Discover the impact of the Great Irish Famine on the population of your own particular Civil Parish of Kerry which we have extrapolated from all Irish Civil Parishes.
The Great Famine’s impact on each local area is demonstrated clearly in an innovative interactive map. Alan Fernihough and his team at Queens University, Belfast have come up with this excellent tool. While the % population is shocking, the actual numbers who were no longer living in the parish is 1851, whether through death or emigration is even more so. And remember, in normal cirucmstances, procreation – births would have continued during these ten years See the de-population of your Kerry parish, how many 4th class houses were in your parish. People living in 4th class houses, were among those who suffered the most during the Famine.
| Civil Parish | 1841 Census | 1851 Census | Pop Diff – |
| Aghadoe | 4897 | 2861 | 42% |
| Aghavallen | 6606 | 5100 | 23% |
| Aglish | 1939 | 1349 | 30% |
| Annagh | 3659 | 2810 | 23% |
| Ardfert | 5334 | 3191 | 40% |
| Ballinahaglish | 2147 | 1279 | 40% |
| Ballincuslane | 5701 | 3621 | 36% |
| Ballinvoher | 3579 | 2014 | 44% |
| Ballyconry | 417 | 371 | 11% |
| Ballyduff | 488 | 410 | 16% |
| Ballyheigue | 4795 | 3352 | 30% |
| Ballymacelligott | 4058 | 2658 | 34% |
| Ballynacourty | 1472 | 1179 | 20% |
| Ballyseedy | 1472 | 889 | 40% |
| Brosna | 2871 | 2255 | 21% |
| Caher | 6315 | 5266 | 17% |
| Castle Island | 7967 | 5706 | 28% |
| Cloghane | 2994 | 1809 | 40% |
| Clogherbrien | 1444 | 911 | 37% |
| Currans | 2067 | 1057 | 49% |
| Dingle | 6205 | 4870 | 22% |
| Dunquin | 1394 | 722 | 48% |
| Dromod | 5247 | 4450 | 15% |
| Duagh | 5965 | 4036 | 20% |
| Dunurlin | 2125 | 1064 | 50% |
| Dysert (Lixnaw) | 2824 | 1941 | 31% |
| Fenit | 315 | 296 | 6% |
| Finuge | 1545 | 1199 | 22% |
| Galey | 3041 | 2534 | 17% |
| Garfinny | 914 | 479 | 48% |
| Glanbehy (Glenbeigh) | 3011 | 2822 | 6% |
| Kenmare | 5839 | 4134 | 29% |
| Kilbonane | 3666 | 2284 | 38% |
| Kilcaragh | 1250 | 827 | 34% |
| Kilcaskan | 6780 | 5103 | 25% |
| Kilcolman | 4745 | 2843 | 40% |
| Kilcredane | 764 | 420 | 45% |
| Kilcrohane | 10776 | 7875 | 27% |
| Kilcummin | 7360 | 5218 | 29% |
| Kildrum | 1217 | 715 | 41% |
| Kilemlagh | 2728 | 1983 | 27% |
| Kilfeighny | 2388 | 1493 | 37% |
| Kilflynn | 1088 | 991 | 9% |
| Kilgarrylander | 2889 | 2063 | 29% |
| Kilgarvan | 3988 | 2773 | 30% |
| Kilgobban | 2384 | 1370 | 43% |
| Killahan | 1876 | 908 | 52% |
| Killarney | 10476 | 9669 | 8% |
| Killeentierna | 3106 | 2060 | 34% |
| Killehenny | 3050 | 1973 | 35% |
| Killinane | 3569 | 2718 | 24% |
| Killiney | 3481 | 2821 | 19% |
| Killorglin | 8574 | 7717 | 10% |
| Killury | 6480 | 3475 | 46% |
| Kilmalkedar | 2333 | 1354 | 42% |
| Kilmoyly | 4459 | 2520 | 43% |
| Kilnanare | 1745 | 1100 | 37% |
| Kilnaughtin | 5102 | 4322 | 15% |
| Kilquane | 1760 | 998 | 43% |
| Kilshenane | 2271 | 1848 | 19% |
| Kiltallagh | 1303 | 882 | 32% |
| Kiltomy | 2043 | 1221 | 40% |
| Kinard | 1283 | 709 | 45% |
| Knockane | 5181 | 4245 | 18% |
| Knockanure | 1358 | 1053 | 22% |
| Lisselton | 2221 | 1740 | 22% |
| Listowel | 5934 | 4919 | 17% |
| Marhin | 973 | 650 | 33% |
| Minard | 1666 | 799 | 52% |
| Molahiffe | 3635 | 2271 | 38% |
| Murher | 3293 | 2425 | 26% |
| Nohaval | 944 | 628 | 33% |
| Nohavaldaly | 1604 | 1029 | 36% |
| O’Brennan | 992 | 640 | 35% |
| O’Dorney | 3142 | 2002 | 36% |
| Prior | 3323 | 2928 | 12% |
| Ratass | 2838 | 2218 | 22% |
| Rattoo | 3860 | 2203 | 43% |
| Stradbally | 1202 | 1031 | 14% |
| Templenoe | 4189 | 3011 | 28% |
| Tralee | 12534 | 9940 | 21% |
| Tuosist | 7485 | 4034 | 46% |
| Valencia | 2920 | 2317 | 21% |
| Ventry | 2426 | 1338 | 45% |
Thank you
The 21% loss shown for Tralee may be a distortion of the real numbers of decline due to death and emigration. A great book by Bryan Mcmahon explains that 11 of the poorest Ded’s in the Listowel PLU. were offloaded to Tralee in the Famine. This would have been a substantial increase in population and burden on the already stretched Tralee Plu. So caution needs to be given to these figures.
