Why So Few People Live On The West Coast Of Ireland

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!

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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_population_of_Ireland

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’

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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".

The west coast of Ireland is very wet and relatively mountainous, is why it’s less populated. There is a similar population trend in Scotland.

hahaha! You try make it sound like the Australian outback, try drive from Dublin (east coast) to Galway (west coast) and you'll see just how "empty" this country is, every town and city is bursting with people. You have not got a clue and I suspect you've never set foot here.

"Major" is a relative term....In terms of "major cities" on a global scale, with the exception of Belfast and Dublin, many population centres in Ireland are little more than small towns. BTW I live in Ireland. In the England classifications are as follows Major is 200k - England 28, ROI 2, NI 1 Large is 75k to 199,999 - England 85, Ireland 2 largest of which is 102k, NI is 1 Medium is 20k to 74999 - UK 348 ROI Ireland 21 and NI 11 You can see the trend - Several county towns in Ireland would be classed as Large Village/Small town.

Thanks for the video on Ireland! I appreciate your time, research and presentation of world geography and interesting facts. Maybe consider adjusting your voice and varying the depths and heights of your tone during your videos. Otherwise great job, keep up the good work :)

Founded in 914 AD by Vikings from Norway, Waterford City is over 1100 years old making it Ireland's oldest City. In 914,the great Viking adventurer and pirate, Regnall, a grandson of Ivor the Boneless, established a base here and built a Longphort or ships haven, which would in time become a modern city. Waterford & Dublin remain the only cities to get Royal city status

We see the reasons the reasons why Ireland's East coast is more heavily populated than the West duplicated in the UK: better geography and proximity to markets. The UK's population is heavily concentrated in South East England for those reasons. The geographical conditions and climate are more benign in the South East of England, and it is closest to the markets in continental Europe

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. 😁