The Regional Variation in Emigration from Ireland between 1821 and 1841

Bibliographic Data

ID8089922
AuthorsH Cousen (corresponding author), S H Cousens (corresponding author)
Year1965
Issue37
Pages15-15
Publication date1965-12-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/621687
OpenAlexW2333973923
LanguageEN
Citations received14

THE HISTORY of population change in Ireland is usually held to fall into two main periods: that before and that after the Great Famine of 1846-51. The rigid division of the demographic history of Ireland into these two chief periods has credited the famine with more influence than it in fact exerted. Population still increased more in the West than elsewhere after the famine;1 whilst an examination of conditions in the generation before the crisis, reveals that even then emigration was on such a scale, and natural increase was restricted through increased celibacy and postponed marriage to such an extent, that the emphatic loss of population after the famine was clearly foreshadowed. It is intended in this paper to isolate the effect of emigration on the regional variations in population change during the generation preceding the famine. The early censuses of Ireland (I812, 1821, 183I and I841) varied much in their content and accuracy. Of the four, the last was by far the fullest, and was probably the most accurate. The first failed because of insufficient direction. The enumerators chosen in Ireland not only lacked suitable qualifications, but were working under the direction of the Grand Juries, which met for two short periods only during the year. Consequently, after two years returns had been made for only a quarter of the country.2 The 183I census was unsatisfactory because enumerators considered they would be paid, and in many cases were paid, according to the numbers recorded, so that the population was exaggerated. The 1821 census was more satisfactory in this respect, and, moreover, contained valuable information on the ages of the people, which the I83I census lacked. Thus, of the censuses of the pre-famine period, those of 1821 and 1841 were most reliable. During the twenty years 1821-41 the regional variation in population change was emphatic, ranging from 7 per cent in Longford to 37 per cent in Clare. The mapping of changes by baronies shows that increases of more than 30 per cent were almost confined to the west, apart from some linen manufacturing areas of the north-east (Fig. I). Some remoter western areas recorded an increase of over 50 per cent, whilst in east-central Ireland gains of less than io per cent were common. Most eastern counties had at least one barony recording an increase of less than 5 per cent, and there were sporadic occurrences of losses: population there had indeed become almost static

Archaeology · Emigration · Geography · Political science · Variation (astronomy · Irish and British Studies

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