6C. The Land Wars

Question 1

What were the problems with Ireland’s conacre system?

Answer 1

By 1870, Ireland had 500,000 tenant farmers, 80% of whom held leases shorter than 1 year.

• Tenant had no legal claim to the land they rented.
• Leases granted under this system also created short claims to the land, usually 11 months.
• Small holdings, short tenancies, often only a single crop type, tenants vulnerable to eviction and rack-renting.

Question 2

What were the three ‘F’s?

Answer 2

Fair rent
Fixity of tenure*
Free sale

*This meant that a tenant could not be evicted if they had paid their rent

Question 3

What was the Ulster custom?

Answer 3

A set of informal rights enjoyed by Ulster tenants, such as fixity of tenure and the ability to sell the right of occupancy to any new tenant approved by the landlord.

These rights were asserted in Ulster due to the importance of the role they played in maintaining and improving the land during times of economic and political turmoil in the 17th Century.

Question 4

When was the Irish Tenant League first founded?
When did it reform?

Answer 4

1850
1868*

*Isaac Butt as President

Question 5

What was organised in February 1870?

Answer 5

In February 1970, due to rumours that Gladstone was preparing a bill, a national land conference was organised in Dublin as forum for discussion and a popular demonstration of the will of Ireland’s agricultural community.

Question 6

Who attended the February 1870 Dublin Land Conference?

Answer 6

Attendees of the event came from across the country and even from Ulster farms where the Ulster custom was in force.

Notable figures include:

• President of the Tenant League, Isaac Butt
• Sir John Gray, a Protestant nationalist, veteran reformer and owner of the Freeman’s Journal
• Around 14 MPs
• Lords Portsmouth, Granard, Greville and Bellew

Irish liberals were noticeably absent from the conference as they were primary landowners in Ireland, who were unwilling to endorse it.

Question 7

What was promoted at the February 1870 Dublin Land Conference?

Answer 7

Demonstrated desire to extend Ulster custom to all of Ireland, especially fixity of tenure and freedom to sell their interest.

Question 8

Why was the 1870 Dublin Land Conference significant?

Answer 8

Significant for bringing together representatives from different parts for Ireland to discuss land laws and put pressure on the new Gladstone who had come into power in 1868 to carry through land reform.

Question 9

Why did Gladstone pass the First Irish Land Act 1870 (Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act)

Answer 9

• Reduce antagonism in Ireland and concerns within his party that not addressing the issue could create future unrest
• Create a fairer land system

Question 10

What did the First Irish Land Act 1870 impose?

Answer 10

• Ulster custom was recognised in law wherever it was agreed that it existed
• Compensation offered for tenants evicted on any ground other than non-payment of rents, and for any improvements to land the tenant might have made
• Protection afforded by legislation would not apply to tenants with leases over 31 years, as it was assumed that sufficient protection already existed for those tenants under the terms of their leases
• Rents must not be exorbitant

Bright Clause:

• Any tenant who wished to by their holding could do so, and could borrow 2/3 of the price from the government to pay back at 5% interest over 35 years

Question 11

What was the significance of the First Irish Land Act 1870?

Answer 11

• First occasion that the British government had intervened in Irish land affairs on the behalf of tenants

This set the way for future land reforms in Ireland

Question 12

What were the limitations of the implementation of the Ulster custom under the First Irish Land Act 1870?

Answer 12

The decision as to where the Ulster custom currently existed was left vague, relying on the tenant to claim their own rights and prove that they were included in the custom.

This led to a more combative attitude between some tenants and their landlords.

Question 13

What were the limitations of the Bright clause under the First Irish Land Act 1870?

Answer 13

Only 877 people took advantage of the opportunity. This was because:

• The general conditions of the clause were not particularly favourable
• Not many farmers could afford the 1/3 deposit
• Many landlords simply did not want to sell their holdings

Question 14

What were the limitations of compensation under the First Irish Land Act 1870?

Answer 14

Landlords could evict tenants without having to provide compensation by simply waiting until their lease ended, then increasing the rent beyond any possible means of payment.

• This circumvented the provisions of the Act as technically the rent was not increased during the lease.

Alternatively, landlords could simply withhold compensation, requiring tenants to take legal action to claim it, which they could likely not afford to do.

Question 15

What were the limitations of rent reduction under the First Irish Land Act 1870?

Answer 15

Act was extremely vague on maximum rents, stating initially that rents should not be ‘excessive’ without quantifying what this meant.

When the House of Lords came to consider the bill, they were able to substitute the phrase for ‘exorbitant’, granting greater freedom for landlords to be able to charge above what tenants could afford

Question 16

Why were the weaknesses of the First Irish Land Act 1870 not immediately felt?

