Possibly the swiftest route to your roots.
Irish genealogy website directory.
www.irishhistorian.com/IrishFamineTimeline.html
Description:
A census showed that the Irish population had fallen from 8,175,124 people to 6,552,385 from 1841 as a result of mortality and emigration. It was estimated that if the famine had not occurred, the number of people living in Ireland would have been more than nine million. The census takers commented that 'the results of the Irish census of 1851 are, on the whole, satisfactory, demonstrating as they do the general advancement of the country'.