Land Agitation
Introduction
from Chronology
Due to this being the date on which eleven month
leases were made, land agitation
(which had been in decline for a number of years) increases around Ireland
especially in the counties of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. It took the traditional forms of cattle
drives; levelling of walls; demonstrations; etc. It was facilitated by the absence of the RIC
from many parts of rural Ireland.
More Detail
The Connaught Tribune reports
that armed men forced their way into the home of Francis Persse in Cloonmore, Roscahil, Co. Galway
and ordered him to leave. Mr Persse and
his family left the following morning. This
was one of number of occasions when landowners were forced to leave their
homes. For example, when Lynch Staunton
refused to give up his land, he was threatened with being drowned in Lough
Corrib if he did not agree to sell his estate.
While sometimes the armed men were from the IRA, frequently it was local
men trying to intimidate landowners into selling their land. (Sometimes the
local IRA would come to the defence of the landowner – for example, see Henry (2012), pgs 45-46.) The IRA
Executive had ordered Volunteers to stay away from land agitation and the Sinn
Féin executive ordered its members likewise. (They were concerned that land agitation would
surpass the fight for independence.) However, some IRA men and Sinn Féin members
took part in land agitation as did members of the ITGWU.
See May-17-20/1.