People born in Ireland in 1911 could only expect to live until their early 50s, a new report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has shown.

The report, Life in 1916 Ireland: Stories from Statistics, was published to mark Ireland's centenary this Easter and to provide a snapshot of what life was like 100 years ago.

It reveals that during the period 1911 to 2011, Ireland's population grew by 46%, from 3.1 million to 4.6 million people. Today's Ireland has more middle-aged people and fewer young people than the Ireland of 1911.

In 1916, the death rate was 16.1 deaths per 1,000 people. By 2014, this had fallen to 6.3 deaths per 1,000. The biggest cause of death in 2016 was tuberculosis (TB), which killed 6,471 people. In 2014, the same disease killed 25 people.

Heart disease was, and still is, a major killer. In 1916, 5,373 people died of the disease. In 2014, 5,779 died of it.

In 1916, bronchitis killed 4,164 people, compared to 22 in 2014, while influenza killed 712 people in 1916 compared to 27 in 2014.

In 2014, 459 people died by suicide in Ireland, compared to just 68 in 1916.

While more deaths tended to occur in older people in 2014, in 1916, deaths tended to be spread more evenly across all the age groups, with 20% occurring in children under the age of 15.

Males born in 1911 could expect to live until the age of just 53 years, compared to 78 in 2014. While women born in 1911 could expect to live until 54 years of age, compared to 82 in 2014.

Meanwhile, the infant mortality rate, i.e. the number of babies who died before the age of one, in 1911 was 81 deaths per 1,000 babies. Thankfully by 2014, this figure had fallen to just over three deaths per 1,000 babies.

Just over 2% of births in 1916 were registered outside of marriage. By 2012, over one-third were registered outside of marriage, with even higher rates (40%+) in some parts of the country, such as Dublin city, Louth and Wexford.

Some 92% of marriages in 1916 were Catholic. By 2014, this had fallen to just under 60%.

When it came to baby names, the top five boys' names in 1911 were John, Patrick, James, Michael and Thomas. In 2014, they were Jack, James, Daniel, Conor and Sean.

In fact, with almost 14% of boys being called John and 10% being called Patrick in 1911, this meant that almost a quarter of all boys born that year were called one of these two names.

The top five girls' names in 1911 were Mary, Bridget, Margaret, Ellen and Catherine. One in every seven girls born that year was called Mary. In 2014, the top names were Emily, Sophie, Emma, Grace and Ava.

"There is much more variety today in names for baby boys and girls compared with over 100 years ago. Irish names for babies such as Aoife or Oisín, which were rare in 1911, are now very popular," the CSO noted.

To view the report, click here