From emigration to immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

From emigration to immigration - Essay Example The population of Ireland is 5.5 million at present, but had been over 8 million in 1841. It had augmented hastily from 4 or 5 million at the Act of Union with Britain in 1801. As the population was to be destroyed by the Famine of 1845 to1848, together by death and mass emigration, there had been elevated emigration well before the Famine. More than 1.5 million had emigrated between 1815 and 1840. One third of these left to Britain and of those who went west, half came towards Canada, and the other half to the United States in that period. This stage of emigration which was to rise swiftly in the stage instantly after the Famine was an extraordinary high proportion of the total population, unparalleled in other European states. The Famine directed to the death and emigration of over one million people. The population fell to 6.5 million by 1851 and by an additional million to 5.5 million by 1871. There was de-industrialization, as stated by the author (Crotty, R., 1986), in the 19th century in the majority of Ireland, with the exemption of the North East. Five million people emigrated between 1851 and 1921 and most of these were sole adults. The tough farmers left the farm to the eldest son and many siblings went abroad and so the honesty of their farms was preserved. People had far less children and those who had property were to become tough in their attitude to heritage. Emigration and transforms in productiveness permitted for augmented profits for those who stayed behind. The following table gives the net outflow each decade from 1850 up to the ending of the 20th century and in addition for the three years to 2003 inclusive. It shows a huge outflow of people from Ireland mainly given the small size of the population. (Crotty, R., 1986). The reasons for the continued growth of the Irish economy are difficult, yet