Life in 1916 Ireland: Stories from statistics

• Data on the number of farms for years 1915 and 2010 are not directly comparable because of changes in how data on Agriculture is collected. However the data available for years 1915 and 2010 does show the significant decline in the number of farms over the past century.
• In 1915 there were 359,700 farms over one acre in Ireland and by 2010 this had declined to 139,860 farms over one hectare (equal to 2.5 acres), a reduction of over 60% in the number of farms over the century. 
• All counties in Ireland saw large reductions in the number of farms between 1915 and 2010. The counties with the largest percentage decline in the number of farms over this time period are Dublin with a drop of 83%, followed by Louth which declined by 72%. This large decrease in the number of farms in Dublin is linked to the geographical spread of the urban area in Dublin over the last 100 years. Leitrim and Cavan both had decreases of 71% in the number of farms over the same time period.
• The smallest decreases in the number of farms occurred in Meath, Cork, Carlow and Limerick which had declines of about 50%.

• The area farmed in Ireland declined by 7% between 1915 and 2010, from 4,932 to 4,569 thousand hectares.
• The three counties of Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow account for over a third of this total decline in farmland, which is linked with the urbanisation of the greater Dublin area.
• The area of farmland in Dublin has halved over the last century.
• Average farm size in Ireland has more than doubled over the last century, increasing from 14 to 33 hectares.
• The size of an average farm in Donegal quadrupled over the last century, rising from 7 to 28 hectares. Average farm size trebled over the last century in Louth, Dublin and Cavan.

• The area of land used for farming decreased by 348 thousand hectares between 1916 and 2010, from 4,917 to 4,569 thousand hectares, a drop of 7%. 
• The area of grassland declined from 4,227 to 4,215 thousand hectares between 1916 and 2010. 
• The amount of land used for growing barley and wheat has approximately trebled in size between 1916 and 2010. 
• In contrast, the area used for potatoes dropped from 172 to 12 thousand hectares, a drop of over 90%. There was also a drop of over 90% in the area used for growing oats, which declined from 294 to 20 thousand hectares.

• Yields per hectare from wheat, oats, barley and potatoes have tripled in size since 1916.                                                                                                                                             
• These increases in crop yields reflect the improvements in plant productivity and the gains from the development of herbicides and pesticides.                                            

Photo: Edith Dillon carrying a box camera, approaching woman and 2 children standing outside thatched cottage

• This table shows the number of farm holdings in 1916 including holdings of less than 1 acre (of which there were 83,995 in 1916). These small holdings of less than 1 acre are excluded from Tables 4.15 and 4.16.
• There are clear regional differences in the pattern of land ownership across Ireland in 1916, even with the inclusion of these small holdings. In 1916, 45% of holdings in Leinster were tenanted, with over 70% tenanted in both Carlow and Dublin. This is in contrast to Connacht where just 23% of land holdings were tenanted.
• In 2010, only 3.4% of holdings rented all of the land and another 30% of farms rented some land.

Photo: Irish woman driving cattle, Achill Island, Co. Mayo

• The total number of cattle in Ireland increased by 58% from just under 4.2 million in 1916 to 6.6 million by 2010.
• The increase in cattle numbers has not been uniform across the State. Cattle numbers increased by 65% in Leinster and Munster while the increase was 51% in Ulster and 38% in Connacht.
• The total number of dairy cows declined by 13% between 1916 and 2010, however the output of milk per cow has increased over the same time period.
• In 1916, just over half of all dairy cows were in Munster. By 2010 this concentration of production was even more pronounced with 61% of all dairy cows located in Munster.
• In 1916, most farms and small holdings kept a cow for milk for the house and liquid milk was not transported for long distances. This is in contrast to today with milk now transported nationwide for both processing and for sale to consumers.

Photo: Busy market day in an unknown provincial town, 1900-1920

• Total sheep numbers increased by 41% in Ireland between 1916 and 2010.
• While most counties have seen an increase in sheep numbers, the increase has been most pronounced in the counties where dairy cow numbers showed the greatest decline.
• There was an increase in Kerry from 113,710 sheep in 1916 to 433,546 in 2010, while Leitrim saw an increase from 17,275 sheep in 1916 to 121,793 by 2010.

Photo: 3 men digging potatoes in a field

• An aspect of farm labour in the early decades of the 20th century which does not exist in 2016, is the extent of seasonal migration from Ireland to England, Scotland and Wales for seasonal employment during the harvest. 
• In 1914, approximately 13,000 people migrated to Britain for seasonal agricultural.  The county of origin for 7,246 of these migrants is shown in the table above. This table shows that migration was not uniform across Ireland, with two counties (Mayo and Donegal) accounting for over 80% of the migrants for whom we know the county of origin. 
• The Department of Agriculture & Technical Instruction reported that labourers "…followed a considerable itinerary…hay making in Lancashire and Yorkshire… Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire for the corn harvest; thence to Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire for potato digging. Last year their usual wage was about 25s a week with an allowance of potatoes and milk or beer. At piece work they earned up to 35s and even 40s a week." 
• The report went on to add that labourers "…save usually from half to three-quarters of their earnings, and some return home with as much as £20 saved in the season." This report also noted that 97% of migrants from Donegal went to Scotland while 93% of the migrants from Mayo went to England and Wales.    

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