Topic 6 - The Irish Land Issue

Why was the land question so significant?

• Key natural resource

• Land = status and wealth

• Colonisation - prots gained their power through land

• No legal protection for tenants → exploitation

• linking nat YI and IRB

• Post-famine ^ determination for rights

What was conacre? What issues did this lead to?

Legal practice of leasing farms to tenants (cottiers) - usually on a short terms lease of 11 months

• Tenants often charged excessive amounts - no protection

• Leasing → subdivision of land

What were the three F’s? Explain what each of them are?

Where were they practiced?

• Fair rent - X arbitrary and exploitative rent

• Fixity of Tenure - guaranteed tenure of land for longer period - stop evictions if rent is paid

• Free Sale - compensation for tenants if they made improvements to land benefitting future owners

Fixity of Tenure and Free Sale practiced informally in Ulster

When was the Irish Tenant league formed? What did it campaign for?

When did it end?

1850 - nationwide attempt to unite and organise 3 F’s

1859

What was the Ulster Custom? How did this impact the endeavours of the Tenant League?

Informal convention in Ulster of having Fixity of Tenure and Free Sale

Tenant league need nationwide support yet in Ulster has no urgency as they already have rights Tenant League are campaigning for

When did Gladstone become PM? Why was his election a key event for the Ir land issue?

1868

• Desire for harmonious relations after IRB uprising

• Introduced laws to pacify e.g Church Act

• Saw Land issue as key

• Gladstone’s Moral principle

When was the Tenant league reformed? Under Who?

1869 under Isaac Butt

How many tenant farmers were there in 1870?

500,000

When was the Dublin Land Conference? Who did it involve? Who wasn’t their?

1870 - Farmers, Tenant League, Politicians (14 MPs)

Lib politicians didnt go as newly elected gov didn’t want to committ however were sympathetic to cause

What were the aims of the Dublin Land Conference? How long did it last?

Demanding tenant rights 3 F’s (coined the term 3 F’s)

Lasted 2 days

Who was John Gray?

Prot nationalist supporter of O’Connell, owner of Freeman’s Journal spreading awareness of the conference.

Advocate of 3 F’s and speaker at the conference

What was the outcome of the Dublin Land conference?

No hard laws BUT

• Influence on Gladstone for future acts

• ^ demand for 3 F’s

When was the Gladstone’s first land act?

1870

Why did Gladstone want to pass the land act?

• Iniquity of land system

• Belief it was source of conflict

  • e.g IRB uprising

• Moral principle

• Political - to bind Ir to Union

What were the 4 key features of Gladstone’s 1870 land Act?

• Ulster Custom in law anywhere it was agreed already

• Compensation for tenants evicted for reasons other than non-payment and compensation for improvements made to land

• ‘Bright Clause’ - tenants can buy land with gov loan for 2/3 of price

• Rents could not be ‘exorbitant

What was the limitations of the Ulster Custom becoming law anywhere it had been agreed already?

Vague, hard to prove esp if on outskirts of Ulster.

Even if tenants could prove, would require court action which they didn’t have £ for

What were the limitation of compensation for improvements and non-rent related evictions?

Not to tenants with leases 31+ yrs (assumed sufficient protections)

• Most 31+ leases in Ulster → area Ulster Custom recognised still had limited protection as leases weren’t short enough to get compensation

What were the limitations of the ‘Bright Clause’?

• 1/3 of price still a lot for tenant farmers

• In debt to gov w/ 5% interest payed over 35 yrs (35 yr most of life at the time)

• Only 877 attempted Bright Clause

What was the limitation of rents not allowed to be ‘exorbitant’?

No fixed cap, very vague

How was the land act recieved in parliament? By how much did the 1870 Land Act pass in gov?

Broad support except Disreali’s minority

442:11

How was the 1870 Land Act viewed at the time?

Positive step forward and a good attempt from Gladstone to resolve issues

Immediately after, tenants farmers saw prosperity

Give evidence of prosperity that tenant farmers saw immediately after the 1870 act?

• Eviction rates

• Agricultural output

What were the real reasons for this prosperity?

