ABSTRACT
Irish history is demographic history. In no other European economy has so much attention been paid to population growth, marriage patterns, birth rates, and similar variables. The most influential work in prefamine Irish economic history written in the twentieth century (Connell, 1950a) is in fact entitled The Population of Ireland, and was one of the first successful attempts to integrate demographic history with economic history. Since its publication, a constant stream of work, largely supplementary and critical of Connell’s seminal piece, has appeared. The reasons for this remarkable interest in demography are quite obvious: Ireland’s uniquely high population growth rates before the famine, the catastrophical decline of population during the Great Famine, the continuation of population decline for eight decades until its 1926 low point, the unique demographic pattern combining unusually low propensities to marry with extremely high marital fertility rates, and the enormous impact of emigration on Irish population. All represent issues of unusual interest to the demographic historian.
