Tenant Farmer - Ireland

Ireland

Until about 1900, the majority of Ireland was held by landlords, as much as 97% in 1870, and rented out to tenant farmers who had to pay rent to landlords and taxes to the Church and State. The majority of the people had no access to land. 1.5% of the population owned 33.7% of the nation, and 50% of the country was in the hands of only 750 families. Absenteeism was common and detrimental to the country's progress. Tenants often sub-rented small plots on a yearly basis from local farmers paying for them by labour service in a system known as conacre most without any lease or land rights. Irish smallholders were indistinguishable from the cottiers of England.

The abuse of tenant farmers led to widespread emigration to the United States and Commonwealth realms and was a key factor within the Home Rule Movement. They also underlined a deterioration in Protestant-Catholic relationships, although there were notable elements of cooperation in reform attempts such as the Tenant Right League of the 1850s. Following the Potato Famine tenant farmers were the largest class of people. Discontent led to the Land War of the 1870s onwards, the Irish Land Acts of 1870, the founding of the Land League 1879 to establish fair rents and the fixity of tenures. The movement played a key element in the unification of country and urban classes and the creation of a national identity. not existing before.

The Land Act of 1870 stands out at the first attempt to resolve problems of tenants rights in Ireland and the 1881 Act went even further to inspire campaigners even in Wales. The Irish Land (Purchase) Act 1885 followed, finally the great break through after the successful 1902 Land Conference, the enactment of the Wyndham Land (Purchase) Act 1903 whereby the state financed tenants to completely buy out their landlords. Under the Act of 1903, and the consequential Act of 1909, the national situation was completely transformed. When in March 1920, the Irish Estate Commission reviewed the development since 1903 under these Acts, they estimated that 83 million sterling had been advanced for 9 million acres (36,000 km2) transferred, whilst a further 2 million acres (8,100 km2) were pending costing 24 million sterling. By 1914, 75% of occupiers were buying out their landlords, mostly under the two Acts. In all, under the pre-UK Land Acts over 316,000 tenants purchased their holdings amounting to 11,500,000 acres (47,000 km2) out of a total of 20 million in the country.

On the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922, the Irish Land Commission was reconstituted by the Land Law (Commission) Act, 1923. The Commission had acquired and supervised the transfer of up to 13 million acres (53,000 km2) of farmland between 1885 and 1920 where the freehold was assigned under mortgage to tenant farmers and farm workers. The focus had been on the compulsory purchase of untenanted estates so that they could be divided into smaller units for local families. In 1983, the Commission ceased acquiring land; this signified the start of the end of the commission's reform of Irish land ownership, though freehold transfers of farmland still had to be signed off by the Commission into the 1990s. The commission was dissolved in March 1999.