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The Famines:
The county has always been noted for its prosperous farms and industrious farmers. Perhaps for this reason it was less affected than many others by the Great Famine of 1845-47. The rural population density in 1841 was one of the lowest in the country at 217 persons per square mile. The total population in 1841 was 202,000, and ten years later it had fallen to 180,000. There was considerable emigration, particularly from the north of the county. As elsewhere, emigration continued throughout the nineteenth century. The population by 1891 was 115000 and is currently around 160,000.