Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Scene from the Great Famine, 1850. Shutterstock/Everett Historical
Opinion
'The New Land League goes against the spirit of the original group'
People should look to the original Land League a little more closely and learn from the past, writes historian Kevin McGuire.
7.30pm, 10 Mar 2015
1.1k
THE NEW LAND League has hit the headlines recently, but the spirit of the group is in total contrast to the spirit and ethos with which the original Land League was founded.
In the late 1870s, a close kin group of small farmers – many with holdings of no more than two acres – gathered in a village on the Galway-Mayo border and decided to take a stand against the powerful landlord class of Ireland to protect their livelihoods.
The momentous meeting took place in the hamlet of Quinaltagh, a few miles from the town of Dunmore. The revolutionary spirit they exhibited had been simmering for two or three generations. Many of those who took part were the descendants of refugees who had escaped from Ulster to Connacht in the mid 18th century to flee from religious persecution and certain death.
In the years following the Great Famine many parts of the island of Ireland experienced recurrences of agricultural recession and scarcity of basic provisions.
Breaking point
It is a little known fact that parts of east Mayo, north Galway, west Roscommon and south Leitrim suffered a ‘mini Famine’ in the late 1870s that was almost as severe as the Great Famine of thirty years previously. The people of Quinaltagh and surrounding townlands had reached breaking point.
It so happened that at the time there was a credit squeeze occurring at the top and middle sections of Irish society. The middle and lower rank landlords, solicitors, land agents, and assorted ‘squires’ and ‘squireens’ had participated in a frenetic period of land purchase and the creation of a building boom from the 1830s through to the 1850s.
Much of the money had been borrowed on the back of perceived earnings from rents, agent fees, free labour and agricultural produce but the differences between income and expenditure was frequently massaged to make developers appear richer than they actually were. In the 1870s the gravy train ended abruptly.
The squeeze was put on the tenants, labourers and tillers of the lands to get more rent, and the threat of eviction was held over them if they did not comply.
Unfortunately, the people on the ground had experienced over thirty years of austerity and had nothing more to give.
The farmers themselves were in debt to shopkeepers, suppliers and other farmers for provisions they had purchased at highly-inflated prices during and after the Great Famine period.
A never-ending circle of misery
It was a never-ending circle of misery and the only way to get a few pence was to go to England during the harvesting season. The English farmers though were also experiencing an agricultural depression and no one was hiring.
A great number of farming families had agreements with their landlords going back generations that stated that they could pay their rents when they could afford them.
Generally these arrangements were done through a handshake and no legal paperwork was required, but when new landlords bought estates through the Encumbered Estates Court these agreements were rendered null and void.
Advertisement
Young and ambitious landlords/speculators immediately raised the rents to get as much return on their new investments as they could. They used the full rigour of the law to enforce their will.
When, in 1879, the new Bourke landlord took over his uncle’s estate near the crossroads of Irishtown, Co. Mayo, in close proximity to Quinaltagh, he went about evicting the tenants who would not pay his exorbitant rents. The locals on the Mayo-Galway border were a close kin group and had learned that by working in solidarity they could stop, or at least delay, the eviction notice.
Champion the cause
They had enough foresight to know that if they succeeded in getting one of the local nationalist-leaning newspapers to champion their cause then the process servers would have to think twice about their actions due to the pressure exerted by public opinion.
James Daly, manager and editor of the Castlebar-based Connaught Telegraph, along with others in the locality, organised a monster meeting at a field in Irishtown and began the ‘No Rent’ slogan.
Michael Davitt, contrary to popular belief, was not present at the gathering in the small Mayo town on 20 April 1879 as he reputedly missed the train!
Charles Stewart Parnell, who came from a wealthy Anglo-Irish landowning family in Wicklow, was not really involved in the grassroots land movement at this time. It fell to a number of local activists – from seemingly insignificant places such as Quinaltagh, Burris, Kilmacreena, Lavalleyroe, Shanballybocht and Logboy – to do the original organising and to help their neighbours hold on to individual gardens, boggy hillocks and potato patches.
I’m proud to say my own forebearers participated in the Plan of Campaign.
In the years after the Irishtown meeting of spring 1879, the movement was taken over by ‘strong’ farmers, ranchers, career politicians, and publicity seekers. The Irish National Land League of 1888, which led to the establishment of the United Irish League (1898s-1920), was very much aligned with the Irish Parliamentary Party and had a predominantly upper middle-class make up.
Working-class
The high-ranking clergy came on board, though they had strongly opposed the original Irishtown gathering, and would come to dominate, from behind the scenes, Irish politics for many decades to come. However, the spirit with which the embryonic working-class Land League began was never tainted….until now.
A recent commentator stated that Michael Davitt would be “turning in his grave” due to the activities of the ‘new’ Land League. These sentiments have been echoed to me in recent days by those who are descendants of the original Land League founders. They are upset and bewildered that the noble campaign and name that their great-grandfathers, great aunts and great uncles began nearly 140 years ago.
I hope people will look in to the history and development of the original Land League a little more closely and learn from the past.
In recent years historians and genealogists such as Gerard Delaney, Kevin Kilgarriff, Michael Kelly, Ivor Hamrock, Paul Waldron, Gabriel Prendergast and others have produced well-researched, high quality micro-histories on the personnel and the politics which led to the meeting in Irishtown.
The history of the time has a lot to teach us about history of the present. Unfortunately, some are not heeding the warnings.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Masked men escape with cash after smash-and-grab raid at south Dublin coffee shop
19 mins ago
2.1k
Breakdown
German election: Huge turnout, young voters turn left and former Soviet east backs the far right
1 hr ago
3.9k
48
german election
Christian Democrats come first in German election as far-right claim second place spot
Eoghan Dalton
Updated
21 hrs ago
31.9k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say