Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/286

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250

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

Divided into six classes after the same method as that adopted in England and Scotland, the people of Ireland were found to be distributed as follows at the census of 1861:—

Classes	Total number of persons	Males	Females
1. Professional . .	96,613	83,150	13,463
2. Domestic	3,075,324	1,007,079	2,068,245
3. Commercial .	120,576	95,116	25,460
4. Agricultural .	988,929	904,748	84,181
5. Industrial	667,172	325,323	341,849
6. Indefinite	468,192	384,590	83,602
Total	5,416,806	2,800,006	2,616,800
Persons of no stated rank, profession, or occupation .	382,161	37,364	344,797
Total population	5,798,967	2,837,370	2,961,597

Comparing the relative numbers under each of the six classes in Ireland with those given for England and Wales, the following are the per-centages:—

	Rate per cent.
Classes	England and Wales	Scotland	Ireland
1. Professional . .	2.4	1.7	1.8
2. Domestic. .	57.4	57.0	56.8
3. Commercial. .	3.1	2.8	2.2
4. Agricultural. .	10.1	12.5	18.3
5. Industrial. .	24.3	22.8	12.3
6. Indefinite and non. . productive	2.7	3.2	8.6
	100.0	100.0	100.0

The movement of the population of Ireland since the beginning of the century was very different from that of England and Scotland. There was an increase, slow at first, and then rapid, from 1801 to 1841, and a decrease, more rapid than the previous increase, from 1841 to 1861. At the census of 1801 the population of Ireland was 5,395,456; in 1811, it had risen to 5,937,856; in 1821 to 6,801,827; in 1831 to 7,767,401; and in 1841 to 8,175,124. At the next census, that of 1851, the population was found to have sunk to 6,552,385, representing a decline of nearly twenty per cent., while the following, the last census returns, showed another decline of above twelve per cent. The decline during the two decennial periods was spread unequally over the four provinces, as illustrated in the

subjoined table, the totals of which are exclusive of the men of the

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