
‘Emigrants Leave Ireland’, engraving by Henry Doyle (1827–1892), from Mary Frances Cusack’s Illustrated History of Ireland, 1868
Migrants from Cork far outnumbered those from any other county or region, followed by Limerick during this period. Both counties had eponymous, busy port cities in Munster where demographic and economic pressures were fueling emigration in the first half of the nineteenth century.
However, in general, the province of Leinster emptied out earlier and faster than the rest of Ireland. Counties like Longford and Westmeath had higher rates of emigration before the Famine (1845-1851) than during it or afterwards.
716 “missing persons” were associated with a particular county in Ireland out of the 864 Truth Teller advertisements printed between 1830 and 1840. Of those 716, the provincial breakdown was:
ULSTER 20%
MUNSTER 33%
CONNACHT 14%
LEINSTER 33%
The Famine accelerated emigration trends already underway in Ulster, Munster and Connacht, but post-Famine estimates by Cormac O’Grada and Kerby Miller differ quite a bit from the provincial proportions reflected in the Truth Teller.
PROVINCE |
% of Population Emigrating 1851-1855 |
% of Population Emigrating
1856-1860 |
% of Population Emigrating 1861-1870 |
ULSTER |
23.4 |
38.8 | 23.8 |
MUNSTER |
39.6 |
32.2 |
36 |
CONNACHT |
13.1 |
9.2 |
13.4 |
LEINSTER | 22.9 | 15 |
17.6 |

View of Cobh Harbour, looking towards Rostellan, County Cork in the 1830s. Engraving by William Henry Bartlett from ‘Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland’ by George Virtue (1860s)
Years |
% of Population Emigrating from Co. Cork |
% of Population Emigrating from Co. Limerick |
Pre-Famine | 13.3 | 7.1 |
1851-1855 | 12.1 | 5.9 |
1856-1860 | 13.4 | 4.1 |
1861-1879 | 14.1 | 5.5 |

The Custom House, Limerick in the 1830S. Engraving by William Henry Bartlett from Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland by George Virtue (1860s)