Abstract
The period between 1850 and 1870 was seen to be a golden age before the depression of 1873. From the 1870s there was a shift in the make-up of Irish political institutions as tenant farmers were now beginning to have a voice and were representing their interests at a local level, as landlord influence over local political bodies began to decline. The Wyndham Land Act was an important piece of legislation for effecting change in the structures of class relations in rural Ireland. It exacerbated land hunger, as evidenced during the Ranch War. Middle-class elites were slow to embrace the paternalistic endeavours of their aristocratic predecessors in spheres of influence but desired the status they once held, and their response to inequality in Irish life was generally ineffectual.
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Notes
- 1.
Quoted in Mark Bence-Jones, Twilight of the ascendancy (London, 1987), p. 197.
- 2.
For more information on the bankruptcy of the Clancarty estate, see: Divorce court file: 3538, Appellant: William Frederick le Poer Trench, Lord Dunlo, respondent Isabel Maud Penrice le Poer Trench, Lady Dunlo, Co-respondent: Isidor A Wertheimer. Husband‘s petition for divorce. J77/444/3538/5–6; Court of Bankruptcy and successors: Proceedings under the Bankruptcy Acts, Trench, the Right Honourable William Frederick Le Poer, earl of Clancarty, B 9/847 in The National Archives. Copy of conveyance of life estate to trustees: Earl of Clancarty, first part, Rt. Hon Adeliza Hervey, countess of Clancarty, second part; Lord Francis Hervey and Thomas Francis Crozier, third part, I.25.9; Conveyance: Winifred Conway of Glenville, Loughrea to Clancarty, Lord Francis Hervey and Francis Rowden Maria Crozier, I.25.18; Coorheen, I.25.11; Order of the High Courts of Justice in Ireland, King’s bench division in bankruptcy: in the matter of a petition for arrangement by the Rt. Hon. William Frederick le Poer Trench, earl of Clancarty, I.25.8; The earl of Clancarty and others to the Most Reverend Thomas O‘Dea and others. Copy conveyance of property called ‘Coorheen in the County of Galway, I.25.22 in Clonfert Diocesan Archive.
- 3.
Brian Casey, ‘The decline and fall of the Clancarty estate, 1891–1923’, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 67 (2015), pp. 171–83.
- 4.
Casey, ‘The decline and fall of the Clancarty estate’, pp. 171–83.
- 5.
Conor McNamara, ‘A Tenants’ League or a shopkeepers’ league? Urban protest and the Town Tenants Association in the west of Ireland, 1909–1918’, Studia Hibernica 36 (2009–10).
- 6.
Stephen Ball, ‘Policing the Irish Land War: Official responses to political protest and agrarian crime in Ireland, 1879–91 (PhD thesis, University of London, 2000), pp. 360–1.
- 7.
D.G. Wright, Popular radicalism: The working class experience, 1780–1880 (London, 1988), p. 150.
- 8.
Eugen Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen: The modernisation of rural France, 1870–1914 (Stanford, 1976), p. 242.
- 9.
Walter Walsh, Kilkenny: The struggle for the land, 1850–82 (Kilkenny, 2009), p. 421.
- 10.
Liam Kennedy, ‘Farmers, traders and agricultural politics in pre-independence Ireland’, in Samuel Clark and James S. Donnelly, Jr. (eds.), Irish peasants: Violence and political unrest 1780–1914 (Manchester, 1983), pp. 343, 345.
- 11.
Paul Bew, Conflict and conciliation in Ireland, 1890–1910, Parnellites and radical agrarians (Oxford, 1987), p. 1; see also R.V. Comerford, ‘Patriotism as pastime, the appeal of Fenianism in the mid-1860s’, Irish Historical Studies xxii (1981), pp. 239–50.
- 12.
Terence Dooley, The decline of the Big House in Ireland: A study of Irish landed families 1860–1960 (Dublin, 2001), p. 276.
- 13.
Philip Bull, Land, politics and nationalism: A study of the Irish land question (Dublin, 1996), p. 142.
- 14.
David Fitzpatrick, ‘The geography of Irish nationalism’, Past and Present, no. 78 (Feb. 1978), pp. 113–14.
- 15.
Niall Ó Ciosáin, Ireland in official print culture, 1800–1850: A new reading of the poor inquiry (Oxford, 2014), pp. 7, 9.
- 16.
Emma Griffin, Liberty’s dawn: A people’s history of the Industrial Revolution (Yale, 2014), p. 9.
- 17.
Griffin, Liberty’s dawn, p. 7.
- 18.
K.D.M. Snell, Annals of the labouring poor: Social change and agrarian England, 1660–1900 (Cambridge, 1987), p. 4.
- 19.
E.P. Thomspon, The making of the English working class (London, 1963), p. 13.
- 20.
Snell, Annals of the labouring poor, p. 6.
- 21.
Eric Richards, The Highland clearances: People, land and rural turmoil (Edinburgh, 2013), p. 399.
- 22.
James Hunter, The making of the Crofting community (Edinburgh, 2015), pp. 280–2.
- 23.
Terence Dooley, ‘The land for the people’: The land question in independent Ireland (Dublin, 2004), pp. 1–3.
- 24.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776).
- 25.
Raymond Gillespie, Reading Ireland: Print, reading and social change in early modern Ireland (Manchester, 2005), pp. 3–5.
- 26.
Lindsey Earner-Byrne Letters of the Catholic poor: Poverty in Independent Ireland (Cambridge, 2017), p. 8.
- 27.
Byrne, Letters of the Catholic poor, p. 253.
- 28.
Edward C Banfield, The moral basis of a backward economy (Glencoe, IL, 1958); Paul Ginsborg, A history of contemporary Italy, 1943–80 (London, 1990).
