Transcribed and submitted by Rob Doragh, (with Notes), as Reported in “The Derry Journal” Wednesday Morning, May 14, 1884.
Note: M’ was used for a time instead of Mc.
Note: Land measures a=acres; r=roods; p=perches. See wikipedia for explanation.
THE CHIEF LAND COMMISSION AT LIFFORD, DONEGAL, 1884.
At two o’clock on Monday afternoon Mr. Justice O’HAGAN, Mr. LITTON, Q.C. and Mr. VERNON, D.L., sat in the Courthouse, Lifford, for the purpose of hearing appeals under the Land Act, from decisions given by Sub-Commissioners. The cases listed 107, and the holdings are situate on the estates of the Duke of ABERCORN, Mr. G. H. MURRAY-STEWART, Mr. Valentine RYAN, Mr. Simon SHEIL, Colonel George KNOX, Sir John LESLIE, Mr. James HAMILTON, Mr. Joseph JOHNSTON, Mr. R. G. MONTGOMERY, Mr. Charles H. KNOX, Messrs. George and R. T. BUSTARD, Mr. Francis MANSFIELD, Rev. Robert DELAP, and the representatives of Andrew CLARKE. A large number of the cases listed have either been withdrawn or settled.
ESTATE OF CHARLES H. KNOX
At the sitting of the Court Mr. William WILSON applied for an adjournment of the cases listed from this estate. In support of his application he read an affidavit sworn by Mr. CRAWFORD, who is the employment of Mr. Wm. MARTIN, from which it appeared that Mr. MARTIN, who had been retained for the landlord, was at present very ill, and unable to attend in court, and that Mr. COLQUHOUN, Q.C., who was expected to be in attendance to conduct the cases, would not be in Lifford during the present sitting. Mr. H. C. O’DOHERTY, on behalf of the tenants, while regretting Mr. MARTIN’S illness, opposed the application. He said there was no reason why the cases should not be proceeded with during the present sitting. As Mr. DANE was in attendance he could easily be instructed in the cases. Mr. WILSON said Mr. MARTIN, who had got the particulars, could not attend, nor was he capable of giving instructions, as he was suffering from congestion of the lungs and other ailments arising therefrom, so that even his own clerk was not allowed to disturb him.
After further discussion, Mr. Justice O’HAGAN said he would allow the cases to stand over, and Mr. WILSON could make arrangements for having them heard during the sitting. Mr. WILSON said he knew nothing whatever of the circumstances of the estate, and besides he understood the question of town parks would arise in some cases. The matter then dropped, Mr. Justice O’HAGAN remarking that he was sorry to hear of Mr. MARTIN’S illness.
ESTATE OF H. G. MURRAY-STEWART
There were forty-seven cases listed from this estate, a number of which were withdrawn.
Mr. R. DANE (instructed by Mr. Paul DANE) appeared for the landlord, and Mr. H. C. O’DOHERTY for the tenants.
William ADAIR, senior, tenant – the area of the farm, which is situated at Kennaughty, Ardara, 17a. 0r. 24p; old rent. £4 2s; judicial rent, £3; Court valuer’s estimate, £3 16s. The tenant said part of the land was subject to flooding with high tides. He remembered the rent being £3 4s 2d. On cross-examination by Mr. DANE, he said the rent had always been the same since the lands were squared. He was able to get “wrack” [seaweed and other vegetation] from the sea for manure. The landlord allowed him 30s for the repair of his house, and also gave him window- frames.
Henry SWEENEY, tenant – Area, 21a. 0r. 36p.; old rent, £4 7s; judicial rent, £3 12s. Court valuer’s estimate, £4 15s 6d. The tenant gave evidence of fencing and other improvements. Some of the fences were made at the time of the squaring of the farms. He could not say what he would get per acre now for the two acres of land reclaimed, but believed it was not worth more than 5s per acre. He had turf on his holding, but it was not good. He could not say he would take £2 for the turf, because he had no road to get to another bog. The wreck he got was worth £1 per year.
