Ireland in the 1950s - key themes in the academic literature

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Three overall themes emerge within the sociological and historical literature on Irish society and emigration in the 1950s. With nearly a half-million emigrating in this decade, mainly to Britain, 'demographic malaise' is the first key theme; the second theme is one of 'modernisation', as the 1950s are seen as heralding a new phase of modernisation in the Republic at least; finally, questions about how emigration impacted on specifically 'Irish ways of life' are discussed both in documentation at the time and subsequent commentary on the 1950s. Instead of offering a review of the literature we include selected quotes under these themes below so that users of this site can follow up on specific themes and sources. Demographic Malaise - Modernisation - Irish Ways of Life

Demographic Malaise

• 'As a balance sheet of national performance, the census of population in 1961 was a dismal document, as it showed that Ireland's demographic malaise had deepened rather than eased during...the 1950s' (Fahey, 1998, p. 51).

• The decline in the population in the 1950s weakened national self-confidence as 'one of the axioms of Irish nationalism was that the country could support a much larger population and it was widely believed that rapid population growth would follow quickly after independence' (Kennedy, et al., 1988, p. 150).

• In 1948 the government appointed the Commission on Emigration and other population matters 'to consider the desirability of formulating a national population policy'.  The reports of the Commission, which were published in 1954, argued that 'a steadily increasing population should occupy a high place among the criteria by which the success of national policy should be judged' (Reports, 1954, p. 186).

• 'In the decade 1951-61, when emigration opportunities were abundant, the outflow from agriculture accelerated, but in addition the significant drop in employment in industry and services increased the pressure to emigrate' (Kennedy et al., 1988, p. 142).

• There were also high levels of migration among Travellers in the 1950s who migrated mainly to Britain where they took up lodgings and many 'forsook the travelling life' (O' Malley, 1991, p. 103).

• Between 1951 and 1956 annual net migration was 39, 353 and between 1956 and 1961 this rose to over 40,000, peaking in the late 1950s at a rate of 14.8 per 1000 of population.  

• The counties with the highest rate of emigration between 1951-56 in descending order were: Leitrim, Donegal, Monaghan, Mayo, Wicklow, Cavan, Sligo, Longford, Roscommon and Clare, a pattern that changed little in the following intercensal period.

• ...'labour-exporting countries like Ireland have incurred the cost of producing those "instant adults"... [to] the labour markets of receiving countries such as the United States and Britain...in the 1950s, when emigration was at its peak, the loss may have reached 4 or 5 per cent of GNP' (O'Grada, 1997, p. 216).

• In Northern Ireland it is estimated that between 1951-61 the annual emigration rate was 15.4 per thousand population. The rate of emigration was 10.8 per thousand for Catholics and 4.6 per thousand for Non-Catholics (Simpson, 1983, p. 102).

• 'Until the 1960s...the North had a net emigration rate around half that of the Republic, although in the 1960s the rates became very similar...Though the North escaped the massive outflow of the 1950s, it would seem that there has since been a catching up, with Catholics leading the deprivation stakes' (Munck, 1993, p. 85).

Modernisation