Push and pull

People emigrate because they feel 'pushed' out by conditions at home or 'pulled' by attractions abroad. Because Irish emigration is unique in the proportion of women involved, historians try to find out the factors which motivated them and have made several suggestions.

Push factors

Panic flight from destitution and fear of destitution, especially during the Great Famine.
Women's opportunities for marriage were limited in the post-famine period because now only one son could inherit the farm and bring in a wife. The other sons and daughters had to leave or remain unmarried when farmers stopped sub-dividing their holdings. The inheriting son's wife brought a dowry to compensate one or more of those who left or to compensate the older couple for their loss of control over the farm.
Labouring people lost out in the shift from tillage to livestock in the second half of the nineteenth century. Insecurity delayed or prevented them from marrying.
Marriage was considered the most respectable option for women but at this time more people remained celibate (unmarried) and the average age at which people married rose.
Women's opportunities for paid employment were extremely limited. Manufacturing employment in Ireland was completely inadequate to absorb the 'surplus' sons and daughters in a country whose fertility rates were amongst the highest in Europe. Unmarried women who stayed in Ireland had little option but to remain dependant on their relatives.
The decline in domestic industry deprived women of a traditional source of income. Few women could now earn a living by working in the home.

Questions

Rank the 'push' factors in order of importance, in your opinion. Give reasons for the two factors you considered most important.

Rank the 'pull' factors in order of importance, in your opinion. Give reasons for the two factors you considered most important.

Can you suggest other factors pushing or pulling Irish people towards emigration?

Push and pull

Questions

Activities