Emigration has been central to Irish life for more than two centuries. It was already significant before the 1840s Famine, but there was a massive outflow of people in the immediate aftermath of that disaster.
In recent times, there have also been periodic surges in emigration during economic crises in Ireland: in the 1950s, the 1980s and again after the economic crash post-2008.
Even in the 19th century, some of those who emigrated subsequently returned, though they were very much a minority. Recent research by Cormac Ó Gráda and Alan Fernihough examined returned emigrants using the 1911 census. While there was no direct question on this topic, the researchers were able to identify a substantial number of parents who had returned to Ireland by looking at children born in the US.
The findings showed that those who returned to Ireland did not do as well as those who stayed in the US. However, they had the edge on those who never went away, and they didn’t go back to Ireland’s poorer areas. Their children spent longer at school than others – a significant long-term benefit for these families.
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A Lund university study has found fairly similar results for Sweden. As with the Irish, returning Swedish emigrants were a small proportion of the total. Having left rural areas, the Swedish emigrants who came home in the early 20th century tended to return there.
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They did not initially appear to be markedly better off than those who never left. However, data on wealth of individuals from the 1930s showed that Swedish returned emigrants were wealthier than remainers – they may have brought savings back with them which enabled them to prosper.
From the 1960s on, the Irish pattern of migration has been rather different from that of the early 20th century. While periodic economic crises have seen large-scale emigration, many who left in more recent times proved to be homing pigeons, returning to Ireland when economic prospects improved.
About one in five of those aged 55-59 in the 2022 census were returned emigrants, reflecting the 1980s outflow and subsequent return. A higher share of returnees have been women
In the 1950s and early 1960s, many left Ireland because of very poor job prospects in a failing economy. A significant number of them returned in the 1970s, when the economy was in recovery mode. Over the 1970s, between 50,000 and 100,000 people returned to Ireland, with 11,000 of those returners holding a degree.
Emigrants in the 1950s with low education levels were unlikely to return to Ireland, even though many did not do particularly well in the UK, for instance, living in poverty in their later years. Better-educated emigrants, especially graduates, fared better in the UK, and these individuals were also more likely to return to Ireland.
Again in the 1980s, when the economy underwent a prolonged recession, many people left expecting never to return. However, once again as the economy bounced back in the early 1990s, as the Celtic Tiger developed, many well-educated people chose to return home.
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Between 1991 and 1996, more than 30,000 graduates returned to Ireland. A similar pattern of exit and return occurred during the post-2008 economic crisis, and the recovery after 2013.
Recent censuses provide evidence of past emigration and return, where those who left in the 1950s and the 1980s can be tracked in the relevant age groups. About one in five of those aged 55-59 in the 2022 census were returned emigrants, reflecting the 1980s outflow and subsequent return. A higher share of returnees have been women.
The data confirms that the highly educated are more likely to return – 25 per cent of Irish-born graduates have lived abroad, compared to 15 per cent of the overall Irish-born adult population.
ESRI research by Alan Barrett and colleagues shows that those who emigrate and come back earn 10 per cent more today as a result of the experience they have gained in foreign labour markets. This has been an unusual asset for Ireland, helping to grow our economy. Few other developed economies have enjoyed such a bonus from returned emigrants.
Some returners find romance abroad and may return with a foreign-born partner, and often, obviously, children. In 2024, almost 1,500 children were born in Australia to Irish fathers, and more than 1,000 to Irish mothers, showing a fair share of “mixed” relationships, although how many families will come back to live here isn’t yet known. Foreign-born spouses with Irish in-laws may find it easier to settle here than other migrants.
The big blockage for potential returners is the cost of housing. While the supply of homes has been ramping up, it may be too late for some couples who might typically come back in their 30s, but not when their children are older. For those who’d like to return, but can’t, their loss is felt not only by their families here, but also by our economy.
