By Andy Bielenberg
Published in Irish Economic and Social History, January 2026.
Link

Abstract

This article reviews the historiography and statistical basis of Irish woodland cover between the mid-seventeenth century and the 1920s. It argues that the estimates of woodland cover generated by Oliver Rackham from the Civil Survey returns in the 1650s are far too low, while the figures presented by Eileen McCracken for the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are incorrectly presented, leaving a confused overall picture of Irish woodland cover. Firstly, a new estimate is generated for the 1650s and this can be compared to the official statistics for woodlands and plantations published between the mid-nineteenth century and 1917, providing a more accurate picture of the decline of Irish woodland in the intervening years. Secondly, a more detailed assessment is made of the official felling statistics published annually between 1890 and 1917, in order to provide greater insight into the nature and extent of the Irish forestry sector in this period. The article concludes that Irish woodland cover declined dramatically from around 6.9% in the mid-seventeenth century to about 1.5% in the mid-nineteenth century, leaving an exceptionally low level of woodland cover, which declined even more between 1880 and 1920, when Irish woodland cover reached an all time historical low point. The article concludes that Irish forestry like most British forestry was small scale, poorly managed and unprofitable by European standards.