 At the time, the population of Dublin was not quite 10,000, so the impact of the death toll was significant, representing over 1% of the population of the city.Although the immediate impact of the disaster was horrific, the rebuilding that took place in the early 17th century paved the way for the dramatic expansion of Dublin in the 1600s.In contrast to the timber that was widely employed in Ireland in the Medieval and Tudor era, much of the new building was in brick.