• Low eviction rates - 1.36/1000

• Agricultural output ^ £40.6 mil 1871-5

False sense of security after land act

Real Reason:

• Low pop and golden age after famine

• Boom post franco-prussian war + Am civil war

What did Gladstone claim after visiting Ir in 1877? Why is this ironic?

The Ir Land Act was successful

Depression was slow to hit Ir, but would hit in 1877 just after Gladstone’s comment

What year was the crash?

1873

What led to the crash?

• 1871 post war boom (end of Am civil war and Franco-Prussian war) →

• Overspeculation →

• loss of confidence →

• Investor cut back →

• value of stock declines →

• 1873 crash

When did the impact of the crash hit Ir? Why did it take so long?

1877 - Br done well for so long (e.g savings) so able to slow impact of the crash on Ir

Give evidence of the crash hitting Ir in 1877, related to employment.

1800 - unemp = 1%

1879 - unemp = 11%

What were the three economic challenges faced by Ireland causing the long depression?

1. Low prices and foreign comp

2. Low yields

3. Decreasing land value

Explain the economic challenge of Low prices (use the prompts)

• America

• $1.70 → $0.66

• 10% and superior

• Butter - decr £

• Comp w/ Am of low prices of wheat and meat (Am - $1.70 a bushel → $0.66) → Br buying from Am not Ir

• HOWEVER wheat only 10% of Ir trade and Ir meat far superior to Am so not too devastating

• Decr price of butter - impactful of small holdings e.g in Connacht

• → Ir had to lower prices to compete

Explain the economic challenge of Low Yields. (use the following prompts)

• Weather

• £14 mil (60%)

• Bad Weather in 1877 → poor harvest and disease → low yields of potatoes

• Value of Ir tillage decr £14 mil 1876-9 (60% due to failed potatoes)

How did the eco challenges of low prices and low yields impact land value?

Falling prices and lower yields → …

• value of land decr as profit made is smaller

• less £ for smaller farmers → unable to pay rent due to less profit (→ LL having to ^ rent → ^ evictions)

Where was the ‘long depression’ most sever?

West Ir e.g Connacht and West Munster

Why was ‘ the long depression’ most sever in West Ireland?

• Most tenancies were still smallholdings (not transferred to pasture)

• Connacht - 89% smallholdings valued less than £15 a year

• Reliance on small scale tillage → ‘mini famine’ in 1879

How were better off farmers still impacted? What major flaw did this uncover in the 1870 land act?

Even better off farmers facing ^ rent and lower incomes (LL ^ rent to offset relief they paid)

This showed the issue of no fixed rent in 1870 act

How did LL behave in light of the economic challenged faced?

• Poor relief

• Sympathetic

• Loans

• Many LL ^ rent to off set the decr in income and poor relief they had to pay

• Minority of sympathetic LL decr rent

• Some offer gov loans - HOWEVER makes it worse as it has interest of 6.5% → tenants refusing

Failure of fixed rent and LL refusing to decr rent → ^ evictions. How many were evicted in 1877, 1878 and 1880?

1877 - 400 evicted

1878 - 1,000 evicted

1880 - 2,000 evicted

Tenants had nothing left to lose → …

Rent strikes

Rents strikes didn’t often achieve … in fact often just led to ^ … . This increased divisions/polarisation between … and …, causing ^ …. This increased militancy eventually led to … … …

Rents strikes didn’t often achieve concession in fact often just led to ^ evictions. This increased divisions/polarisation between landords and tenants, causing ^ agitation. This increased militancy eventually led to The Land Wars

What broader campaign did the land wars/campaign for land rights become a part of?

Became intertwined with HR

When did the Ir Land League come into the equation? What were its aims?

October 1879

Aim to give direction to the land issue and coordinate tenant farmers

What were the most common tactics of the Ir Land League?

Rent Strikes

but also boycotting work and intimidation

What are examples of deliberate violence being used?

Murder of Landlord William Browne (Lord Mountmorres) in 1880 - shot 6 times

What were the immediate and long-term aims of the Land Wars?

Immediate:

• Rent reduction (stop rack-renting)

Long Term

• ^ legal rights

• Substantial 3 F’s

When were the Land Wars?