James CONAGHAN, tenant – Area, 14a. 3r. 3P; old rent, £2 12s; judicial rent, £2; Court valuer’s estimate, £2 15s. The tenant said his rent up to the squaring of the farm was £2 2s 6d, which was then raised to the present rent. The farm was “the worst on earth,” as it was exposed to the wind from the sea, and the cattle took disease on the grazing.
In reply to Mr. DANE, who wished to know why in the Court below the tenant swore he reclaimed and acre and a half, while now he mended his hand and swore it was two acres, the tenant said it must be a mistake. Mr. DANE, – Then it must be a similar mistake when you fix the amount for reclamation at £8 now, while in the Court below you only made it £6. (Laughter.)
Jane M’KEE,tenant – Area, 34a. 2r. 27p.; old rent, £8 5s; judicial rent, £6; Court valuer’s estimate, £8. The tenant gave evidence of drainage and reclamation, and said a portion of it was flooded. She had had to draw the greater portion of the turf about five miles.
James WATSON, tenant – Area,19a. 1r. 16p; old rent, £5; judicial, £4; Court valuer’s estimate, £4 16s. The tenant said he reclaimed two acres and a half of bogland, at a cost of £4 per acre. The cattle were subject to disease owing to bad grazing. He had turf on the farm, but could not tell what it was worth to him.
Ellen BURKE, tenant – Area, 3?1a. 2r.; old rent, £9 17s; judicial rent, £8; Court valuer’s estimate, £10 2s. The tenant’s son gave evidence of fencing and other improvements, and said three acres had been reclaimed at £8 per acre. In reply to Mr, DANE the witness admitted that he sold over £47 worth of cattle, sheep, &c., during 1880. With regard to the £8 charged for reclamation, he included lime, manure, and the seed potatoes in his estimate. Mr. DANE thought he should have charged for watching the potatoes growing when he was it. The Court adjourned till next morning at eleven o’clock.
Note: In 1870, only 3% of Irish farmers owned their own land while 97% were tenants. By 1929, this ratio had been reversed with 97.4% of farmers holding their farms in freehold… peasant proprietorship did not end hardship in the Irish countryside. Emigration and economic disadvantage continued while the greatest beneficiaries of land reform were the middle class of medium farmers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Acts_(Ireland)
Note: In the 1870s H.G. Murray Stewart of Gullygate House, Scotland, was the owner of over 50,000 acres in County Donegal. This estate held property in the parishes of Inishkeel, Kilcar, Killaghatee and Killybegs Upper in the Barony of Banagh at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. This estate had previously belonged to a Murray family of Broughton, Scotland, since the Ulster Plantation. It was inherited by Horatio Granville Stewart, following the death without heirs of Alexander Murray in 1845. Elements of the estate were later purchased by the Musgrave family.
https://landedestates.ie/estate/3813
Note: Before February 1971 money in the U.K. and Ireland was divided into pounds, shillings and pence. (L or £. s. d.). The currency was decimalised to pounds and pence, £p, in both the U.K. and Ireland on Monday February 15th 1971. Irish punt (pound) coins were withdrawn from circulation in 2002 and replaced by the euro.
DERRY PETTY SESSIONS – MONDAY, MAY 12th 1884
[Before Mr. Robert M’VICKER (Mayor), Mr. Alderman DARCUS, Mr. P. T. RODGER, Mr. George WALKER, Mr. Thomas M’CONNELL, and Mr. R. HARVEY, R.M.]
MISCELLANEOUS
Constable George GILPIN charged Mary BURKE and Catherine DUFFY with being “rogues and vagabonds.”having no fixed place of abode. The constable said he found the prisoners on Sunday morning in a shed on the Quay. BURKE was sleeping, and was drunk. DUFFY pleaded that she only went to waken the other.. It appeared it was the seventh offence in the one case and the fifth in the other. The MAYOR sentenced BURKE to two months imprisonment , and DUFFY to one month in gaol.
