used in casks or bottles.
Costermonger	Person who sells fruit or vegetables (sometimes fish or other commodities) from a street stand, barrow or cart.
Curled Hair Merchant	A dealer in horse-hair stuffing used in upholstery.
Eggler	One who gathers, or deals in, eggs (or Poultry).
Feather Dresser	Cleaned and prepared feathers for sale.
Fuller	Fabric worker who shrinks, beats and presses the cloth.
Ganger	Foreman i.e. in charge of a gang of men.
Haberdasher	A dealer in drapery goods of various types, such as laces, silks, trimmings, etc.
Hackle Setter	Set and maintained the pins in a Hackle (metal plate with rows of pointed needles used to blend or straighten hair or flax).
Hobbler	rows or sculls small boat (in docks or rivers), in which he acts as unlicensed pilot, or does odd jobs.
Huckster	Seller of small wares.
Japanner	One who applies a hard brilliant coat of any of several varnishes to objects.
Journeyman	A tradesman who has served his trade apprenticeship and mastered his craft, not bound to serve a master, but originally hired by the day.
Lamplighter	A man who would put out or turn on, the gas street-lights.
Lapper	A textile worker involved in the finishing process of the cloth prior to packing.
Laster	Person who shaped shoes on a last (the mould of the human foot made of wood and used to shape footwear).
Navvy	A labourer building canals, roads or railways.
Osler	A bird catcher.
Packet Porter	Logistics of working with packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation. Note City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.
Philosophical Instrument Maker	A person who made scientific instruments e.g. kaleidoscope
Phrenologist	Studied the conformation of the skull to decipher mental faculties and traits of character.
Pin Setter	Hammers in pins, spikes, pegs or needles in component parts of textile machinery.
Rivetter	Someone who rivets, i.e. metal plates on a ship.
Saw Doctor	Person who made, repaired, and maintained cutting tools and saw blade. Also maintained and aligned mechanical parts of a range of production machines.
Tallow Chandler	One who made or sold candles.
Tanner	Tans (cures) animal hides into leather.
Trimmer	A person who trims a ship by re-arranging its cargo to distribute the weight properly.
Tucker	Cleaner of cloth goods.
Wheelwright	A maker of wheels for carts etc.
Whipper-In	Someone who managed the hounds in a hunt.
Whitesmith	A metal worker who finishes and polishes metals; in particular tin plate and galvanized iron.
Whitewasher	Whitewashed the walls of cottages and other buildings.
Winder	Someone who transferred the yarn from bobbins onto cheeses or into balls ready for weaving. Also, in the mines someone who operated the pulley or winch.

A-Z OF IRISH CENSUS OCCUPATIONS

As you research your Irish ancestors you may come across some occupations that you have not heard of before. All the jobs listed below can be found on the 1901 Irish Census. To discover

how to search by occupation you can view this How To video. Finally if you would like to add another unusual occupation you can fill out the form here.