1879-82

Who was Micheal Davitt? Give facts about him using the following prompts:

• Eviction

• Lancashire

• IRB

• America

• Co. Mayo - 1879

Driving force behind co-ordination of Land Wars

• Eviction - Family were evicted when he was 6 (first hand experience)

• Lancashire - Worked in a mill where arm got severed aged 11

• IRB - joined in 1865 and imprisoned for it 1870-7

• America - 1878 to try and unify constitutional and revolutionary nat

• Co. Mayo, 1879 - Organised LndLg here → national Ir LdnLg w/ Parnell

In 1879, Davitt organised a meeting in co. Mayo. How many people attended?

At least 4,000

Freeman’s journal claims 8,000

What were the aims for the 1879 Co. Mayo meeting? Who particularly was the target? Was it successful?

Present unity and co-ordination to achieve reform

• Targeting Cath priest Burke - threatening to evict tenants

• Pressure from Davitt and farmers → Burke forced to reduce rates 25%

Why was Davitt’s success with the Co Mayo meeting so significant?

Gives tenants farmers:

• chance to have voice heard

• direction

• unity

• means to achieve

Where was Davitt’s 2nd key meeting in 1879? What was so significant about this

Westport

Parnell (new leader of HRL) spoke - shows Parnell’s awareness of Land issue also being a HR issue

After the two meetings what organisation did Davitt create in 1879?

What was Parnell’s role within the org?

Irish Land League - national org for directing land issue

Parnell was President

What ideology did Parnell and Davitt embrace?

The New Departure - link between land and national issues e.g Land and HR linked

Give Background on Parnell Using the following prompts

• Heritage

• Politics

• Charisma

• Heritage - Nationalist father and Ir am mother so appealed to all

• Politics - Leader of IPP (prev. HRL)

• Charisma - well like and engaging personality, appealed to Fenians and moderates alike

Why was Parnell’s involvement in the land issue so key?

Gave the mvt political weight and significance

What did Parnell do in the US?

Went to Am to ^ £

Spoke in 60 citites raising £12,000 for LndLg and £60,000 for famine relief

What action did Parnell encourage?

Constitutional defiance e.g rent strikes, moral force direction action

When was the height of the Ir LanLg in terms of numbers? How many members did it have in this time?

1881 - 200,000 members

What were the main methods of the LndLg?

Non-violent

• Posters, leaflets

• rent strikes

• Ostracism of land-grabbers

• Ostracism of LL who had evicted tenants

How were the methods used by the LndLg effective (particularly rent strikes and ostracism)?

• Rent strikes - impact on LL himself but also local eco

• Ostracism of land grabbers → LL not getting land works → no income or produce and getting cut off from local community

Give a famous example of ignoring LLs

Cpt Boycott 1880:

• gave notices to 11 tenants for not paying rent

• all workers encouraged to leave land

• Boycott family trying to fend for themselves

• Eventually left land moving to England

• Some organemen did try to help but not significant enough to overpower LndLg

What two events are good evidence to show the effectiveness of the Davitt’s tactics?

Priest Burke and Cpt Boycott

What is evidence of some people taking the tactics of the LndLg too far?

How can this be countered?

Murder of Landlords e.g William Browne (shot 6x) Mountmorres 1880

HOWEVER this was not endorsed by leaders (inconsistency of mvt)

What was the Br response to Mountmorres’s murder?

Heavy - Protection of Person and Property Act 1881 → arrest of Davitt and suppression of LndLg in 1881

When did Gladstone take power during this period? How was he influenced by Parnell?

1880 - middle of the Land Wars

Parnell winning maj of Ir seats 63/103 (Libs only winning 11/103 Ir seats) → Gladstone dependant on HRL support

Knowing he needed to ^ lib support in Ir, who did Gladstone appoint as Chief Sec for Ireland? Why?

William Forster

• Reformer of edu system

• Travelled Ir during famine

What was the intention of Forster’s Compensation for Disturbance Bill, 1880? 

Temporary measure (for 18 months) to compensate Southern/Western tenants if evicted for any reason including non-payment if it could be proved that this was due to the agricultural depression

How did the Compensation for Disturbance bill move through HoC and HoL?

Passed HoC

Defeated 282:5 in HoL due to potential impact of LLs

What did the failure of the 1880 bill lead to? 

