Discuss Land Reform in Ireland from 1870 to 1909

In this essay I will be discussing Land reform in Ireland from 1870 to 1909. In 1870 the main
topic taking over Ireland was the Land Question. The land of Ireland was divided up amongst 10000
landlords most of which were absentee and members of the Protestant ascendency. Relationships
between Landlords and tenants were tense and there were many disputes over rent increases and
evictions. One needs to remember at this time farmers were most concerned about getting the 3 Fs
rather than owning land and the early measures of Land reform reflected this. This 3 Fs were Fixity
of tenure, free sale and Fair rent.
In 1870 the First Land Act was passed by William Gladstone of the Liberal Party in an
attempt to pacify Ireland following the Fenian uprising of 1867. The First Land Act was important
to many Irish people as most of the Irish population were tenant farmers. Up until the Land Act was
passed the law supported the right of the Landlord to do what they rushed with their land. Tenants
wanted this to change so they could also have rights. These rights were known as the tenant rights
and consisted of three main components. The first thing was Fair rent. A rent was to be decided
between the Landlord and the tenant but the Tenant was able to afford to pay it. The Second part was
Fixity of Tenure. Eviction wouldnt take place if the tenant could pay the rent. Lastly there was fixity
of tenure. If a tenant left his farm voluntarily he could sell it for a lump sum. In Ulster a similar
policy was already in place between Landlords and tenants which was Known as the Ulster Custom.
The First Land Act also contained the Bright Clause which was suggested by John Bright a leading
Liberal M.P. He believed that if Irish farmers owned there land they would be quite happy to remain
part of the United Kingdom. Under the Clause the government lent two thirds of the purchase price to
any tenant who wanted to buy their own land. The farmer repaid the loan over thirty five years.
Gladstone tried his best to help the tenant farmers with his First Land Act and he
legalised the Ulster custom where it existed. In areas where the custom wasnt in place Gladstone
made the Landlords compensate the tenant if they were evicted unfairly which was similar to the free
sale that the tenants wanted. However if a tenant was evicted because they couldnt pay the rent
compensation wasnt given.
Only 800 tenant farmers bought their farms. Also the Ulster custom wasnt clearly defined
so landlords could change the regulations is they wished. However for the First time it showed a
willingness to reduce the powers of the Landlord.
Between the years of 1872 and 1877 Irish agriculture was prosperous. This meant that
tenants could pay their rents and evictions were subsequently low. However in 1877 a crisis
developed in Irish agriculture as prices fell dramatically in Irish exports. There was very bad weather
from 1877 to 1879 meaning crops yields were low. There was also a risk of starvation and famine in
Connacht.
The new Departure was an idea brought forward by Fenians John Devoy and Michael
Davitt. They decided a new approach was needed to bring the Land question to the forefront. This
was known as the New Departure and it was a move from traditional Fenian tactics to Land reform to
get tenants on board. Devoy and Davitt took the idea to Charles Stewart Parnell who appeared to
support the idea. However this new departure meant co operation between different groups in Ireland
through a marriage of connivance. These groups were supporters of Land reform.
The Land League was formed in Irishtown Co. Mayo after a meeting to protest against
rent increases caught Michael Davits attention. In the summer of 1879 there was very bad weather
and once again there was a threat of starvation. In August of that year Davitt formed the Land League
of Mayo and in September it became the National Land League with Parnell as leader although
Fenians were really in control
The aims of the National Land League were to reduce rent and evictions, achieve the
three Fs and to abolish the Landlord system completely. It was decided by the Land League that
local agitation and parliamentary pressure would work best to achieve their aims. This form of
Agrarian violence was dangerous for Parnell and one alternative to this was mass meetings. Around
the country thousands of people led by bands and carrying banners turned out to listen to a land
League leader telling them to resist eviction and hold on to their farms. Another way to resist
agrarian violence was Boycotting.
In 1881 the second Land Act was passed. This act made the Ulster Custom available to
all farmers and established a Land court where tenants could go to get a fair rent. This was to be
known as judicial rent and it would last for 15 years. The tenant who paid this judicial rent couldnt
be evicted and after 15 years the tenant would return to the land court and have a new rent fixed.
Lastly the Second Land Act contained a Land purchase Clause.
While this Land Act helped most moderate tenants it excluded Tenants who had leases
or were in arrears. This is because these tenants werent allowed in the Land Court and between them
these two groups made up 1/3
rd
of all tenant farmers. Also 15 years between rent adjustments was too
long a time when prices were falling as a tenant who may be able to pay the rent in year one may
have struggled to pay it in year 10. Lastly Gladstones Second Land Act was complicated and
subsequently caused thousands of expensive law cases. However in 1882 Gladstone kept his promise
to pacify Ireland and brought in the Arrears Act to help the previously excluded tenants. Under this
Act tenants paid 1/3
rd
of the rent owned, the government would pay another 1/3 and the Landlord
would forego the rest.
