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Chapter 25
F. Ireland
In concluding this section, we must travel for a moment to Ireland. First, the main facts of the
case.
The population of Ireland had, in 1841, reached 8,222,664; in 1851, it had dwindled to 6,623,985;
in 1861, to 5,850,309; in 1866, to 5½ millions, nearly to its level in 1801. The diminution began
with the famine year, 1846, so that Ireland, in less than twenty years, lost more than 5/16 ths of its
people.
119
Its total emigration from May, 1851, to July, 1865, numbered 1,591,487: the
emigration during the years 1861-1865 was more than half-a-million. The number of inhabited
houses fell, from 1851-1861, by 52,990. From 1851-1861, the number of holdings of 15 to 30
acres increased 61,000, that of holdings over 30 acres, 109,000, whilst the total number of all
farms fell 120,000, a fall, therefore, solely due to the suppression of farms under 15 acres – i.e., to
their centralisation.
Table A
LIVE-STOCK
Year
Horses
Cattle
Sheep
Pigs
Total
Number
Decrease
Total
Number
Decrease Increase
Total
Number
Decrease Increase
Total
Number
Decrease Increase
1860 619,811
– 3,606,374
–
– 3,542,080
–
– 1,271,072
–
–
1861 614,232
5,579 3,471,688 134,686
– 3,556,050
– 13,970 1,102,042 169,030
–
1862 602,894
11,338 3,254,890 216,798
– 3,456,132
99,918
– 1,154,324
– 52,282
1863 579,978
22,916 3,144,231 110,659
– 3,308,204 147,982
– 1,067,458
86,866
–
1864 562,158
17,820 3,262,294
– 118,063 3,366,941
– 58,737 1,058,480
8,978
–
1865 547,867
14,291 3,493,414
– 231,120 3,688,742
– 321,801 1,299,893
– 241,413
The decrease of the population was naturally accompanied by a decrease in the mass of products.
For our purpose, it suffices to consider the 5 years from 1861-1865 during which over half-a-
million emigrated, and the absolute number of people sank by more than 1/3 of a million. From
the above table it results: –
Horses
Cattle
Sheep
Pigs
Absolute Decrease Absolute Decrease Absolute Increase Absolute Increase
71,944
112,960
146,662
28,8211
120
Let us now turn to agriculture, which yields the means of subsistence for cattle and for men. In
the following table is calculated the decrease or increase for each separate year, as compared with
its immediate predecessor. The Cereal Crops include wheat, oats, barley, rye, beans, and peas; the
Green Crops, potatoes, turnips, marigolds, beet-root, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, vetches. &c.
483
Chapter 25
Table B
INCREASE OR DECREASE IN THE AREA UNDER CROPS AND GRASS IN ACREAGE
Year
Cereal
Crops
Green
Crops
Grass and
Clover
Flax
Total
Cultivated
Land
Decrease
(Acres)
Decrease
(Acres)
Increase
(Acres)
Decrease
(Acres)
Increase
(Acres)
Decrease
(Acres)
Increase
(Acres)
Decrease
(Acres)
Increase
(Acres)
1861
15,701
36,974
–
47,969
–
–
19,271
81,373
–
1862
72,734
74,785
–
–
6,623
–
2,055
138,841
–
1863
144,719
19,358
–
–
7,724
–
63,922
92,431
–
1864
122,437
2,317
–
–
47,486
–
87,761
–
10,493
1865
72,450
–
25,241
–
68,970
50,159
–
28,398
–
1861-65 428,041
108,193
–
–
82,834
–
122,8501 330,350
–
In the year 1865, 127,470 additional acres came under the heading “grass land,” chiefly because
the area under the heading of “bog and waste unoccupied,” decreased by 101,543 acres. If we
compare 1865 with 1864, there is a decrease in cereals of 246,667 qrs., of which 48,999 were
wheat, 160,605 oats, 29,892 barley, &c.: the decrease in potatoes was 446,398 tons, although the
area of their cultivation increased in 1865.
From the movement of population and the agricultural produce of Ireland, we pass to the
movement in the purse of its landlords, larger farmers, and industrial capitalists. It is reflected in
the rise and fall of the Income-tax. It may be remembered that Schedule D. (profits with the
exception of those of farmers), includes also the so-called, “professional” profits – i.e., the
incomes of lawyers, doctors, &c.; and the Schedules C. and E., in which no special details are
given, include the incomes of employees, officers, State sinecurists, State fundholders, &c.
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