Over the past 200 years, more people from Ireland than any other country in Europe have emigrated and started new lives in other countries. Let’s take a look at the history of Irish emigration.
In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy declared during a visit to Ireland, “Most countries send out oil or iron, steel or gold, or some other crop, but Ireland has had only one export, and that is its people.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. Official statistics show that over ten million people have emigrated from Ireland since 1800 – that’s almost double the population of the entire island.
A pattern that continues to this day, with many Irish people moving to destinations such as Australia, Singapore, and the UK, let’s look back at the history of Irish emigration.
Irish emigration throughout the centuries – the impact of the Famine
Emigration has been a major part of life in Ireland since as early as the 1600s. However, this increased throughout the 19th century, especially during and after the Potato Famine, which occurred in the middle of the century.
According to statistics from the National Museum of Ireland, almost two million people emigrated from Ireland to the United States between 1845 and 1852.
To offer some perspective on the scale of this, approximately one in two people born in Ireland during this period emigrated from the country. This meant that by the late 19th century, almost as many Irish people lived outside Ireland as lived in it.
This mass emigration is largely responsible for the establishment of Irish communities across the globe, which still exist to this day.
Irish emigration in the 20th century – the post-war years
As we look back at the history of Irish emigration, it is clear that the trend of people leaving Ireland didn’t stop after the Famine.
The post-war period of the 1950s saw a harsh economic downturn across the island, with many impacted by severe poverty and unemployment. So, again, many people saw their only way to escape was to leave their homeland.
According to historical census reports, almost half a million left the Republic of Ireland throughout the 1950s. This means that three in five young people in Ireland during this period emigrated at some point.
According to University College Cork, Ireland’s economy began to improve throughout the 1960s. With that, emigration from the country began to decline. However, this was not the end of Ireland’s trend of emigration.
A rising trend throughout the 1980s – debt accrued throughout the 1970s
The 1970s saw a huge increase in borrowing and spending, which, alongside the oil crisis of 1979, led to yet another economic downturn in Ireland at the onset of the 1980s.
Rising National Debt and increased unemployment led to difficult circumstances for people living in Ireland. So, the trend of emigration began to rise yet again.
Throughout this decade, hundreds of thousands of young, educated Irish people left the island in search of employment and a better life. In 1989 alone, 44,000 Irish people left the island.
Continuing to this day – Irish emigration in the 21st century
Not much has changed when we look back on the history of Irish emigration. To this day, tens of thousands of young Irish people choose to leave the island every year.
According to a report in The Guardian, an estimated 100,000 people left the island in 2011 and 2012. Meanwhile, just two years prior, almost 23,000 Irish people arrived in Australia to start a new life.
Fast forward to today, and we see this same trend continue. With the rising cost of living in Ireland and high levels of unemployment, many young Irish people are continuing to emigrate to destinations across the globe.
According to the latest Government statistics, an estimated 64,000 people emigrated from Ireland throughout 2023. Over 20,000 Irish citizens gained Australian working holiday visas throughout the same year.
So, it seems that leaving home and emigrating to somewhere new is just a part of what it means to be Irish. A trend that has gone on for centuries, the rates of emigration from Ireland don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
