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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

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