John SWEENEY was brought up on remand, charged with stealing a pair of trousers. Sergeant MURRAY applied for a further remand, as the principal witness could not be in town till Wednesday. He wished for an adjournment till Thursday. The MAYOR, after consulting the other magistrates, said they would adjourn the Court of Petty Sessions till Wednesday.
John CANNING summoned Matthew M’CLELLAND to recover a sum of 14s, being a week’s wages, in lieu of notice not given to him before being discharged. He said he engaged with the defendant in June last as caretaker of some lands, one condition being that there was to be a week’s notice on either side before leaving. On Saturday week he gave him his wages, and told him he would not require him longer. Mr. M’CLELLAND – Produce your discharge? Complainant – I left it in the house. Mr. M’CLELLAND said he discharged the man for incompetency. He accepted the wages and discharge, which stated that he was discharged, all wages being paid, and there was no such agreement as he alleged. He was not fit for the work, as he had destroyed two fields in sowing them. The bench dismissed the case. Mr. LOUGHREY appeared to watch the case for defendant.
Detective Constable A. NEWMAN summoned Rose CONNOLLY for making use of obscene and profane language in Fahan-street, between four and five o’clock on Monday evening. Her language was horrible. The defendant said she was scolding another woman who had put her about, and she did not know what she said. She was fined 2s 6d.
Robert CURRY was charged by Constable John ROWE with being drunk in the Diamond on Wednesday. The defendant, who did not appear, was fined 10s.
Bella MAGUIRE, for being drunk on Carlisle-road on Wednesday evening, was fined 5s, or seven days in gaol. Constable R. BEST proved the charge.
Acting-Sergeant John STOKES summoned Alexander KEMPS, car-driver, for obstructing the thoroughfare at Horsebarrack-row, and using abusive language to him. The acting-sergeant was on duty at the Great Northern Railway Station, and when he told the defendant to move out of a place he refused, and said he didn’t care a damn for him and he “had no green horn to deal with.” The MAYOR asked was the defendant licensed. Defendant said he had his license in the house. The MAYOR remarked that the half of the car-drivers were not licensed, and it was high time the police looked after them. The defendant ought to have known it was his duty to obey the police authorities. The defendant said he knew he was, and he was preparing to do so as far as he could. The MAYOR – Why didn’t you do it civilly? You are fined 2s 6d in each case.
A possession case by Isabella THOMPSON against Margt. MEEHAN was also heard.
The court then adjourned.
EVICTIONS IN TYRONE
DUNGANNON, MONDAY. – The landlords of Tyrone, like Tipperary seem to be inclined to stand upon their rights independently. To-day Sir Wm. VERNER, Bart., has shown that he must be obeyed in this neighbourhood. About three miles from here there are more than thirty evictions to take place upon the VERNER estate. The district is mountainous, and the tenants have all reclaimed the land from bog. They were all living in pretty fair means until the bad times of ’79 and ’80 came. Since then they have been burthened with debt, and were unable to pay rent and live. The first, John MULDOON, was a rather prominent member of the National League. He proposed the chairman of the meeting in 1880 – the first branch that had been started in Tyrone – which was to make way for the meeting on the 1st of Nov., which was prohibited. He afterwards took part in the meeting, and the Rev, Harold RYLETT was proposed for the candidature of Tyrone. Charles S. PARNELL, M.P., being present. It is believed that this was the cause of his eviction, as he was only owing one and a half year’s rent, amounting to £16. He offered £8 to Mr. James CROSSLE, J.P., who refused it unless he got the whole sum along with three guineas costs [£3 3s.]. He offered the same to-day to the Sheriff’s man, but of no avail.
The next is ANNE M’COLLUM, a widow; Next Wm. LAMMY, a Protestant. He is about sixty years of age. He owns 14 acres and was three years in arrears. His rent, £7. He states that he had £16 worth of turf cut for the agent, who went to reside in the town, and he did not sell them since.
