Background
In February 1870 the Land Conference, at a public sitting, passed resolutions condemning "capricious evictions" and demanding
- "permanent fixture of the tenant in the soil"
- eviction only on non-payment of rent
- right of sale of interest by the tenant
- the establishment of local land tribunals and the valuation of rent.
At this point, most Irish tenant farmers outside Ulster had few rights at law. The "Ulster Custom" was itself an informal extra-legal business practise designed to attract busier and richer tenants. Tenant farmers had no right to be given a written lease, and when a rental agreement (usually for 12 months) ended they could be evicted. When evicted they could not claim compensation for any improvements they had made on their farm, which was not the case in Britain or Ulster. If they had a lease they could not sell the remaining term.
Later in 1870 James Godkin's influential book "The Land-War In Ireland A History For The Times" was published, listing the long-standing nature of the tenants' grievances and giving the name to the ensuing dispute.
Read more about this topic: Land War
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