British Census Commissioners in 1841 had declared the population of Ireland to be 8,175,124. During the Famine years, 1845-50, Ireland's population declined in the millions due to deaths from starvation and disease and from mass emigration to North America and England.
Located at the rear of the abdominal cavity in the retroperitoneal space, the kidneys receive blood from the paired renal arteries, and drain into the paired renal veins. Each kidney excretes urine into a ureter which empties into the bladder. Renal physiology is the study of kidney function, while nephrology is the medical specialty concerned with kidney diseases. Diseases of the kidney are diverse, but individuals with kidney disease frequently display characteristic clinical features.
Your kidneys play a vital role in keeping your blood composition constant. They filter your blood to remove excess water and waste products, which are secreted from your kidneys as urine. One quarter of your blood supply passes through your kidneys every minute. It enters your kidney and is distributed to minute filtration units known as nephrons.