Diaspora

I showed my appreciation of my native land in the usual Irish way by getting out of it as soon as I possibly could.: George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

The term diaspora (in Ancient Greek, διασπορά – "a scattering or sowing of seeds") refers to any people or ethnic population who are forced or induced to leave their traditional homelands, the dispersal of such people, and the ensuing developments in their culture. Their reasons for leaving home have changed dramatically over the course of history but a common characteristic is the positive impact County Down natives have had on their new found homes.

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Off-Site Links

General Background: Irish Diaspora Studies scholarly network - in association with The Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, UK.
http://www.irishdiaspora.net/

So pack up your sea-stores, consider no longer,

Ten dollars a week is not very bad pay,
With no taxes or tithes to devour up your wages,

When you're on the green fields of America.

Population decline caused by Irish potato famine against the projected population in the absence of deaths and the massive emigration from Ireland. Note that this "missing" population of Ireland may be found in the United States and elsewhere.
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

Irish Diaspora Studies (1) by Patrick O'Sullivan

'Emigrants Leave Ireland', engraving by Henry Doyle (1827-1892), from Mary Frances Cusack's Illustrated History of Ireland, 1868