Population Decimation

Tags

census, Eyrecourt, Famine, Killimor, Meelick, population, Portumna, Tiernascragh, Tynagh, Woodford

Population Changes in Portumna 1841-2002

Screen Shot of the Irish Population Change Atlas

The Famine of 1846-50 determined the course of Irish history even to this day, and reduced the population dramatically through starvation, disease and emigration. In terms of death by famine alone, the biggest losses were in Galway and Clare. The National Centre for Geocomputation’s (NCG) Online Atlas Portal is an absolute goldmine of information on 160 years of population data mapping changes across the decades. The data used in the Atlas is from 16 censuses, taken in both the Republic and the North of Ireland between 1841 and 2002.

It is incredible to learn that almost 6,000 people lived in Portumna in 1841! Between 1841 and 1851, Portumna suffered a massive 30.6% loss of population, and in the years after the Famine, another 29%. The population has never recovered and steadily declined ever since except for the period after 1971 when it has risen slightly. The surrounding parishes of Meelick, Tieranascragh and Tynagh suffered even greater declines of over 40%. The parishes of Killimor and Meelick are today 10% of their 1841 populations!

	Total Population
Names	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901	1911	1926	1936	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2002
EYRECOURT	2521	1670	1520	1120	1018	738	670	625	518	546	590	586	580	565	552	532
KILLIMOR	2779	2096	1459	660	623	604	812	829	847	850	759	687	745	754	379	321
MEELICK	2096	1172	894	833	745	570	484	441	434	410	391	336	311	273	258	231
PORTUMNA	5887	4083	2892	2626	2660	2270	2082	1998	1841	1851	1721	1618	1669	1889	1883	1920
TIERNASCRAGH	968	577	444	338	321	251	228	242	354	296	297	262	255	210	181	164
TYNAGH	2308	1329	833	801	750	685	550	512	546	568	510	425	452	476	409	369
WOODFORD	2046	1452	1266	1207	1147	1068	870	749	670	620	499	9	411	452	441	479

 All maps produced in this Irish Famine Population Change Atlas are produced under the National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG) mapping license: Ordnance Survey Ireland Licence Number EN. 0072711 © Ordnance Survey Ireland / Government of Ireland