The population of Ireland 1700-1900 : a survey - Persée
- ️Ó Grada, Cormac
- ️Thu Jul 18 2019
THE POPULATION OF IRELAND 1700-1900 : A SURVEY *
by C. O GRÂDA
« Among the subjects peculiar to the state of Ireland... is the extraordinary phenomenon of the very rapid increase of its population. »
T.R. Malthus (1808).
« La caractéristique primordiale de l'Irlande contemporaine, (c'est) l'exode... qui fait qu'on pourra dire bientôt qu'Erin n'est plus en Erin ni aux bords du Shannon mais... dans cette " plus grande Irlande " qu'est la République Américaine. »
L. Paul-Dubois (1907).
Since the early 1960s the population of Ireland has rapidly been shedding many of the characteristics that made it unique for over a century. The combination of large-scale émigration, late marriage, and a high incidence of permanent celibacy no longer holds, and population growth on the island is currently among the fastest in Europe1. However, the Irish démographie expérience continues to generate a prolific literature. The aim of this paper is to summarize présent knowledge of Irish démographie history with the aid of that