Next, James DUNBAR, Protestant, fourteen acres, in arrears four years, lives at Anahoe [now spelt Agnahoe]. He complains of the death of cattle being the cause of his non-payment;
M’ILGUNN, M’GIRR and DONAGHY, all in the one townland, Cranlum [now Cranlome]. The eviction of these people has created some excitement in this neighbourhood, as there are twenty more to take place, the relieving officer having received notice to make quarters for them.
Mr Robert M’KELVEY, Sheriff’s assistant, and two bailiffs from Omagh carried out “the sentences of death,” to use Mr. GLADSTONE’S phrase, and they were escorted by Sergeant MAGOWAN and Constables DELACY and SHERIDAN, of Ballygawley Station. The evicted tenants in all cases signed a document which gives them six months to redeem their holdings. They are weekly tenants until then. DUNBAR did not sign; he got a fortnight to consider. Mr. James CROSSLE, Dungannon, is agent of the property and Clerk of the Crown for Tyrone. –
Belfast Morning News.
Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_National_League
Note; the Verner estates in Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone and Wicklow
https://landedestates.ie/estate/3840
LAND COMMISSION HEARINGS 1884
TYRONE SUB-COMMISSION AT OMAGH
On Monday morning, at eleven o’clock, three of the Sub-Commissioners for the county Tyrone (North) – Messrs. Romney FOLEY, Q.C. (chairman), Alexander ELLIS, and Samuel BYERS – resumed their seats in the Record Court of the County Courthouse, and proceeded with the hearing of evidence in applications to have fair rents fixed. In the afternoon the chairman delivered judgment in the following cases heard recently:-
ESTATE OF SIR JOHN M. STEWART, BART.
Tenant / Old Rent £ s. d. / Judicial Rent £ s. d.
Hugh M’GURK – 9.10.0./ 7.0.0.
Michael DONNELLY – 4.0.0./ 2.15.0.
Anne MOLLOY – 7.10.0./ 4.10.0.
James KANE – 4.0.0./ 2.15.0.
Alice MOLLOY – 3.10.0./ 2.15.0.
Francis TRACEY – 7.10.0./ 5.0.0.
Patrick KELLY (Hugh) – 2.0.0./ 1.10.0.
Pat KELLY – 2.10.0./ 2.0.0.
Mary KELLY – 9.0.0./ 5.0.0.
Stephen KELLY – 7.10.0./ 5.10.0.
Michael QUINN – 4.0.0./ 2.15.0.
Terence M’KERNAN – 4.0.0./ 2.10.0.
Peter M’KERNAN – 11.12.0./ 7.0.0.
James KELLY – 6.0.0./ 4.5.0.
Bernard KELLY – 6.0.0./ 4.5.0.
Rose M’KENNA – 4.0.0./ 2.10.0.
John M’KENNA – 4.0.0./ 2.10.0.
Francis M’KENNA – 8.0.0./ 6.0.0.
Dan M’GOVERN – 4.0.0./ 2.10.0.
Pat BRADLEY – 4.10.0./ 3.10.0.
Henry DONNELLY – 6.15.0./ 5.0.0.
James DEVLIN – 8.0.0./ 6.0.0.
Daniel DOBBS – 12.0.0./ 8.0.0.
James MULLAN – 2.10.0./ 1.15.0
Patrick M’GLINN – 5.0.0./ 3.10.0.
James GRIMES – 5.0.0./ 3.0.0.
James KELLY – 3.0.0./ 2.5.0.
Catherine MEENAGH – 9.5.0./ 6.10.0.
Mary TIERNAY – 5.5.0./ 3.10.0.
Hugh M’CARTAN – 6.5.0./ 4.5.0.
Hugh DAILY – 5.18.0./ 4.0.0.
Ellen HAGAN – 2.15.0./ 2.0.0.
Catherine KELLY – 3.0.0./ 2.10.0.
Peter M’GROGAN – 4.15.0./ 3.10.0
Michael MEENAGH – 6.10.0./ 5.0.0.
Thomas COLGAN – 3.5.0./ 2.10.0.
Patrick M’NALLY – 3.17.0/ 3.0.0.
