Forced off the Land
Irish Peasants Leaving the Land
This is an engraving from The Illustrated London News during the Famine. It depicts a group of Irish peasants en route to England in search of seasonal harvest work.
By permission of the Views of the Famine website, Vassar College.Irish Peasants Leaving the Land
By permission of the Views of the Famine website, Vassar College.
By permission of the Views of the Famine website, Vassar College.
Irish Peasants Leaving the Land
This is an engraving from The Illustrated London News during the Famine. It depicts a group of Irish peasants en route to England in search of seasonal harvest work.
By permission of the Views of the Famine website, Vassar College.The story begins over 150 years ago in 1841. At this time, the population of Meath was 183,828. By 1901, this had fallen dramatically to 67,497. In less than one lifetime, the county's population had dropped by two-thirds. What were the reasons behind this plunge?
The most obvious reason was the Great Famine. This disaster hit the whole country and lasted for several years, from 1845-49, and the effects were felt for a long time after that. During this time, emigration to other countries and death from starvation sapped the population of Meath by around 20%.
As the century wore on, other factors conspired to force Meath's inhabitants to leave. Farmers began to favour grazing their land for beef production, rather than tilling for crops. Tillage had created employment for rural labourers, and a reduction in it meant that many of them had to leave the county in search of work.
The most obvious reason was the Great Famine. This disaster hit the whole country and lasted for several years, from 1845-49, and the effects were felt for a long time after that. During this time, emigration to other countries and death from starvation sapped the population of Meath by around 20%.
As the century wore on, other factors conspired to force Meath's inhabitants to leave. Farmers began to favour grazing their land for beef production, rather than tilling for crops. Tillage had created employment for rural labourers, and a reduction in it meant that many of them had to leave the county in search of work.