Answer 16

Ireland enjoyed relative prosperity in the early 1870s and eviction rates remained low:

• Between 1856 and 1880, the eviction rate only averaged 1.36 per thousand holdings per year
• The value of agricultural output increased to £40.6 million in the years 1871-75 as opposed to £28.8 million 20 years earlier.

Question 17

What was the original cause of the ‘long depression’ felt in Ireland from 1877?

Answer 17

• Overconfidence in stock markets following successful speculation in aftermath of both the American Civil War in 1865 and Franco-Prussian War in 1871.
• This led to a sudden fear that the investment bubble might burst, causing investors to cut back on investments and subsequent crash in 1873

Although initially shielded from the crash due to trade with Britain, Ireland began to feel the depression from 1877 as exports declined.

Question 18

How did foreign imports increase the effects of the ‘long depression’ in Ireland?

Answer 18

• A sudden availability of cheap American wheat caused a price fall from $1.70 per bushel to only $0.66, encouraging Britain to buy from the USA rather than from Ireland.
• Continued US competition in other agricultural goods put pressure on Irish farmers to reduce prices.
• The falling price of butter (-3% through the 1870s) particularly affected smallholders, especially in places like Connaught where they sold this to help pay rents.
• Falling goods prices decreased the value of land as profit levels declined.

Question 19

How did poor weather increase the effects of the ‘long depression’ Ireland?

Answer 19

• Changes in weather patterns led to consecutive poor harvests and subsequent disease of 1877, affecting agricultural output.
• Between 1876 and 1879, the value of Irish tillage fell by £14 million, more than 60% of this was due to the failed potato crop.

Question 20

How did the ‘long depression’ affect unemployment in Ireland?

Answer 20

• Unemployment rose from < 1% in 1870 to 11% by the end of the 1870s.

Question 21

To what extent were the effects of the ‘long depression’ on Ireland limited?

Answer 21

• Although the price and quantity of wheat exports fell significantly, this accounted for 10% of the overall agricultural output of the country.
• Equally, the provision of cheap American chilled meats did not significantly harm the Irish economy as the quality of these cuts was far inferior to that of Ireland.

Question 22

Where was the ‘long depression’ most keenly felt?

Answer 22

West of Ireland (Connacht and West Munster) - this was because tenancies could not convert to pasture farming to the same extent as elsewhere

• In Connacht, 89% of rented smallholdings were valued at less than £15 a year, compared to 65% in Leinster
• Less than 1% of tenants in Connacht rented land worth over £100, in comparison to 4% in Leinster

This meant that Connacht maintained a very heavy reliance on the potato as the primary crop for consumption (other crops were generally sold)

This led to food shortage and significant hunger in 1879 in Connacht

Question 23

How did the failure of the First Irish Land Act 1870 to fix rents affect tenants in the ‘long depression’?

Answer 23

Declines in income affecting Irish farmers after 1877 was met with increased rents as landlords sought to recover their own losses.

While some landlords did reduce rents to support tenants (e.g. in July 1879, 7 landlords in County Kerry did offer abatements) many did not.

Instead, many took loans from the government (aimed to help with relief) and then added the interest charged to the rents of tenants, or offered these loans to peasants at rates of 6.5% (often refused due to expense)

Question 24

What was the effect of increased rents during the ‘long depression’ from 1877?

Answer 24

Many tenants fell into rent arrears, leading to higher eviction rates.

• In 1877, 400 families were evicted
• This increased to 1,000 in 1878
• More than 2,000 were evicted in 1880

This led farmers to see landlords themselves as the reason for their suffering, and to make them targets for their frustration.

At first, this took the form of rent strikes by their remaining tenants, but these led to increased rates of eviction rather than the facilitation of compromise.

Question 25

Who was Michael Davitt?

Answer 25

• Son of an evicted tenant farmer from Straide in County Mayo - convinced him of the need for land redistribution / reform
• Served in Dartmoor Prison after a failed IRB raid on Chester Castle in 1867.

Question 26

How did Michael Davitt become involved in the Land Wars?

Answer 26

• Returned to Ireland in 1878 and, in April 1879, organised a meeting in Irishtown to push for reforms and create a united effort to force relief reductions. This was attended by between 4,000-8,000 people.
• Davitt and tenant farmers marched to estate of Catholic priest and landowner Geoffery Burke who had threatened to evict tenants.
• Burke was successfully forced to reduce rents by 25%

Question 27

What were the effects of the success of Davitt’s organised demonstration?

