Why is migration so central to Irish history?
The population of the island of Ireland reached its apex in 1841, just over 8 million, after which ensued a relentless decline. The population had contracted to 6.5 million by 1851 after the Great Famine, and 130 years later in 1981 the population of the whole island was only 4.9 million. This was primarily due to emigration: for example, between 1801 and 1921 eight million Irish men, women and children emigrated. This was followed by further heavy loss of population in the 1940-50s and in the 1980s. Other west European countries have experienced substantial migration, for example, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Norway and Scotland. However, nowhere else in western Europe has a demographic profile to match this decline or experienced such long-term systemic migration. It is unlikely that Irish social, economic and political history would have been the same if this dramatic haemorrhage of population had not taken place. When have most people migrated from Ireland to Britain? Although the Unit
