Examining Ireland’s Post–Famine Economic Growth Performance

Abstract

This paper sets out a short-cut method for allocating country level GDP estimates across regions. Comparing United Kingdom regional GDP estimates generated using the short-cut method against existing regional GDP figures suggests that it produces acceptable results. We make estimates of GDP for the four countries of the United Kingdom for each of the census years between 1861 and 1911. Irish GDP per worker and per caput grew faster than British. These indicators demonstrate weak convergence of the two regions. The bulk of the Irish performance may be explained by traditional forces such as TFP growth and capital accumulation