Ireland’s National Census Let People Add a Time Capsule Message to Be Revealed in 2122

What a great idea! A new time capsule feature could start some bigger conversations amongst Irish descendants — 100 years from now.

At the end of this year’s census form, people were given the chance to voluntarily add a time capsule message, which is set to remain private until 2122. It could be an opportunity to leave a message to future generations or historians.

The census, which took place Sunday, encouraged those filling out the voluntary form to consider what insights descendants might be able to learn about life in 2022 a century from now. Then today’s citizens could write anything they wish their descendants (and others) to read.

“Will they feel a strong connection with us, as we do now when we look up the individual census records from 1901 and 1911?” the census website asks.

You can read more in an article by Rina Torchinsky published in the NPR web site at: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/05/1091045484/ireland-irish-census-time-capsule-100-years

I hereby propose we do the same thing in the 2030 U.S. Census.