^ agitation e.g ostracism of Captain Boycott’s estate, 1880

What was the name of the commission Gladstone created? When did he create it? What was its aims?

Bessborough Commission created in 1880

To determine the reform needed and investigating the land issue

What did the Bessborough Commission identify? What were its recommendations and how were they recieved?

• Short comings of the 1870 Land Act

• Recommends granting true 3 F’s

• Passed 4:1

What was Forster forced into passing following the failure of the 1880 bill? Why was he forced into it?

• The Protection of Person and Property Act, 1881

• 1st of a series of Coercion Acts - suspending Habeas Corpus

• Forced due to ^ hostility from the Ir tenants.  

How many arrests did the suspension of Habeas Corpus in 1881 →?

955 (inc Davitt in Feb, 1881 and Parnell in Oct, 1881)

TRUE OR FALSE: The Protection of Person snd Property Act 1881 reflected Forster’s true intentions?

FALSE: it did not reflect his true intentions as he wanted to pacify Ir, forced into it due to ^ agitation

What effect did the coercion act have on Forster and ultimately what happened to his position in 1882? 

Became hugely disliked (plots of his murder) →resignation in 1882 

How was the Bessborough commission an obstacle for Forster?

Delayed his ability to put together a 2nd Land Act as he was waiting for the results of the investigation

Overall was Forster considered a pioneering figure in the land issue? 

Forster faced key obstacles to addressing the land question in Ir (e.g ^ agitation) → not credited with a leading role in land reform.

Bessborough Report was published under him, paving the way for improvements to 3Fs HOWEVER the Land Act of 1881 seen as Gladstone’s reform.  

When was the 2nd Land Act passed?

1881

What were Gladstone’s key motivations for the passing of the 1881 Act? 

• Help and pacify Ir

• Politically - calm LndLg and ^ anglo-Ir relations

What did the 1881 Land Act grant?

• Irish Land Commission to decide levels of rent where disputed 

• Tenants right to sell land holdings if chose 

• Tenants security of tenure if abide by conditions set out (statutory tenure)

How did the 1881 Act differ from the 1870 act?

• Provides fixity of tenure

• Provides fixed rent with Ir Land Commission

• Give tenant right to sell holdings

Why did Gladstone assume the land act would be received positively? 

Act granted LndLg’s demands as understood by Gladstone. he anticipated restoration of order

What were the limitations of the 1881 Land Act/ Why were members of the LndLg not happy with the Act?

• No redistribution of Land (demand of more radical LndLg members)

• Not addressing rent arrears

• No adjustment of rent in event poor harvest/depressed eco conditions 

What are rent arrears and how many tenants were affected by them? What fraction of Co. Mayo were impacted by rent arrears?

Debt owed to landlord impacting 150,000 small farmers 

2/3 of farming pop in Co. Mayo

When/What was the ‘No Rent Manifesto’?

From Parnell in prison, 1881

• called for nat rent strikes calling for addressing of rent arrears and adjustment amendment in Land Act

Where was the ‘No Rent Manifesto’ Published? What was its circulation?

front pg of league’s newspaper United Ireland

Circulation of 100,000

How many agrarian outrages from small farmers were there in 7 months after ‘No Rent Manifesto’? What did these include?

3,498 - Attacks of property and person of LL (often at night), intimidating letters to LL

What were the limitations of the ‘No rent Manifesto’?

Not as much support as Parnell thought, not supporting action.

Violence only → LndLg made illegal in 1881

How many people support the 1881 Act?

2/3 of farming pop acc supported the Act

When/What was the Kilmainham Treaty?

1882

Parnell agreed that if rent arrear was addressed he would use his power to subdue violence → Gladstone amending act

Signifies end of Land Wars

In what act did Gladstone fix the issues of the 1881 Land Act? How much £ of rent arrears did this act cancel?

Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act 1882 - cancelled £2mil of rent arrears built up

What event → condemnation of Parnell at the end of the Land Wars?

As part of Kilmainham Treaty, Parnell promised to subdue violence if Arrears of Rent Act Passed

Days after treaty, new Chief Sec of Ir murdered in Pheonix Park

Shows Parnell lack of power

that being said however Kilmainham did still subdue tensions to a level