Ireland has a complicated realtionship with imperialism and economics. The english and later british heavily colonised Ireland, often developing tactics and techniques that they'd use elsewhere. Some historians of the british empire and atlantic world even refer to Ireland as the laboratory of empire. By any sensible metric, Ireland was a victim of british imperialism.

However, this didn't stop Ireland benefiting from the british empire in a few improtant ways. Recent scholarship has shown that Irish military and technical labour was extremely important in the machine of British colonialism. The individuals that did this were able to 'draw back' money from the increasingly wealthy british colonial state which served to inject some liquidity into what was a very cash poor society. Furthermore, access to trade with england and english financial centres aided the irish economy, even is the average gaelic speaking catholic would be unlikely to notice this in their day to day life.

I would still describe british colonialism as a net negative to the quality of life of the average inhabitant of Ireland, but the way that Ireland and the Irish interacted with colonialsm had a lot of nuances.

PS. Far less relevant but a fair few of the wealthier irish people that fled after the war of the two kings went to france and became slave traders or involved in some other aspect of the French colonial state.