- 29.
Mary E. Daly, The slow failure: Population decline and independent Ireland, 1920–1973 (Madison, 2005), pp. 21–31.
- 30.
My thanks to Seán Óg and Nancy Hurley for providing me with the information regarding Dubarry.
- 31.
Conrad M. Arensberg and Solon T. Kimball, Family and community in Ireland (Harvard, 1940); Patrick McNabb, Limerick rural survey: First interim report: Migration (Tipperary, 1960); Liam Ryan, Shannon: Ireland’s new town: A social survey, 1968 (Cork, 1969).
- 32.
Byrne, Letters of the Catholic poor, p. 256.
- 33.
Marilyn Silverman, An Irish working class: Explorations in political economy and hegemony (Toronto, 2001), p. 295.
- 34.
Silverman, An Irish working class, p. 421.
References
Bibliography
Clonfert Diocesan Archives, Coorheen, Loughrea, County Galway
Coorheen, I.25.11.
Conveyance: Winifred Conway of Glenville, Loughrea to Clancarty, Lord Francis Hervey and Francis Rowden Maria Crozier, I.25.18.
Copy of conveyance of life estate to trustees: Earl of Clancarty, first part, Rt. Hon Adeliza Hervey, countess of Clancarty, second part; Lord Francis Hervey and Thomas Francis Crozier, third part, I.25.9.
Order of the High Courts of Justice in Ireland, King’s bench division in bankruptcy: in the matter of a petition for arrangement by the Rt. Hon. William Frederick le Poer Trench, earl of Clancarty, I.25.8.
The earl of Clancarty and others to the Most Reverend Thomas O‘Dea and others. Copy conveyance of property called ‘Coorheen in the County of Galway, I.25.22.
The National Archives: Kew, London
Divorce court file: 3538, Appellant: William Frederick le Poer Trench, Lord Dunlo, respondent Isabel Maud Penrice le Poer Trench, Lady Dunlo, Co-respondent: Isidor A Wertheimer. Husband‘s petition for divorce. J77/444/3538/5–6.
Court of Bankruptcy and successors: Proceedings under the Bankruptcy Acts, Trench, the Right Honourable William Frederick Le Poer, earl of Clancarty, B 9/847.
Contemporary Publications
Paine, Thomas, Common Sense (1776).
Secondary Sources
Arensberg, Conrad M. and Solon T. Kimball, Family and community in Ireland (Harvard, 1940).
Ball, Stephen, ‘Policing the Irish Land War: Official responses to political protest and agrarian crime in Ireland, 1879–91 (PhD thesis, University of London, 2000).
Banfield, Edward C., The moral basis of a backward economy (Glencoe, IL, 1958).
Bence-Jones, Mark, Twilight of the ascendancy (London, 1987).
Bew, Paul, Conflict and conciliation in Ireland, 1890–1910, Parnellites and radical agrarians (Oxford, 1987).
Bull, Philip, Land, politics and nationalism: A study of the Irish land question (Dublin, 1996).
Casey, Brian, ‘The decline and fall of the Clancarty estate, 1891–1923’, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 67 (2015), pp. 171–83.
Comerford, R.V., ‘Patriotism as pastime, the appeal of Fenianism in the mid-1860s’, Irish Historical Studies xxii (1981), pp. 239–50.
Daly, Mary E., The slow failure: Population decline and independent Ireland, 1920–1973 (Madison, 2005).
Dooley, Terence, The decline of the Big House in Ireland: A study of Irish landed families 1860–1960 (Dublin, 2001).
Dooley, Terence, ‘The land for the people’: The land question in independent Ireland (Dublin, 2004).
Earner-Byrne, Lindsey, Letters of the Catholic poor: Poverty in Independent Ireland (Cambridge, 2017).
Fitzpatrick, David, ‘The geography of Irish nationalism’, Past and Present, no. 78 (Feb. 1978), pp. 113–44.
Gillespie, Raymond, Reading Ireland: Print, reading and social change in early modern Ireland (Manchester, 2005).
Ginsborg, Paul, A history of contemporary Italy, 1943–80 (London, 1990).
Griffin, Emma, Liberty’s dawn: A people’s history of the Industrial Revolution (Yale, 2014).
Hunter, James, The making of the Crofting community (Edinburgh, 2015).
Kennedy, Liam, ‘Farmers, traders and agricultural politics in pre-independence Ireland’, in Samuel Clark and James S. Donnelly, Jr. (eds.), Irish peasants: Violence and political unrest 1780–1914 (Manchester, 1983), pp. 339–73.
McNamara, Conor, ‘A Tenants’ League or a shopkeepers’ league? Urban protest and the Town Tenants Association in the west of Ireland, 1909–1918’, Studia Hibernica 36 (2009–10), pp. 135–60.
Ó Ciosáin, Niall, Ireland in official print culture, 1800–1850: A new reading of the poor inquiry (Oxford, 2014).
Richards, Eric, The Highland clearances, People, land and rural turmoil (Edinburgh, 2013).
Silverman, Marilyn, An Irish working class: Explorations in political economy and hegemony (Toronto, 2001).
Snell, K.D.M., Annals of the labouring poor: Social change and agrarian England, 1660–1900 (Cambridge, 1987).
Thomspon, E.P., The making of the English working class (London, 1963).
Walsh, Walter, Kilkenny: The struggle for the land, 1850–82 (Kilkenny, 2009).
Weber, Eugene, Peasants into Frenchmen: The modernisation of rural France, 1870–1914 (Stanford, 1976).
Wright, D.G., Popular radicalism: The working class experience, 1780–1880 (London, 1988).
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Casey, B. (2018). Conclusion. In: Class and Community in Provincial Ireland, 1851–1914. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71120-1_9
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