Michael, this is a good view and makes sense. Yes Bryan McMahon’s book The Great Famine in Tralee and North Kerry is meticulously researched and a ‘must read’for anyone who wants to get the real facts on the disaster. Thank you.
Wow, such fantastic information. I would love to know where the numbers for the 1841 and 1851 Irish Census came from. Are the 1841 and 1851 Census records for Co. Kerry still available? If so, are they available on any particular website? I know that most of the 1841 and 1851 Census records were burned in Dublin during the war in the early 1900s.
I have been working on my ancestry for years. I knew the famine had to have had an impact on my family, but the numbers for the Dingle Peninsula are just shocking.
I just wonder how many more relatives we would have if it were not for the famine. I pray for those that were lost due the famine and I thank God for those that some how made it through.
Thank you again for another fascinating post. Quick question: I had emailed you several days ago about a possible consulting request, and just want to double-check that you received it – sometimes emails go astray.
Debby, I have just replied to you by email. Kay
Kay – thanks for this. It gives me some very helpful info while trying to locate the town/townland where my ancestors lived. I have already found that one family in Wexford moved into a large town during or right after the Famine. I think that there was a lot of that during the Famine.
That’s amazing news Kay
Thank you. My ancestors – Evans/Moriarty, came from Minard Parish – in the 52% famine loss. How does one find out if they were class 4 housing. ? The family remain there now on the same land.. I visit them regularly.
Rosemary
Rosemary, thank you for your comments. It would be impossible to say definitely at the time of the Famine. We can make a guess from Griffiths Valuation 1852 but that is all. However if they were still in the same place at the time of the 1901 Census we can see for certain. If you email me the name & address I can have a look. Kay
dear Kay,
Thank you for the figures. Would Aulane have been in the Kilflynn Parish? If so, I do hope that the comparative small decline reflects what my great-grandmother said: that her father (Garret Fitzgerald)was able to help poorer families during the famine.
yours sincerely,
\ Felicity Millerd
How can I access the same type of statistics for County Roscommon?
You can access the statistics of any civil parish in Ireland by logging onto http://www.Irishfamineproject.com. If you don’t know the Civil Parish you are looking for, just hover your cursor over the county – in your case Roscommon – and you will see a nummber of these parishes coming up, which should be of help.
I don’t see where we can access the number of fourth class houses for each parish. I am interested in Brosna. Also, what is the definition of a fourth class house? thank you.
Kathleen, this is merely a link to the percentage difference in the population between 1841 and 1851 showing the numbers who either died or emigrated. There is no reference in it to living conditions. I can only give you a general description of housing at the time of the Great Famine:
The 1841 census divided the houses of Ireland into 4 categories:
‘Fourth Class comprising all Mud cabins having only one room; the Third, a better description of cottage, still built of mud, but varying from two to four rooms with windows, the Second, a good farmhouse, in towns, a house in a small street having from five to nine with windows, and the First , all houses a better description than the preceding ones’.
The 1841 census shows that 40% of all rural families in Ireland were living in one-roomed cabins. See more here.
Thank you, Can you tell me hat parish would Milltown have been in?
Liz, Milltown is in Kilcolman Civil Parish, in the Barony of Trughanacmy. The Catholic Church records are listed as Milltown. ‘This is a rural parish I mid-Kerry, bordered by the parishes of Castlemaine, Firies, Fossa, Beaufort and Killorglin. The [Catholic] parish of Milltown was originally knows as Kilcolman and Kilbonane’. (Fr. Kieran O’Shea, The Diocese of Kerry Formerly Ardfert (Strasbourg 2005)p.116.
My grandfather Michael Francis Hanafin was from Ashill in Ballymacelligot we believe ..He came to Australia .We wonder what it was like for a large family during those times.We can’tfind him on any ship coming here unless he came under a relatives name .
Are there records of those times ? How would they have fared during the famines.We believe he was born in the 1870s
Thank you
Rosemary, yes there are records of people and places from 1800s onwards. However if your grandfather was born in 1870, he escaped the horror of the Great Famine which took place 1845-1852.