Irish Home rule 1868-1914

Question 1

what triggered the 1870 irish land act? land agitation, agricultural depression, american corn

Answer 1

the majority of the population made a poor living by renting small parcels of land, by the mid 19thc there was famine, disease and widespread poverty with lasting reprocussions;
resentment against british dominance which created a divided, sectarian society and the emrgence of a new nationalist movement

in the 70s and 80s ireland was badly affected by an agricultural depression

exacerbated by the income of cheap american corn into the market which drove down prices and profits

Question 2

what triggered the 1870 irish land act? land leasing and sub letting

Answer 2

most landlords were protestants, who left the management of land to agents that were often times cruel and would evict tenants off land without just cause

sub letting: casual agreements between tenants that carried little security of tenure, resulting in small uneconomic land units with few improvements out of fear of raising rent.

Question 3

‘landlordism’?

Answer 3

landlords were accused of charging extoritioate rents (Rack Rents) and holding the threat of evivtion over the heads of tenants.
resentment against the landowning class, with the perception being that lanlords were only interested in rent and disinterested in reinvesting into their land to make it more productive

Question 4

irish tenant league 1850s?

Answer 4

was formed to clear rights of tenants, 3 Fs: fair rents, fixity of tenure and freedom to sell thrie ‘interest’ in their holding to another tenant

Question 5

irish land act 1870- what was gladstones aims?

Answer 5

gladstone in attempt to reconcile landlord-tenant relationship whilst not infringing on the principles of property and ownership and alienate the whig (liberal) landlowners

Question 6

what was the 1870 irish land act

Answer 6

planned to
a) give legal weight to the ulster custom (practice in ulster where tenants had a security of tenure (land holding) as long as they kept up to date with their rent payments, and they had the right to sell their right to their holdings to another tenant)
b) increase the security of holding to other tenants

Question 7

brights clause

Answer 7

lib mp john bright suggested offerung the irish peasant ‘propertirial rights’ would solve the problem

tenants to borrow 2/3rds of the value of their holding from the govt to buy their interest- loans to be repaid 5% over 35 years

HOWEVER, this was never introduced out of fear of upsetting landowning whigs in the party

Question 8

consequences of the 1870 irish land act?

Answer 8

The irish land act unequivocally failed to live up to the principles of the 3 Fs, and challenged the protestant ascendancy

Question 9

consequences of the 1870 irish land act to tenants?

Answer 9

-the act failed to define what ‘fair rent’ means
-consequences of the 1870 irish land act to
-no compensation for eviction of a tenant who was evicted with rent arrears
-even with the loan scheme, land was still too expensive for tenants to afford
-Tenants on leases of 31 years
or more were excluded from the act.

Question 10

consequences of the 1870 irish land act to landlords

Answer 10

challenged protestant ascendancy
landlords threatened and resisted attempts to buy the land
landowning whigs saw it as a challenge to protestant ascendancy
people were not really happy with the liberals, many libs left the party and joined the IPP led by issac butt

Question 11

any positive aspects of the 1870 irish land act?

Answer 11

gladstones departure from victorian attitudes of non-intervention in the market does indicate a symbolic value: ireland is a special case, deserving of special treatment .

Question 12

coercion act 1870

Answer 12

Gladstones response to the outbreaks of unrest among tenants in rural areas was to give police constable extensive powers to carry out arrests, which in turn destroyed any positive aspects of the land act

Question 13

land wars 1877-79

Answer 13

unsually wet summers, led to bad harvests and the arrival of cheap american corn in the market
- brought a combination of low crop yields and a fall in the price of british wheat, which meant a fall in the price of tenant farmers
- so when tenants could no longer afford rent, they faced eviction
- smaller tenants were evicted so landlords could reorganise their land and create larger units

Question 14

the Land league 1879

Answer 14

formed in 1879 by irish republican michael davitt; aimed to reform the land tenure system and gain security for tenant farmers and smallholders.
davitt cooperated with irish parliamentarians; he invited Parnell to preside over the league, marking a departure of cooperation in the Irish nationalist movement.

Question 15

tactics of the Land League

Answer 15

-mass meetings, focusing demands of the 3Fs
- encouraging tenants to withold rent
- evicted tenants supported by gangs who carried out acts of reprisals against landlords
- this stimulated a wave of agrarian agitation which spilled over to individation and violence.
- ostracising and boycotting accused landlords; entire communities began to refuse all goods and services for them

Question 16

parnells political pressure from the land league

Answer 16

• as agitations over evictions rose, parnell called for decisive action against irish landlords and a campaign of obstructionism /fillibustering to put pressure on gladstone.