A New History of Ireland III : Early Modern Ireland 1534-1691 by Moody T. W.; Martin F. X.; Byrne F. J

Author:Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Study of demographic trends qualifies some aspects of seventeenth-century history. At the same time, even if the rate of growth of population is reduced, it still remains high by seventeenth-century standards, a fact consistent with the rapid expansion of Irish trade in the same century. The growth in trade, as much as or perhaps even more than general population growth, has implications for urban development and population size. Where trade is relatively static, town hinterlands are stable, and towns themselves change slowly. In a dynamic situation, however, towns were likely to change, and success was reflected in the emergence of significant variations in town growth and size. This can be seen in the growing prominence of Dublin in the economy. In this respect, Dublin reflected the growth of London. Dublin in the 1680s probably held about one-fortieth of the population of Ireland: London one-tenth that of England and Wales. Dublin’s smaller relative importance reflected in part comparatively belated economic development; in part simply the absence of organs of power, legislation, and justice as powerful as those of London. Confining comparison to foreign trade, Dublin’s role must have been less unfavourable. In the 1660s 40 per cent of Ireland’s foreign trade revenue derived from Dublin. The fact that the proportion was so high in the 1660s and increased only by a further 10 per cent subsequently is a reminder that much of Dublin’s advance relative to other Irish ports must have occurred in the first half of the century. A dynamic urban situation meant that the relative position of towns changed rapidly. In 1600 Dublin was not much larger than Galway, and possibly Limerick, only double the size of Cork and Waterford, and less than three times the size of Kilmallock. Dublin in 1600 had a population of not less than 5,000, Galway of less than 4,200, Limerick of between 2,400 and 3,600, Waterford and Cork of about 2,400. These calculations are based on the study of contemporary maps, and assume an average household size of six persons. The fact that within their walls Irish towns tended to have about 300 houses suggests that medieval towns are likely to have had a population of about 2,000, on the assumption that suburbs outside the walls were, without exception, small, and seems to corroborate the suggestion that towns originally varied little in size. This was still broadly true in 1600. Suburbs at that date seem to have been small. The fact that only Galway and Dublin had very large suburbs seems to suggest that they were the two cities which had grown most rapidly in the preceding centuries.

The outstanding feature of urban development in the seventeenth century was the emerging predominance of Dublin. This feature is, however, in the main a development of the first half of the century and the emphasis on the city’s post-restoration expansion may be in part, though by no means wholly, misplaced. Dublin’s population may have risen at the outside fivefold in 1600-60, doubled between 1660 and 1682, and stagnated for the remainder of the century.

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