Westmeath Among The Wealthiest Counties In 1911

The 1911 census has been newly digitised, and shows the average wealth and poverty among counties at the time.

Newly digitised figures from the 1911 Census shows Westmeath was the second wealthiest county in Ireland.

The Lake County had an average valuation of £5.48 per person, trailing only Meath is terms of wealth.

Laois and Offaly, known as the Queens and Kings counties back then, also rank in the top ten, with average valuations of £4.72, and £4.38 respectively.

The vast majority of the country's wealthiest counties were in Leinster, while the statistics show notable poverty along the Western seaboard.

Newly digitised figures which were made available today, show 7 of the 10 poorest electoral areas were in Donegal, while Mayo was the poorest county overall.

Trinity College Historian Dr Caitilin White says the impact of the Famine was still being felt in the west of the country:

 

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