A massive surplus of housing, combined with the late-2000s recession, resulted in a large number of estates being abandoned, unoccupied or uncompleted.

The abundance of abandoned buildings in Ireland is a physical map of the country's turbulent economic and social history. The most recent cause was the 2008 financial crash, which left behind "Ghost Estates"—housing developments built during the "Celtic Tiger" boom that were never finished or occupied when the bubble burst. Older ruins, such as stone cottages seen in the countryside, often date back to the Great Famine (1845–1852) and the subsequent waves of mass emigration that saw Ireland's population plummet. Furthermore, complex inheritance laws and the high cost of renovating protected historical structures often lead families to leave ancestral homes to decay rather than selling them. In recent years, the Irish government has introduced the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant to combat this, offering up to €70,000 to citizens willing to restore these derelict homes and bring life back to rural and urban centers.