GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM OF. 



393 



kept on the estate in order to defend the prop- 

 erty. Two of the tenants who joined the Plan 

 of Campaign accepted the landlord's terms, and 

 paid their rent and costs, thereby forfeiting the 

 sum they had paid into the "war chest.'' The 

 leader of the Plan of Campaign on the estate, 

 Mr. Kilbride. who was one of the principal ten- 

 ants and the companion of William O'Brien on 

 an oratorical tour in Canada and the United 

 States, was elected member of Parliament for 

 South Kerry, and took his seat at the beginning 

 of the session of 1888. On June 21 negotia- 

 tions for a settlement on the basis of the sale of 

 the farms to the tenants under the Land Pur- 

 chase Act, on condition of their paying a year's 

 rent, which was half the arrears, were begun 

 between Father Dempsey in behalf of the ten- 

 ants and Townsend Trench, Lord Lansdowne's 

 agent, and were continued during the landlord's 

 visit to his estate, but were suddenly broken off 

 after he left in August. 



On the Ponsonby estate at Youghal the ten- 

 ants, acting under the advice of Dr. Tanner and 

 Mr. Lane, Irish members of Parliament, asked 

 a reduction of 25 per cent, on judicial rents, 

 which was more than double the average re- 

 duction that was subsequently made in cases 

 adjudicated by the Land Commission. Evic- 

 tions were carried out against eight tenants, but 

 after desperate riots, in which the police killed 

 a man named Hanlon with a bayonet, the au- 

 thorities contented themselves with holding 

 the rest of the tenants in a state of siege. 



The tenants on the O'Grady estate at Iler- 

 bertstown demanded an abatement of 40 per 

 cent., while the landlord offeml 15 per cent. 

 The principal farms were taken possession of 

 by the authorities. Thomas Moroney, a tenant, 

 was commuted to jnil for contempt of court, 

 because he concealed his assets, in bankruptcy 

 proceedings to which he was subjected. 



On Lady Kingston's Mitchelstown estate the 

 Plan of Campaign was adopted in December, 



1886, when the tenants demanded an abate- 

 ment of 20 per cent. The farmers and the 

 shopkeepers in the town disposed of all their 

 movable property, and business remained at a 

 standstill till a settlement was effected in 1888, 

 based on the decisions of the Land Commis- 

 sioners, who made an average reduction of 20|- 

 per cent, in the rents. The owner's husband 

 and agent, Mr. Webber, agreed to apply the 

 same rate of reduction to arrears due to March, 



1887, and to reinstate evicted tenants and for- 

 give them all costs, that they might have their 

 rents fixed by the Land Commission. 



The Plan of Campaign was adopted on Mur- 

 ray Stewart's estate, near Glenties, the tenants 

 demanding 33 per cent, reduction in January, 



1888, although the Land Commission had only 

 granted 15 per cent, reduction in the same lo- 

 cality. 



The Plan of Campaign was a failure on the 

 property of the Skinner's Company ; yet it 

 was successful on Lord Dillon's estate, where 

 the demands of the tenants were granted after 



a struggle, during which Major Xeild was fa- 

 tally assaulted by the tenants and their friends, 

 who mistook him for a process-server. 



The evictions that attracted most atten- 

 tion in 1888 were those on Lord Massarene's 

 estate. The agent had recommended in 1886, 

 after the heavy fall in prices, an abatement of 

 15 per cent, on judicial, or 20 per cent, on non- 

 judicial rents, but Lord Massarene refused to 

 accept his advice, though all the other land- 

 lords that he represented had followed his sug- 

 gestions, and employed other agents, whom he 

 instructed to adopt every means to break up 

 the combination that was formed among the 

 greater part of the tenants to secure a reduc- 

 tion of 20 per cent, on judicial, and 25 per cent, 

 on non-judicial rents. After the Plan of Cam- 

 paign had been in operation on the estate for 

 eighteen months, the Land Commissioners in 

 numerous cases made the reductions in the 

 rents, averaging 22 \ per cent., or only 2^ per 

 cent, less than the tenants demanded. Then the 

 landlord offered to compromise, but excepted 

 three of the tenants, whom he considered to be 

 leaders of the resistance, and his proposition 

 was therefore rejected by the tenants as a body. 

 The Protestant tenants had not joined the com- 

 bination, having received an abatement. The 

 agents instituted proceedings whereby ten of 

 the tenants were evicted, and some of them 

 prosecuted for resistance. 



Landlord Leader of.the Curass estate refused 

 an abatement of 25 per cent. He evicted eight 

 tenants in February, 1887, who were housed 

 and fed by their friends. The whole district 

 rose against the landlord, who was unable to 

 cultivate his own farm of 3,000 acres, as his 

 laborers left, and no smith, butcher, or other 

 tradesman would do any work for him. When 

 some of the tenants showed an inclination to 

 come to terms, they were visited by moon- 

 lighters and beaten, and one man named Cur- 

 tin was shot and wounded. Proceedings were 

 taken under the crimes act, and several per- 

 sons were convicted of boycotting Leader. On 

 Sept. 5, 1888, Mr. Leader suddenly appeared 

 on the estate, with 20 bailiffs and 100 police, 

 and evicted 5 tenants, some of whom had bar- 

 ricaded their houses, and threw stones, and 

 poured boiling water on the heads of the 

 police. 



On Lord Clanricarde's estate a demand was 

 made for an abatement of 40 per cent. The 

 feeling against the landlord was exceptionally 

 bitter, and the conflict was carried on without 

 mercy on either side. Houses were burned 

 and blown up, woods set on tire, crops and 

 cattle destroyed, telegraph wires cut, roads 

 torn up and blockaded, and eight persons 

 killed. Here and nearly everywhere the cam- 

 paigners held their ground at the opening of 

 the season of 1888, and in some cases they 

 had gained their point, so that Mr. Gladstone 

 could boast that the plan of campaign was 

 " entire, successful, and triumphant." 



On the Coolgreany estate in County "Wex- 



