Why So Few People Live On The West Coast Of Ireland

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Ireland is a beautiful island comprised of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. But despite being part of two separate countries, both exhibit a similar population trend: the vast majority of each's population hugs the east coast, leaving the west feeling pretty empty! Here's why the vast majority of Ireland's population lives so close to Great Britain.

Editing by Kat Olsen

[rosscooper]

Not true that Cork is in the East and you ignored Galway and Limerick the next 2 biggest cities by population both in the West, lazy

[TheLoughDuck]

Just casually ignoring Limerick and Galway cities while also saying that Cork is on the east coast when that’s just blatantly wrong

[TheLastAngryMan]

As someone born and raised in the West of Ireland, it’s largely down to a combination of poorer agricultural land and relative isolation from Ireland’s main trading partners in the EU and UK. This leads to a more scattered population and less prospect of attracting FDI, although American multinationals have stepped in the breach somewhat.

The relative lack of people does make for some stunning scenery and generally lower rates of crime, however. As a friend of mine says, don’t tell anyone about how nice it is or they’ll all want to come!

[chriswilson]

I went to Ireland recently, and it only rained twice; the first time for 4 days, and the second time for 3 days 😂

[NmpK]

So what defines a 'major' city, given the size and distribution of the population? Limerick and Galway have populations that are not that much less than that of Cork. And are similar to many cities in the UK. The West of Ireland has always been less developed and relied more on agriculture and tourism while Belfast and Dublin always had most of the industry, commerce, and the seats of power. Still, property is still expensive.

[dsclark]

I’ve told my son and his wife in Galway that the people he sees every day are an illusion as where he lives is ‘pretty empty’

[eamonosullivan]

Totally missed the huge influence of the Famine. The west of Ireland was a lot more densely populalted prior to the famine. The famine and the emmigration that followed for over a hundred years, is a major factor in why the west is less populated. For example the population of the Western province of Connacht in 1841, before the famine, was 1.4 million by by 1971 it was 390K. Munster 1841 2.3 million by 1971 879K. A little research wouldn't kill you. The population decline in Ireland is an emotive subject.

[s.henrlllpoklookout]

"The island of Ireland is home to about 7.2 million people."
So still almost 1 million less than in 1840

[itsallinthehead]

Limerick has left the chat, and Galway’s already in the car.

[doncarlodivargas]

13:29 not only are Ireland a beautiful island, but the people there are beautiful people also, my company had a project there in the 90'ts and we all simply loved working there, 2 of my colleagues found their wife there and many travelled around the island and they all loved everything, also being in pubs in the evening was so nice, people was easy to talk to and so polite, positive and created a pleasant atmosphere many of us considered it our favourite place to have a project

[Manchesteru]

Geoff this population shift is only true post famine. The population of county Mayo in the west in 1841 was almost 400, 000, yet now is 130, 000. Inhabited by farmers on very small holdings yet In the east it was often bigger landed estates run by the English. The west and south West never recovered population wise. Cork is also is in the south and south West of the country

[Merc-veue]

Like most other countries, NI is Belfast-centric and ROI is Dublin-centric. Governments choose to invest in each of those heavily. Private investment goes there which nobody can control. I think money needs to be more evenly distributed relative to size, problem is Belfast needs massively developed and regenerated in parts with investment, whereas in Dublin the problems are more housing and crime. These cities are much larger than the others. Despite the two being 170km apart, no high speed rail which would be the norm in Europe. All of Ireland deserves a connected railway system also. Infrastructure and transport is a problem on both sides

[stewsaquarium]

It's worth noting that the reason why potatoes became such a staple was because when some of the Irish were taken off the good land in the north, east and south, and sent to the west, the land there is really bad land, mostly rock and marshland, the British didn't want it. Potatoes did well in this type of land, but other vegetables didn't. This is why potatoes became such a stable in the west of Ireland

[hillarybeautifile]

I've been all over Ireland as my husband is from Ireland. The consistency of the soil in the west is much rockier than the soil in the East. That's a big factor as to why so many in the west left. Farming was simply more of an uphill battle. If you travel from Dublin to Galway by car you'll gradually notice more and more stone fences. I spent some time on one of the Aran Islands off the west coast and the entire island was broken down by stone "fences".

[wulver]

All the population on the east coast tilts the island to have nice beaches there and high cliffs on the opposite side of the island.

[lukecrowley]

I recently moved to the west coast of Ireland. One of the advantages of it being less populated than the east is that property prices are much more reasonable. 😁

[erikw]

We just returned from Ireland. We saw the southern portion of the Republic. As nice as the cities in the East are. The beauty and peace of the western areas can't be understated. Some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life were in the west. So I think it comes down to one's desires and preferences. The hustle, bustle and culture of cities or the more relaxed and peaceful areas out in the countryside. Either way. It's something I can so highly recommend if given the opportunity. And we're hoping to make it back again one day.

[kalicokathy]

My family came from County Clare Ireland on the West coast. I visited Ireland and found the Irish so friendly. Western Ireland has a different culture than Eastern Ireland they have kept their old Irish values and culture they seem to feel Eastern Ireland is more like England.

[silversolver]

Amazing how close those Mesolithic guys from 9, 000 years ago look so much like modern Saturday night guys after the pubs have closed.

[malteplath]

A small point on the residents of NI and the EU: there is a provision in the Good Friday Agreement that citizens of NI can choose to have citizenship of UK or the Republic of Ireland or both. So, a portion of the NI population are already EU citizens. But they live in a non-EU state.