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Leitrim's Missing Thousands in the American Civil War In 1841 County Leitrim had a population over 155,000 people. Ten years later it had lost more than 43,000 of them to hunger, fever and the emigrant ship. The county never recovered. By the 1996 census the population had fallen to 25,000, just 16% of what it had been before the Famine. An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people emigrated from Leitrim during the Famine years, and emigration did not stop when the Famine ended. Mos

Population Decline County Leitrim, located in the northwest of Ireland, has a rich history marked hardship and in more recent times by hope. The Great Famine of the 1840s was a significant turning point, leading to a mass exodus of people seeking refuge from starvation and poverty. As in every county at the time, Leitrim families were forced to leave their homes, embarking on perilous journeys across the Atlantic to America, Canada, and beyond. This exodus continued for anoth