'Irish Church' in 1901 and 1911 census

[jdchisim]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could help explain the listing of religious profession as 'Irish Church' in the 1901 and 1911 census and any perhaps connotations with that?

I did a google and found this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Church

Which includes this paragraph: "Historically, the term Irish Church was used to refer exclusively to the Church of Ireland. This usage dates from pre-disestablishment; it can still be seen in the title of the Irish Anglican missionary organization Irish Church Missions. The fact that a large portion of Irish Anglicans delineated themselves as being members of the Irish Church in the census of both 1901 and 1911 suggests that this term remained in common parlance even after disestablishment."

I looked up the Irish Church missions and it shows the conversion of Catholics to Protestants.

I ask because in 1901 and 1911 census my ancestors list themselves as Irish Church. In 1911 it actually shows that it said Protestant Church and it was written over as Irish Church:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002352972/

To speculate on this, the change perhaps indicates that they didn't want to be associated with that. But is it logical to conclude that they were converts under the Irish Church missions or is there something else that I could read into this? I know this is speculation and you can never actually know why but from the wikipedia entry it seems this is common so why did people do it?

EDIT: I note in the enumerators abstracts that they state "Church of Ireland" or "Irish Church". Why is there that separation?

If anyone could explain the historical context for this or point me to where I can read up that would be great.

Thanks for any replies.

[eileenwilson]

Irish Church was just another way to refer to the Church of Ireland (Church of England = Anglican).  Protestant would have been too broad, as it would have encompassed Presbyterians, etc.

[gaffy]

Irish Church was just another way to refer to the Church of Ireland (Church of England = Anglican).  Protestant would have been too broad, as it would have encompassed Presbyterians, etc.

Yes, two terms used in the relevant census to reflect the same thing, I'm not seeing any particular significance in this, the correction of 'Protestant Church' to 'Irish Church' in the specific 1911 census return (before or at enumeration) is in line with the advice for column 4:

[Members of Protestant Denominations are requested not to describe themselves by the vague term "Protestant," but to enter the name of the Particular Church, Denomination, or Body to which they belong.]