Ireland’s Economy

By Michael Kass

Britain Gains Control

• English Rule started in the late 1100’s

• King Henry VIII changed Ireland from Lordship to Kingdom

• In the 16th and 17th centaury Ireland was under the plantation

system

• After the rebellion of 1798, Britain, Ireland and Scotland

merged together

The Economy Pre-Famine

• The Economy was mainly agriculturally and textile based at this time, and it

was on the decline

– The meat prices were dropped by close to 50%

– Grain prices were dropping between 40%-50%

• “A detailed enquiry into rural poverty reported in 1836 that an agricultural

labourer could on average count on 134 days of paid employment in a year.”

– University of College Cork

• The two major textiles, cotton and wool, were failing due to technological

deficiencies.

• Meanwhile Linen was thriving in the Northeast

The Great Famine• This refers to the great loss of potatoes mainly between the years

of 1845-1850 • Potatoes were Ireland’s main source of food for the rural poor• It is believed that by 1850 1 million people had died and another

million had fled the country• Potato yields (in tons)

– 1844(pre-famine): 15 mil– 1845: 10 mil– 1846: 2 mil– 1847: 2 mil– 1848: 3 mil– 1849: 4 mil

Start of Industrialization

• Ireland was behind the rest of Europe with Industrialization

• South Ireland started to industrialize in the 1920’s, by focusing on exports

• During WWII Northern Ireland started becoming a big producer for shipbuilding, engineering and textiles

Protectionism Ends

• The economy got opened up to foreign trade and investors in the 1960’s

• The GDP and GNP were both rising• Employment was on the rise• The oil crisis of the late 70’s hurt their

economy

The Celtic Tiger

• Very large economic growth in the 1990’s and 2000’s • Foreign companies poured into Ireland as an easy

access point to Europe– They counted for 47% of workforce

• Ireland had the 2nd highest GDP in EU• Almost 1 million new jobs were created during this

time– 1.1 mil in 1990, 1.9 mil in 2005

• Ireland became self-sufficient from England for the first time

The Economy Now

• Ireland’s economy is doing very poorly now• The public debt to GDP ratio is 174%• Unemployment rate is 14.4%• Irish property bubble popped, similar to

America • People have been leaving the country– Roughly 40,000

Sources

1. http://www.thomaswhite.com/explore-the-world/ireland.aspx

2. http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Ireland_society_and_economy_1815ndash1870

3. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/after.htm 4. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook

/geos/ei.html

5. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/06/how-ireland-became-the-celtic-tiger