Population and Poverty in Ireland on the Eve of the Great Famine

Abstract

The link between demographic pressure and economic conditions in pre-Famine Ireland has long interested economists. This paper re-visits the topic, harnessing the highly disaggregated parish-level data from the 1841 Census of Ireland. Using population per value adjusted acre as a measure of population pressure, our results indicate that on the eve of the Great Famine of 1846-50, population pressure was positively associated with both illiteracy rates and the prevalence of poor quality housing. But while our analysis shows that population pressure was one of the primary factors underpinning pre-Famine poverty, it also highlights the importance of geography and human agency. A counterfactual computation indicates that had Ireland's population stayed at its 1800 level, this would have led to only modest improvements in literacy and housing.

The Next World and the New World: Relief, Migration, and the Great Irish Famine

“…236-7). Second, 10 For example, Mokyr (1980Mokyr ( , 1985, McGregor (1989), Ó Gráda (1999), Kelly et al (2013), and Fernihough and Ó Gráda (2018). For other work in this mode see Østby et al (2011) we invoke the presence of individuals with "vested means" in a parishanother detail reported in the 1841 census-as a measure of human and social capital and the provision of public goods.…”

“…His strategy of exploiting cross-section county rather than (much scarcer) time-series data has been replicated in research on Ireland and elsewhere 10 . Alan Fernihough and Cormac Ó Gráda (2018), in the same tradition, also rely on data derived mainly from the Irish population censuses of 1841 and 1851. The quality and ambition of those censuses should be noted: in a tribute to the chief architect of the 1841 census (BPP 1843a), Thomas Larcom, his renowned English counterpart William Farr described “the last census of Ireland… one of the best in Europe.” 11…”

“…Fernihough and Ó Gráda (2018) exploit the data at civil parish rather than at the county level (so n=2,387 instead of 32) to estimate the impact of population pressure on poverty. Our results, described in detail elsewhere with the appropriate caveats, support the claim that poverty on the eve of the famine was highly correlated with pressure on the land as measured by population per quality-adjusted acre.…”

“… 10 For example, Mokyr (1980, 1985), McGregor (1989), Ó Gráda (1999), Kelly et al (2013), and Fernihough and Ó Gráda (2018). For other work in this mode see Østby et al (2011) (Indonesia); Verpoorten (2012) (Rwanda); Ó Gráda (2015) (Bengal and China).…”

Common‐pool resource governance and uneven food security: Regional resilience during the Great Irish Famine, 1845–1852

“…Ireland remains a concerning case in famine studies. It continues to violate one of the standard benchmarks of post‐famine recovery with a population level below that of its historical peak in 1841 and remains an area of active debate and research as new datasets and source documents are exploited (Delaney, 2012; Fernihough & Ó Gráda, 2018; Flaherty, 2013, 2014; Kelly & Ó Gráda, 2015; Kinealy, 2001). As we uncover more about the extent of non‐capitalistic modes of resource governance in pre‐famine Ireland and wider Europe (Anderson, 2010; Slater & Flaherty, 2009), the case of Ireland speaks not only to famine studies but also to the growing literature on the commons .…”