Irish History and Economy Essay

     Nineteenth-century Ireland was the most densely populated country in Europe: in 1800, its population was 4.5 million, and by 1841, it had risen to eight million (Kinealy 15). Yet much of this population existed in condition of sorrow and misery lay in the dependence of the peasantry on just one staple crop, the potato; in western countries like Mayo and Galway, nine-tenths of the people ate nothing else (MacManus 602). Here was a disaster waiting to happen, made worst by the rapid rise in population in the first half of the century which forced the peasants to subsist on smaller plots of land (O Grada, The Great Irish Famine 63).

K.H. Connell, in his paper “Land and Population in Ireland, 1780-1845”, describes and explains the significant population growth in Ireland prior to the famine of 1845 and how the uses of the Irish land changed with the population growth.

1. The Scotch-Irish were staunch libertarians, and acted upon their feelings. Sex ways and dress ways had close ties to each other in the backcountry. To talk about sex and sexual behavior was also acceptable in this culture. The dress women and men wore was meant to arouse the opposite sex. Anglican missionary Charles Woodmason wrote, “They draw their shift as tight as possible round their Breasts, and slender waists (for they are generally very finely shaped) and draw their Petticoat close t their Hips to show the fineness of their limbs– … –indeed nakedness is not censurable without ceremony.” Woodmason was appalled at how these women carried themselves, but to the women, they were sexy. Men even dressed in ways to show off

The Irish began immigrating to North America in the 1820s, when the lack of jobs and poverty forced them to seek better opportunities elsewhere after the end of the major European wars. When the Europeans could finally stop depending on the Irish for food during war, the investment in Irish agricultural products reduced and the boom was over. After an economic boom, there comes a bust and unemployment was the result. Two-thirds of the people of Ireland depended on potato harvests as a main source of income and, more importantly, food. Then between the years of 1845 and 1847, a terrible disease struck the potato crops. The plague left acre after acre of Irish farmland covered with black rot. The failure of the

As one could tell from Michael’s inability to pay for secondary education, and the fact that he had to work on his farm to help feed his family from the age of nine, it is clear that Ireland was a poor country. Michael grew up in the time of America’s Great Depression, although he did not live in America at the time. Nonetheless, America’s depression had an international effect, affecting almost every country in the world, and Ireland was no exception. At the beginning of the Great Depression, the United States began to cut down on the number of immigrants they were letting into the country, because of their high unemployment rate. Once Ireland had less emigration, its unemployment rates began to rise as well, and therefore had a negative effect

During this essay I will compare the difference of economic and policy development of Ireland, north or south in relation to the United Kingdom. As of today Ireland themselves are bit more advanced, exchange secondary economy. Ireland was among the starting gathering of 12 EU countries that started streaming the euro on 1 January 2002 “Although Ireland had aspirations to become a member of the Community as far back as 1961 it was not until 1972 when a referendum confirmed Ireland’s entry into the European Community with 83 per cent of voters supporting membership. Ireland formally acceded to the then EEC in 1973”. (Loughran, 2015).

During the early 1700's in Irish history; Catholics were not permitted to vote, marry a Protestant, join the armed forces, bare arms, or have an educated. They made up 70% of the population, but only owned 5% of the land. England had colonized Ireland and because they didn't like Catholics, they made the conditions really harsh for them. Although the English owned most of the land, they predominantly lived in England, so they would rent it out to another protestant who would then divide it between multiple Irish families. The rent would be raised with any land improvements so the tenants would often avoid making any. This then leads to poor food production rates and an overall poorer country. In the essay “ The Modest

