Mobility in Ireland 1800's

I think it depended a bit on what your trade or occupation was and where you lived. A lot of people like farmers tended to stay in the same place for generations but others might move a bit. Some would move up to cities like Dublin and Belfast because of better employment opportunities. (The opening of the linen mills in the 1840s and 50s Belfast brought several hundred thousand people from the surrounding counties, incuding Co Antrim, into the city). But if you are asking whether people routinely moved from Co Antrim to say Co Kerry, the answer is  generally no.

I would agree with some of what was already said about social/economic mobility in Ireland generally as Ireland became industrialised people moved from the countryside to cities in the search of work. Also the great famine in the 1840s was to have an impact on Ireland that would be felt to this day where people moved from counties like Mayo in the west of Ireland in search of food and a better life in countries like America and Australia.

However as was previouslly said people only tended to pull up their roots if it was economically necessary or if their survival depended on it. This article should give you the main reasons people moved during the great famine http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland_great_famine_of_1845.htm.

It would be a good start reading this but for more reputable academic sources you can read else where.

Kind Regards

Shane Burke

Thanks for both replies. The time period that has me stumped is during the famine. My g grandfather was born in 1854 in Belfast and the only information I have beyond him is his Father's name (without a middle name).  So it may very well be that he migrated to Belfast in search of work and then fathered my g grandfather.

I have been broadening my searches beyond Belfast and Antrim but with only a name to go on, I'm not having much luck.

I'm also confused by the co-occupants of my g grandfather's common grave.  

It doesn't seem to get any easier, that's for sure.

Thanks again for your input guys.

Cheers,

Ron Morrison

Ron,

The population of Belfast doubled between 1831 & 1851, so your theory that the family possibly came in from a surrounding rural area is likely to be correct:

http://www.geographyinaction.co.uk/Urban_structure/Urban_growth.html

The majority of the working class population didn't use middle names in the 1800s, so your problem of narrowing the search is fairly common. Without an idea of the townland or parish they came from it can be almost impossible to trac esomeone born inthe 1830s.

Elwyn