Ireland reaches a population of 50 million
Things get difficult if one is writing this if the POD is 1835 or later, but I think that without the Potato Famine things would be much more different than some might suggest.
Ireland as a part of Great Britain might contribute a lot as well, especially if there were no uprisings and such, this would make immigration to Ireland much more common and, with an open door policy, 25 or so is possible.
To get to 50 million, however, one would need to go further back than 1835, possibly MUCH further, having Ireland as a trading capital like the Netherlands and giving it colonies in the Carribbean and such. It's not well positioned for that, but it could become to Britain what Portugal was to Spain and have large swathes of land overseas.
For 50 million, I think you'd definitely have to go before 1835, for 25 million you eliminate the Potato Famine and make immigration to Ireland more attractive.
Things get difficult if one is writing this if the POD is 1835 or later, but I think that without the Potato Famine things would be much more different than some might suggest.
Ireland as a part of Great Britain might contribute a lot as well, especially if there were no uprisings and such, this would make immigration to Ireland much more common and, with an open door policy, 25 or so is possible.
To get to 50 million, however, one would need to go further back than 1835, possibly MUCH further, having Ireland as a trading capital like the Netherlands and giving it colonies in the Carribbean and such. It's not well positioned for that, but it could become to Britain what Portugal was to Spain and have large swathes of land overseas.
For 50 million, I think you'd definitely have to go before 1835, for 25 million you eliminate the Potato Famine and make immigration to Ireland more attractive.