Land and Nationalism

  • Young Irelanders Split

    The YI split from O'Connell and form the Irish confederation.
  • Extreme nationalists started to form on the edge of the YI

    The YI movement who believed that the upheaval in Irish society was caused by the agrarian crisis
  • The Irish Tennant League Emerged

    The Irish Tenant League which wanted to project tenant interests and campaigned for the “3 F’s” :
    -Fair rents - rents to be fixed independently
    -Fixity of tenure - prevent evictions so long as tenant paid rents
    -Free sale - allow a tenant to be compensated for improvements that he made to his holding.
  • 1850 Franchise Act

    1850 Franchise Act doubled the Irish Electorate
  • Period: to

    Mild Tennant Farmer Improvements

    Some modest improvement but not uniform across countys
  • The 1869 Irish Church Act

    One of Gladstones policies to try to please the Irish Populus into forgetting about revolutionary nationalism
  • The 1870 Land Act

    One of Gladstones policies to try to please the Irish Populus into forgetting about revolutionary nationalism
  • Formation of the Home Rule Association

    Issac Butt's Home Rule Association (which had Fenian support as they approved of his aims to address revolutionary problems in a constitutional way)
  • 1872 Secret Ballot Act

    Voting was now secret so landlords could not force Tennants to vote
  • Home Rule League

    This took its place in 1873 also had Fenian support. This Umbrella movement was useful for all sides as the Fenians had aroused national consciousness which allowed Butt to take advantage of this and also shepherd Fenianism away from revolutionary methods.
  • The 1874 General Election

    59 Home Rule MPs returned but only around 20 were actually genuinely committed to the cause. Butt’s too polite use of logical arguments failed to win over Disraeli the Conservative PM and his weak leadership allowed the HR Party split into disorganised factions.
  • Period: to

    Parliamentary Obstructionism

    Employed by MP's such as Joseph Biggar and displeased Constitutionalist Fenians, ran from 1875-77
  • Agricultural Depression

    The West of Ireland still had smaller farmers who relied on the potato. There was an agricultural depression in 1877 which was the most serious and sustained agricultural depression since the famine. There was a slump in cattle prices and again places like Mayo were hit badly. Mayo farming classes all came together to challenge the authority of the landlords and demand rent reduction.
  • Irishtown meeting demanding reduction in rent

    Organised by Micheal Davitt the Irishtown meeting where the resolution to demand a reduction in rent and abolition of landlordism was eagerly accepted by the 10,000 in attendance.
  • Agreement on the "New Departure"

    The New Departure symbolised the alliance between the Home Rule Movement, radical agrarianism and Fenianism, advancing the cause of Nationalism under Parnell’s leadership.
  • Land League's Launch

    Davitt launched the Land League in August 1879. It was at this stage that Parnell fully committed himself by accepting Davitt’s invitation to be the President of the Irish National Land League which soon became a national movement driven from the bottom up and outside of clerical control.
  • Parnell replaces Butt as leader of the Home Rule league

  • Period: to

    The Land War

    A series of agrarian outrages that became known as the Land War
  • Parnell won the leadership election

    Parnell won the leadership election for the IPP
  • 1881 Land Bill

    The Three F's were granted but poorer farmers where left out of its scope
  • The 1881 Coercion Bill

    The 1881 Coercion Bill allowed Davitt and his fellow leading figures to be arrested, even though Parnell tried to oppose this bill in parliament he failed to do so
  • The 1884 Reform Act

    This act tripled the number of eligible Irish men to vote - Parnell was pleasing the Irish Populus again
  • Parnell supported the Ashbourne Land Act

    The Ashbourne Land Act which was a defining moment because it began the process of turning Irish tenant farmers into landowners.