i,abot;r and the migration' of irish agricultural labourers 8 1 



England 



and 



Wales 



1911 73-2 



ICJI2 , 65.8 



1913 70-9 



19I4 69.4 



1915 I 64.9 



Scotland 



22.0 

 27-3 

 237 

 27.0 

 30.0 



Irish countries 



4-8 

 6.9 

 5-4 

 3-6 

 51 



Total 



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4,776 migrants were enumerated as going to England in 1915 and 4,584 

 of them came from Conuaiight — 3,706 or 78 per cent, from County Mayo 

 alone. After haymaking in Lancashire and Yorkshire they usually find 

 further employment in these counties at turnip hoeing etc. The}' then move 

 to Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire for the corn harvest, and thence 

 to Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire for potato digging. In 1915 

 their usual wage was about 25s a week, in addition to free lodging and fuel 

 and an allowance of potatoes and milk or beer. At piece work they earned 

 as much as 35s or even 40s a week. 



The migrants enumerated as going to Scotland in 1915 numbered 2,205 > 

 and of these 1,579 were from Ulster, and 622 from Connaught — including 

 1,538 or 70 per cent, of the whole number from County Donegal and 565 

 or 26 per cent, from County Mayo. The}' were chiefly engaged on potato 

 lifting, on which some of them spent twenty weeks. As a rule they start 

 work in Ayrshire early in June and scatter over the country later in the sea- 

 son, and they return to Ireland in November. In 1915 they usually earned 

 from aliout 25s to 306' a week, together with free lodging and fuel and some- 

 times an allowance of potatoes. On piece work they made as much as 35s 

 a week. 



English and Scottish employers bear testimony to the trustworthi- 

 ness, skill and thrift of the migrants. They generally save from half to three 

 quarters of their earnings and sometimes take as much as £20 home with 

 them. The amount of their earnings and the rates of agricultural wages in 

 Ireland, as these have been set out, go far to explain the continued migra- 

 tion in spite of the scarcity of labour in Ireland. 