In early 1885 when the Liberals and Home Rule Party were on Bad terms Conservatives
co-operated brought in the Ashbourne Land Purchase Act and it was the first Act which dealt
exclusively with Land Purchase. Under this Act the government set aside 5 million for tenants to
borrow in order to buy their farms. The loan was to be repaid over 49 years meaning the instalments
each year were lower and buying the land was straightforward which kept legal costs down. This
Land Act was very popular with tenants especially those in Ulster. Overall 25000 farmers availed of
the money and bought their farms.
After Gladstones Home Rule Bill had been defeated the Conservatives came out
staunch unionists and refused to give Ireland any sort of Home Rule. Gladstone lost the General
Election in 1886 the Conservatives were in power for the next 20 years. After the General election 3
of Parnells lieutenants: Timothy Harrington, John Dillon and William O Brien urged tenants to resist
eviction. On the 23
rd
October 1886 an article was published in the Land Leagues newspaper (United
Ireland) called a plan of campaign. It was suggested that all tenants on an estate should join together
to force Landlords to reduce rents. They would first decide on an appropriate rent and offer it to the
Landlord and If he refused to lower the rent the tenants would pay him nothing. Lastly the plan of
campaign involved tenants preventing a landlord from using a farm for income if he evicted one of
them from it. Tenants were eager to use this idea and by December 1886 it was in place on 116
estates. Parnell stepped in as he ordered OBrien to stop the plan but when OBrien protested Parnell
compromised saying it can remain where it had begun but it cannot go any further.

Ireland was back under strict coercion which attempted to stamp out agrarian violence
when the conservatives were back in power. Balfour was so brutal that he was given the name
Bloody Balfour but he wasnt all about being bad. He amended Gladstone Land Act of 1881 by
reducing the judicial rents from 15 years to 3 years. All tenants could go to the Land Court to revise
their rents and rents were reduced on average by 15%. Balfour also allowed Leaseholders to go to the
Land Court for the first time.
In 1891 Balfour introduced the Balfour Land Act and contained 2 main parts. The first
component dealt with Land purchase where 33 million was set aside to enable tenants to buy their
farms. The money was paid back in annual instalments over 49 years. The second Component in
Balfours Land Act was helping the poorer farmers of the West and South by setting up a body called
the Congested Districts Board. This was the first attempt to help the poorest farmers whose farms
were unviable. Balfours Act set about to help these people by identifying 3500000 acres in Cork,
Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Donegal as congested districts. People in these
areas were given help by the Congested Districts board. The board was given a grant of 41000 for
the board to increase the size of and redistributing underused land.
Balfours Land Act and amending the 1881 Land Act were 2 ways in which the Conservatives killed
Home Rule with Kindness.
The United Irish League was set up by William OBrien, Parnells former lieutenant
after small farmers in the West saw little immediate effect from the Congested Districts Board. He
notices how unevenly the land was divided in Connaught as the 6000 largest farmers held the same
amount of land as 70000 smallest farmers. OBrien wanted the Congested districts Board to buy up
large farms and redistribute the land amongst the tenants and to do this he set up the United Irish
League in early 1898. The movement grew rapidly and by 1900 the League seemed to displace the
Parnellites and Anti Parnellites.
The government began to fear another Land War but George Wyndham who became
chief secretary in 1900 preferred conciliation to coercion. When a Galway landlord John Shaw Taylor
proposed a conference of landlords and tenants Wyndham supported the idea. When the conference
met in 1902 and drew up a huge scheme for land purchase Wyndham turned them into a huge land
purchase bill which he placed before parliament in 1903.
This was the last purchase Bill in the Land question and was one of the biggest. Under it
the government set aside between 70 and 100 million in loans and would be paid out to tenants who
would repay the loan over 68 years and the government would pay the legal costs. The annual
repayments were lower than a years worth of rent payments which encouraged tenants to buy their
farms. If a landlord sold their entire estate they would receive a bonus payment from the British
government. The landlord also received between 18 and 27 times the annual rent for a farm and the
transaction was paid in cash and not bonds.
The Land question evolved as time moved forward. In 1870 tenants only wanted to be
fairly treated by their tenants. The amount of tenants who owned their farm increased from 877 farms
from Gladstones Land Act of 1870 to 390826 after Birrells amendment to Wyndhams Land Act in
1909. However the reality is that land purchase made little difference to the lives of famers even
though they had more money to spend on better houses, food and clothes. This is because landlords
had a very minute influence on the economic conditions of a farmer. What mattered more was the
amount of land he had. A big farmer was well off where as a small farmer was poor and the landless
labourers were almost desolate. Land purchase didnt change that issue as a tenant with a big farm
bought it and it was the same with a small farmer. It caused great resentment amongst the smaller
farmers who believed that the land of Ireland was for the people of Ireland and that they would get a
fair share of the land only this didnt happen and left a deep bitterness between the two types of
farmers which emerged again in the Sin Fin period of the 1930s.