Migration has been a significant feature of the Irish demographic experience for at least three hundred years. During this period, up to ten million people left the island to live elsewhere (Fitzpatrick, 1984; Coward 1989. The sustained nature of emigration over such a long time span, combined with its high level relative to the population of the island, have conferred on Ireland a unique status in the modern history of emigration. The distinctive nature of Irish emigration may be attributed to the continued failure of the island's economy to provide acceptable employment opportunities in sufficient quantities, allied to the geographical and cultural proximity of regions where better opportunities were both available and accessible. This paper argues that Ireland's emigration experience is profoundly related to the island's integration, from the nineteenth century onwards, to an international economic system based initially on commercial, but increasingly on industrial capitalism.