Answer 27

• Helped to spread a more focused opposition to the injustices of the land system.
• Gave farmers in Mayo direction and a workable means to achieve their aims

Question 28

What was the importance of Davitt’s combination with Parnell to create the Land League?

Answer 28

In June 1879, he organised a second mass meeting in Westport, at which Parnell addressed the crowd.

In August 1879, Davitt founded the Irish Land League of Mayo, which became national when Parnell agreed to become leader shortly afterwards.

By working together, they embraced the ‘new departure’ in nationalist politics.

• This established that the land question could only be adequately answered by an Irish government, which bound the land issue to the Home Rule League.

Question 29

How did Charles Stewart Parnell become involved in the Land Wars?

Answer 29

He became MP for County Meath in 1875 and leader of the Home Rule League in 1880 shortly after the death of Isaac Butt

Question 30

What were the strengths of Davitt and Parnell respectively?

Answer 30

Davitt:

• Administrator and efficient coordinator

Parnell:

• Voice of a nationally recognised politician,
• Gave the Home Rule League a greater presence in Parliament
• Able to secure funding for Land League
• Mobilised thousands to support movement through encouraging defiance through constitutional means such as massive rent strikes (moral force)

Tenant violence against landlords was a detriment to the cause

Question 31

How did Parnell generate funding in the USA for the Land League?

Answer 31

When travelling in the USA on a fundrainsing tour, he spoke in more than 60 cities, raising £12,000 for the League and a further £60,000 for famine relief.

Question 32

When was the Irish Land League established?

Answer 32

October 1879

Question 33

How many members did the Land League have at its peak in 1881?

Answer 33

~200,000

Question 34

What tactics did the Irish Land League use to further their cause?

Answer 34

• Posters, leaflets and campaign rallies
• Mass rent strikes
• Ostracism of ‘land grabbers’ - anyone who took over the land of an evicted tenant
• Deliberate ignoring of the landlord in their area if he had evicted tenants

Question 35

Why was ostracism of ‘land grabbers’ so useful as a tactic?

Answer 35

• Social acceptance was an important feature of Irish society
• Landlords did not get their estates worked if they evicted tenants

This was often complemented by deliberate ignoring of the landlord themselves if they evicted tenants:

• Nobody would work their land or supply their estate with necessary goods, leaving them to fend for themselves

Question 36

What was one particular example where social ostracism was particularly successful as a strategy?

Answer 36

Having served notices of eviction to 11 tenants in September that year, the local community, led by priest Father O’Malley, cut Captain Charles Boycott from local supplies and also got other workers to abandon his estate in County Mayo.

Though he and his family tried to manage the estate for themselves, crops and livestock began to suffer until 50 Ulster farmers, who sympathised with the position of the landlord, came to his aid.

Once these farmers left, the community continued to ‘boycott’ his estate until, by the end of the year, he eventually gave up on it and moved to England.

Question 37

What was the problem with the Land League implying the use of violence?

Answer 37

The Land League did use the threat of violence since it was effective at focusing attention and encouraging landlords and politicians to consider reforms.

However, this did lead to acts of individual violence throughout the Land Wars (1879-1882).

On 25th September 1880, Lord Mountmorres was shot 6 times in his carriage after issuing notices to quit to two tenants unable to pay his rent, one of whom became the perpetrator in his murder.

This was a high-profile death which fuelled agitation in Ireland, leading to the Protection of Person and Property Ac in March 1881 and the suppression of the Land League in October 1881.

Question 38

Why was Gladstone keen to address the Irish land issue in 1880?

Answer 38

He was aware of the comparative success of Parnell’s Home Rule League in the previous election, fought on the issue of land reform, winning 63 seats compared to 15 for the Liberals.

Following this poor performance, he hoped to address the Irish land issue in order to secure his popularity after winning another term as Prime Minister.

Through addressing smaller grievances such as the Land Issue, he hoped to reduce discontent forwarding Home Rule, to maintain British rule in Ireland.

Question 39

What role did W.E. Forster play in the Land Question 1880-82?

Answer 39

Forster’s role primarily consisted of passing legislation in order to reduce tension in Ireland related to land issues.

Question 40

What was the significance of Forster’s 1880 Compensation for Disturbance Bill in June 1880?

Answer 40

His Compensation for Disturbance Bill, introduced in June 1880 as a temporary measure, was defeated in the House of Lords due to effect it would have on landlords

• This bill empowered courts to grant compensation to tenants who could prove that their eviction was due to non-payment of rent as a result of the agricultural depression.
• Would apply to SW Ireland and last no longer than 18 months

This led to increased agitation in Ireland, most famously the ostracism of Captain Boycott’s estate in September 1880.

