GEOG 204 Rural Geography

1
GEOG 204 Rural Geography Sustainable Development

• Rural landlord landscapes in Ireland

2
Lecture outline

• Overview of origins of landed estates in Ireland
• Management of the tenanted estate
• Formation and ornamentation of the demesne
  landscape
• Demise of landlordism
• Contemporary uses of demesne landscapes

3
Origins of landed estates in Ireland

• Originally land held by Gaelic families- during
  the 16th and 17th century lands either
  surrendered and regranted to Gaelic families or
  confiscated
• Some of the most important plantations included
• Laois / Offaly- 1556
• Desmond- Munster Plantation- 1584
• Ulster Plantation- 1609-1610

4
Cromwellian confiscation and settlements of land

• 1641 Rebellion
• Gaelic families who were involved in rebellion
  have their lands confiscated
• Cromwell redistributes these lands to soldiers
  and government officials- of English and Scottish
  origins

5
Landlords

• 1770s- 95 of land held by some 5,000 families-
  1 of population
• 1840s- same proportion of land held by 10,000
  families
• 1870s- same proportion of land held by 20,000
  families

6
Tenants, Cottiers Agricultural Labourers

• Tenants- those who leased / rented the land from
  the landlord
• 1861- 500,000 tenant families
• Cottiers Agricultural labourers- those who
  worked the lands- residing on farms of between 1
  and 5 acres
• 1861- 890,000 cottier and labouring families

7
Landlord- Tenant Relationship

• Political
• landlords had control over how tenants voted
• Social
• landlords attempted to control tenants lives-
  improve morals of tenantry
• Economic
• Basic relationship- payment of rent for farm
  holdings

8
(No Transcript)
9
Some clauses contained with leases

• To plant an orchard
• To make a boundary ditch
• Buildings to be constructed
• Ditching to be carried out
• Not to under let- sublet their lands
• Not to permit public house without consent
• Not to keep a goat
• Not to build any new house without consent

10
(No Transcript)
11
Demesne landscapes

• Demesne- land held privately by the landlord and
  used solely by them and their family
• Early 19th century 6 of Irish land constituted
  by demesnes
• Although dependent on tenanted estate- demesnes
  were separate social and economic units
• Elizabeth Bowen compared the Irish demesnes to
  an island

12
Components of the typical demesne landscape

• Productive
• Home farm / Deer Park / Orchards / Kitchen
  Gardens
• Buildings
• Mansion houses / Gate Lodges / Farm buildings
• Features
• Demesne wall / Avenues
• Recreational
• Lakes / Pheasantries / Pleasure grounds

13
Kilcooley Abbey, county Tipperary
14
Purchases by tenants of farms in Ireland 1869-1891

• The Irish Church Act, 1869
• Circa 6,000 tenant purchases
• The Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870
• Circa 850 tenant purchases
• Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881
• Circa 700 tenant purchases
• Formation of the Irish Land Commission
• The Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1885
• Circa 25,000 tenant purchases
• The Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act, 1891
• Circa 37,000 tenant purchases

15
Land legislation 1903-1931

• Wyndham Land Act, 1903
• Circa 195,000 tenant purchases
• Birell Land Act, 1909
• Circa 61,000 tenant purchases
• Irish Land Act, 1923 Irish Land Act, 1931
• Circa 114,000 tenant purchases

16
Contemporary uses of demesnes and mansion houses

• Today
• Private ownership- Hilton Park, county Monaghan
• Golf Courses- K Club, (Straffan) Carton, county
  Kildare
• Hotels Spas- Farnham, county Cavan
• Public Parks, Marlay Park, Rathfarnham / Fota
  Wildlife Park, county Cork
• Educational Institutions- Bessborough House,
  (Kildalton Agricultural College) county Tipperary
• Concert Venues- Ballinlough, county Westmeath and
  Slane Castle, county Meath

17
Kildalton Agricultural College, (formerly
Bessborough House), county Tipperary
18
Some suggested readings

• Terence Dooley, Estate ownership and management
  in nineteenth and early twentieth century
  Ireland in Sources for the History of Landed
  Estates in Ireland (Maynooth, 2000)
• Terence Dooley, The Decline of the Big House in
  Ireland (Dublin, 2001)
• Terence Reeves Smyth, Demesnes, in F H A Aalen,
  et al (eds.) Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape
  (Cork, 1997)
• William Vaughan, Landlords and Tenants in
  Mid-Victorian Ireland (Oxford, 1994)