Patrick M’CRORY – 1.5.0./ 1.0.0.
John LYONS – 4.15.0./ 3.10.0.
Patrick M’CULLAGH – 9.5.0./ 7.0.0.
Charles DOOGAN – 4.1.0./ 3.0.0.
Patrick MAGUIRE – 7.10.0/ 5.15.0
Elizabeth M’ELDUFF – 5.5.0./ 3.15.0.
Michael M’ELDUFF – 11.13.0./ 8.0.0.
Patrick M’ELDUFF – 5.15.0./ 4.10.0.
Joseph RICE – 8.0.0./ 5.10.0
John GORMLEY – 9.15.0./ 6.10.0.
Peter COYLE – 8.0.0./ 5.10.0.
Edward MEENAGH – 7.15.0./ 5.0.0.
John FOX – 11.0.0./ 8.0.0.
Michael FOX – 4.13.0./ 3.0.0.
Patrick M’GLONE – 6.10.0/ 5.0.0.
Michael MEENAGH – 11.10.0./ 6.0.0.
Catherine M’GLINCHEY – 4.8.0./ 2.15.0.
Peter M'CRYSTALL
Peter M’CRYSTALL – 6.12.6. / 4.10.0.
Patrick KEENAN -10.10.0./ 7.0.0.
Patrick TIERNAY – 4.0.0./ 2.15.0.
John RICE – 10.0.0./ 6.15.0.
Bernard RICE – 3.0.0./ 2.0.0.
Bernard RICE – 14.10.0./ 9.10.0.
Anne KELLY – 5.10.0/ 4.0.0.
John FOX – 5.10.0./ 4.0.0.
Mary M’CANN – 4.0.0./ 2.10.0.
John HOLLYWOOD – 2.10.0./ 1.17.0.
Patrick DONAGHEY – 3.10.0./ 2.10.0.
Peter M’GURK – 7.10.0./ 6.0.0.
Wm. M’GLONE – 10.0.0./ 6.10.0.
Anne FOX – 4.0.0./ 2.15.0.
Patrick NUGENT – 4.8.0./ 2.15.0.
Peter TIERNAY – 4.15.0./ 3.0.0.
Robert CRAWFORD – 23.0.0./ 17.10.0.
Peter HIGGINS – 6.10.0./ 4.5.0.
Hugh M’CALLEN – 8.11.9./ 5.0.0.
John M’CALLEN – 9.7.6./ 5.10.0.
Bernard M’CALLION – 5.7.6./ 3.15.0.
Hugh KELLY – 9.15.0./ 6.15.0.
Terence HIGGINS – 5.0.0./ 3.15.0.
John M’ALEER – 5.0.0./ 3.10.0.
Patrick COYLE – 4.10.0./ 3.5.0.
Jane M’CALLIN – 6.5.0./ 4.5.0.
John DONNELL – 3.5.0./ 2.5.0.
Bernard HIGGINS – 7.15.0./ 5.5.0.
Owen KELLY – 2.15.0./ 2.0.0.
John CONWAY – 8.0.0./ 5.10.0.
Daniel KELLY – 5.5.0./ 3.0.0.
Jane M’CRYSTALL – 5.15.0/ 3.15.0.
Michael M’CRYSTALL – 5.15.0./ 3.15.0.
Michael M’CRYSTALL – 12.15.0./ 9.0.0.
Note: The Land Law (Ireland) Acts were a series of measures to deal with the question of tenancy contracts and peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by the government of the United Kingdom between 1870 and 1909. Further acts were introduced by the governments of the Irish Free State after 1922 and more acts were passed for Northern Ireland. The success of the Land Acts in reducing the concentration of land ownership is indicated by the fact that in 1870, only 3% of Irish farmers owned their own land while 97% were tenants. By 1929, this ratio had been reversed with 97.4% of farmers holding their farms in freehold… peasant proprietorship did not end hardship in the Irish countryside. Emigration and economic disadvantage continued while the greatest beneficiaries of land reform were the middle class of medium farmers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Acts_(Ireland)