Question 41

Which legislation did Forster introduce after the rejection of his Compensation for Disturbance bill in 1880?
What did this do?

Answer 41

Facing a more hostile Irish tenant population, he was reluctantly forced to implement new legislation to enforce order in the countryside:

January 1881 - Protection of Person and Property Act (First Coercion Act) passed

• Suspended habeas corpus
• Allowed arrest of anyone felt to be inciting aggression
• 955 arrested under its provisions, incl. members of the Land League such as Davitt and Parnell.

Question 42

What did the Bessborough Commission report?

Answer 42

After hearing from many interested parties through 1880 incl. Captain Boycott, the Commission:

• Reported that the 1870 Act did not give adequate protection to tenants because compensation could only be claimed if the lease was given up, and they had to accept rent increases or sacrifice the lease and improvements they had made
• Recommended by a majority of 4/1 in favour of granting Irish tenants the ‘three Fs’.

Question 43

What were the provisions of the 1881 Land Law (Ireland) Act?
(The Second Land Act)

Answer 43

• Creation of an Irish Land Commission to decide the levels of rent where there was dispute
• Tenants had the right to sell their land holdings if they chose to
• Tenants were to have security of tenure so long as they were clearly abiding by established conditions set out = Statutory tenure.

Question 44

What was the main criticism of the Second Land Act?

Answer 44

Did not offer provision for issue of rent arrears or adjustment of rent levels in the event of poor harvests or depressed economic conditions

• Rent arrears affected more than 150,000 small farmers in County Mayo alone, and just under 2/3 of the farming population.

This continued to be an issue for the Land League as tenants were left without complete protection against landlord exploitation.

Question 45

Why were Parnell and other Land League members arrested in 1881?

Answer 45

In a series of public speeches in September, Parnell demanded that the provisions of the Second Land Act be tested in courts.

He also criticised Gladstone and Forster for not supporting Irish farmers effectively.

In October 1881, he was charged with incitement and imprisoned in Kilmainham prison in Dublin.

Question 46

How was the No Rent Manifesto published?

Answer 46

Continuing to direct the Land League after imprisonment, Parnell issued a ‘No Rent Manifesto’ from his cell on 18th October 1881, published on the front page of the League’s newspaper United Ireland four days later

This paper had a circulation of 100,000 - widely publicised

Question 47

What did the No Rent Manifesto suggest?

Answer 47

The manifesto called for a national rent strike to force the inclusion fo a rent arrears and adjustment amendment to the Land Act.

Furthermore, action would create nation-wide agitation which would keep the movement together in absence of its leadership.

Question 48

What were the effects of the No Rent Manifesto?

Answer 48

It provoked further violence in countryside - around 3,500 incidents and agrarian outrages, such as attacks on landlord property and persons

However, the No Rent Manifesto was less effective as around 2/3 of the nationwide farming community were content with the provisions and did not support direct action.

Furthermore, the violence made the Land League illegal and brought further disarray to rural areas struggling because of the agricultural depression.

Question 49

What was the Kilmainham treaty?

Answer 49

The Kilmainham Treaty was an agreement between Parnell and Gladstone (negotiated by Katherine O’Shea and her husband)

It offered that, if Gladstone would pass legislation removing the requirement to pay arrears, as well as the release of Parnell and other Land League members, Parnell would use his influence to subdue the agrarian discontent and violence within Ireland.

Having had no say in the treaty whatsoever, Forster resigned in protest and was replaced by Lord Frederick Cavendish.

Question 50

How significant was the Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act 1882?

Answer 50

The Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act 1882 cancelled £2 million of rent arrears built by Ireland’s farmers.

Question 51

What happened on the 6th May 1882?

Answer 51

After Forster resigned as Chief Secretary for Ireland, having had no say in the Kilmainham Treaty, Lord Frederick Cavendish was put in his place.

However, on 6th May 1882, he, as well as his undersecretary Thomas H. Burke, was murdered in Phoenix Park, Dublin.

This action was strongly condemned by Parnell

Question 52

To what extent had Gladstone solved unrest due to the Irish land issue by the end of 1882?

Answer 52

• Although Parnell did undertake his part to restore order, within days of his release, the new Chief Secretary for Ireland was murdered in Phoenix Park on 6th May 1882.
• Although this was condemned by Parnell, it undermined Anglo-Irish relations and demonstrated Parnell’s weakened control of the situation.
• However, by 1882 and the Kilmainham Treaty, Gladstone had largely quietened the discontent over land in Ireland and offered a more comprehensive settlement that created greater parity between landlord and tenant.