Recent intentions to expand operations globally spurred interest in Ireland for its economic, taxation, and cultural potentials. Ireland is home to many U.S. corporations and subsidiaries, including Intel, Boston Scientific, Dell, Pfizer, and Facebook (IDA Ireland, 2011). Collectively, U.S. multinationals in Ireland employ over 115,000 people in over 700 firms within the country (American Chamber of Commerce, n.d.). Additionally, Ireland’s corporate tax rate is 12.5%, which remains one of the lowest in the European Union (EU) and that will prove beneficial in support of the Company’s net income after taxes. There are beneficial cultural potentials associated with mead, which “…derives much of its appeal through Irish folklore, which is legendary of this mystical drink with strong

The turmoil of the second decade of the twentieth century gave way to a greater sense of peace and stability in the third, with a peace treaty signed between Ireland and Britain in December of 1921 and Home Rule finally established for most of the Irish isle (Ferriter, n.d.). At the same time, this new society did not lead to instant prosperity, and indeed poverty remained a major and growing problem in Ireland during this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). Economic and social problems that persisted during this decade certainly could have been pushes to increased immigration.

Even with the potential of minimizing poverty, creating economic growth, and religious equality in Ireland, there are still some down sides that could possibly lead to another yet different type of turmoil. With the wealthy protestants willing to pay for the poor catholic infants this can lead to higher spike in the population growth, once child birth is now considered a business venture, rather than an act of love the poor could knowingly get pregnant with no regards of how they will be able to care for the child, or just to simply make a profit. This pregnancy business will now promote the idea of slavery, which is just one more social dived to keep the rich getting richer and poor

During this time it is clear that many changes were occurring in Ireland, a land that was once dominated by tradition was now becoming a modernized country. Where then does

In this assignment I will outline and discuss the Historical Development of the ECEC sector in Ireland.

Ireland 1845, food was suddenly scarce, money was hard to earn, and what little was earned was immediately spent for survival. The people of Ireland had grown up used to missing meals due to crop failure. However, previous crop failures couldn’t compare to the potato famine of 1845. For the next five years, the blight destroyed nearly all the potato crops and killed many Irish. About one million people died during this time in Ireland because of the starvation and disease. About two million fled the lands of Ireland in hopes of escaping the starvation, disease, death, and poverty that had taken over Ireland since the famine. The tenant farmers, who suffered would farm land that belonged to the absentee landlords. They would grow many crops, most of which were very successful. They were only allowed to keep the potato crops for their own; the rest of the crops would be harvested and exported to England. The absentee landlords lived like kings while the tenant farmers were forced to sell everything they owned so they could have money to purchase food to stay alive. When they ran out of things to sell they were then forced to scavenge for food scraps just to escape death for a while longer. The starvation and struggle of the Irish tenant farmers could have been avoided if the absentee landlords hadn’t been so greedy with collecting the rent. England could have come to the aid of the Irish people sooner than they did if they weren’t so interested in staying true to their

In 1841 to 1850, the loss of potatoes caused about 1.3 million people to emigrate overseas, 70% went to the U.S.A., 28% went to Canada, and 2% went to Australia. During the emigration of Ireland many people had to pay for their own fares to emigrate to the U.S.A., Canada, and Australia. The Fares that were paid for emigration by landlords were only about 3% and these people were usually sent to Canada because these were the cheapest fares, and they were usually sent overseas on coffin ships. To emigrate to the U.S.A was a little more expensive, usually the ones that could afford to pay a little more to emigrate went to the U.S.A. to seek work. Irish immigrant labor in America consisted of unskilled factory workers, which also included children; and Irish males provided much of the labor to construct railroads. Many Irish women could speak English, helping women get jobs as servants in the homes of wealthy second and third generation Americans. In the 1800’s The Irish Potato Famine caused many to die of starvation forcing others to emigrate, leaving about 5 million people in Ireland; in 1845 about 8.2 million, and in 1851 about 6.2 million. Presently there are about 5 million people residing in Ireland and another estimated 20 million Irish scattered throughout the world.

However our natural and human resource standards remain very high aswell as a highly educated workforce so the exporter should be capable of breaking into some foreign markets based on Ireland’s continued good reputation internationally.