How many people left Ireland during the Great Famine?
An estimated 2.1 million people emigrated from Ireland between 1845 and 1855: more, in ten years, than had left in the previous two centuries. About a million people died in Ireland in the same years. Of those who left, roughly 1.5 million settled in the United States; American arrival statistics record 1,512,100 Irish arrivals between 1845 and 1854. Around 340,000 went to Canada, and others to Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Many who landed in Canada crossed into the United States afterwards, so the American share of the Famine exodus is larger than the shipping figures alone suggest. The population of Ireland, over eight million in 1841, fell by about a quarter in a decade, and kept falling for generations.
Useful pages: Irish in USA · The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · Coming home · Irish around the world
Sources
- Published research on the Great Famine: National Museums NI teaching resources and peer reviewed studies
- Parks Canada: Grosse Ile and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site, pc.gc.ca
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