Figure 1.- Here an Irish family in Moyasta, County Clare being evicted by the landlod about 1879. The police seen here are the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann) usually reffered to as the Irish Constabulary (1822-1922). In some cases if trouble was expeced, the militia were called ouy.

The Irish Land War (Cogadh na Talún) describes an extended period of agrarian agitation in Ireland. At the time this involved most of the population. The great bulk of the population lived in rural areas, often small hamlets. After years of being ravaged by Great Famine famine, Irish cottagers, mostly Protestabt landowners began forced manu out of their own homes. English and Irish landlords started evicting tenants across Ireland. This time they were betterv orgnized and fought back – resulting in the Land War. War is a little strong to describe it, but there were many confrontations between the mostly Catholic peasantry and the mostly Protestant land owners and establishment. Often called the Protestant Ascendancy, or simply the Ascendancy.) All of Ireland at the time was a continent part of the United Kingdom and the Land War was a factor in the struggle for Home rule in the Westminster Parliament. The Land War is generally dated from 1879. Many of the features of the Land War, but it also needs to be seen in the context of the 'Long Depression' which affected the World economy (1870s-90s). A major impact was on rent yields and landlord-tenant relations across Europe (1870s-1890s.) At the time most of the rural peasantry did not own their land. there were, however, significant impacts in the United States where most farmers did own their land (1873 Panic and 1893 Panic). The Irish Land War usually refers to the initial and most intense period of agrarian agitation (1879-82). The result was tragic evictions with hard pressed tenants (often called cottagers) and their families thrown out of their cottage homes. Many resisted, mostly by boarding up the doors and windows. In such cses, the police bought bttering rams. Gunfire was very rare. The forces doing the eviction might be armed, but rrely used them. The people being evictd and the groups supporting hem ere not armed. One of the most notable acts of resistance was caried out by the O’Halloran sisters from Bodyke, County Clare, who came out fighting with boliing water when the baliff and police came. The sisters (Annie, Honoria, and Sarah), lived with their parents and their brothers, Patrick and Frank, in the townland of Lisbareen, southwest of Bodyke village. Many had no where to go after the eviction. There were outbreaks rural agitation well into the 20th century until the establishment of the Irish Free State, meaning de facto independence of the southern counties (1923). The land question and the evictions has played an important role in building support for home rule and eventually independence. Later periods of notable agitation included the Plan of Campaign (1886-91) and the Ranch War (1906-09). [McLaughlin, p. 89.] The Irish Land War was set off by the larger economic depressions (called 'Panics' in America). Land owners pressed for cash began rising rents on their tenants, often debts the tenants could not pay, leading to evictions. The Irish National Land League and its successors (the Irish National League and the United Irish League) supported the tenants, resulting in the agitation. Their larger goal was home rule, but their immediate goal was secure and fair rent, free sale, and more secure tenant tenure, but ultimately peasant ownership of the land worked. Various countries (including the British Government) adopted a series of Land Acts that over time granted many of the tenant activists' demands. William O'Brien in Ireland played a key role in Ireland. He helped organize the 1902 Land Conference which led to the most progressive social legislation in Ireland since Act of Union (1801). The Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903 involved buying up large estates so the tenants could purchase the land. The result was that at the out break of the Land War , the Catholic peasantry owned only about 3 percent of the Land. Eventually this situation was reversed with the peasantry possessing some 97 percent of the land. [Bew, p. 568.]

Sources

Bew, Paul. Ireland: The Politics of Enmity 1789-2006 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).

McLaughlin, Eoin. "Competing forms of cooperation: Land League, Land War and cooperation in Ireland, 1879 to 1914," Agricultural History Review Vol. 3 (2015), pp. 81-112.

Created: 7:55 PM 8/29/2022
Last updated: 9:48 AM 8/30/2022