For some members of the Landlord Class in 19th century Ireland, the Encumbered Estates Act of 1849 presented unique opportunities to increase their own estate.
In 1881, the average income from rent was £14 per annum which was a great deal more than the annual income of many other elite groups in Irish society.
For example, a Church of Ireland bishop earned £1,500; a magistrate earned £675; a barrister earned between £800 - £1,000; the Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary earned £1,800.
And, in 1863, our great great grandfather, Patrick Edward Reilly, earned £498 just from his job collecting rents for Col. Francis Macnamara of Ennistymon House. This figure does not include the rents he collected from his own tenants.
At the other end of the social spectrum, a small tenant farmer in county Galway had an annual income of less than £40; a white collar worker at Eason's Department Store in Dublin earned between 7s and £14 per week; a rural, unskilled laborer earned between 5s and 15s per week.
During The Great Famine (1845-1849), many landlords became severely indebted because they were unable to collect rents from their impoverished tenants. This situation compelled them to sell their estates under the Encumbered Estates Act.
Under the terms of this Act, a creditor could petition for a sale when encumbrances exceeded half of the estate's net rent.
Consequently, the ownership of about one-quarter of the agricultural property in Ireland was transferred during the thirty years after 1849, most of it in the 1850s.
The losers tended to be the owners of smaller estates while the beneficiaries were investors and wealthier landlords who took the opportunity to further amalgamate their estates.
In preparation for these auctions, printed sale-catalogues were circulated to prospective purchasers in advance of the sale. They were compiled with the intention of attracting purchasers and of providing information on the estate in a clear and uniform manner.
The title page in these sales-catalogues identifies the estate and gives the date for and place of the sale. This is usually followed by brief descriptive particulars of the estate and its situation, intended to attract prospective buyers.
The descriptive particulars are generally followed by observations and conditions of sale.
An example is the sale of the Lysaght estate near Ennistymon - Woodmount.
Here is the Sales-Catalogue-
In addition to owning most of the land in the country, it was no coincidence that these landlords also "owned" most of the local power in their communities.
The Irish landlord class were prominent in local government and virtually controlled the local administration of their counties until 1898.
Sixty-three percent of the great landowners acted as magistrates in their counties. This gave the Irish landlords important judicial power to convict those tried of ordinary crimes at Petty Sessions.
In May 1867, Patrick Edward Reilly was appointed to the Magistracy- the Commission of the Peace for the county of Clare (Justice of the Peace.)
This announcement appeared in the May 9, 1867 edition of the Clare Journal:
THE MAGISTRACY
We feel great pleasure in having to announce the appointment of Patrick Edward Reilly, Esq, Woodpark, Ennistymon, to the Commission of the Peace for the County of Clare, on the recommendation of the Right Hon Lord Inchiquin, Lord Lieutenant of the county. This appointment will be hailed with great satisfaction by the public in the town and the locality of Ennistymon, who much feel the want of anotherlocal magistrate who would permanently reside among them, and no appointment could be made that would give more satisfaction to all parties in the district.
A few days later, on May 18, 1867, this article appeared and it clearly demonstrates the deep respect and esteem in which P.E. was held by his neighbors and his peers:
MEETING AT ENNISTYMON
On Wednesday, a meeting of the friends of P. E. Rielly (sic), Esq., J.P., was held for the purpose of presenting him with a suitable testimonial on the occasion of his appointment to the magistracy. It is stated that about £130 had been subscribed.
Landlords also dominated the Grand Juries which were responsible for raising money by means of county tax rates. These monies were used to finance a variety of projects ranging from the construction and repair of roads to the upkeep of hospitals and lunatic asylums.
On June 27, 1838, it was announced that P. E. Reilly had been sworn as a member of the Grand Jury of Galway.
TUESDAY
The Crown business commenced this day at ten o'clock. After the Grand Jury had been sworn, his worship briefly addressed them. On the Bench together with his worship were M.D. Bellow, Esq., Mt. Bellow; A. H. Blake, Esq., Furbo; John Viggnoles, Esq., S.M.; and Malby Crofton, Esq., S.M. The following Jury was immediately after sworn: John Blake, James Cowan. Wm. Kilgannon, Paul Nolan, John Tully, James Hossack, Martin Cullinan, Michael Hennelly, Henry Kelly, Patt Cullinan, James Barrett, and P.E. Reilly.
During the second half of the 19th century, Grand Juries were gradually replaced by the Boards of Poor Law Guardians.
These Boards were composed of both elected members and local magistrates. Since the majority of magistrates were landowners, this gave them substantial influence.
Patrick Edward Reilly served - and was very active- on the Board of Guardians of the Ennistymon Union from about 1845 - 1867. For details of his service on the Board, please see our Blog Post: P.E, Reilly and the Board of Guardians of the Ennistymon Union.
As these three appointments illustrate, our great great grandfather fit the criteria of a member of the Irish Landlord Gentry Class in the 19th century.
He was a Magistrate (Justice of the Peace); he was a member of the Galway Grand Jury and he served on the Ennistymon Board of Guardians.
As a solid member of the Landlord Gentry in 19th century Ireland, P.E. Reilly was in the advantageous position to make the most of the Encumbered Estates Act.
In February 1858, he bought land from the estate of the Marquis of Thomond for £1,720.
Three months later, in May, he spent another £1,620 on more property from the estate of the late Marquis of Thomond.
On July 1, 1858, this announcement of available property to be purchased through the Encumbered Estates Court listed Lot 163 which was composed of over 300 acres located near Ennistymon.
Lot 163 was in the area known as Fermoyle Oughters, East, called Knocknakilla. Its 317 acres were held by one tenant who was on a year to year lease.
Patrick Edward Reilly was the purchaser for which he spent £1,170. Its net rent was about £25 - lower than the 1857 Griffith Valuation appraisal of £46.
When his wife, Eliza, passed away in 1870, P.E. chose to erect her tomb on his Knocknakilla Cillin property.
We still have many questions regarding this unique crypt which have yet to be answered.
We also discovered three properties in Castlebar, county Mayo which P.E. leased out.
In 1857, John Hughes leased a house on Market Street.
P.E. had two other tenants in Castlebar- both were situated on Bridge Street. John Staunton leased "part" of a house and office while Michael Cunniff rented a house with offices, yard and a garage.
These were turbulent times in the West of Ireland, which included Ennistymon. The area was disrupted by violent Land War "outrages" which pitted landlord against tenant.
Although the Land League urged peaceful means of protest, many of the dispossessed peasantry took the law into their own hands and joined a secret agrarian society, headed by the mysterious Captain Moonlight, to attack landlords' property, particularly their livestock.
These attacks, known locally as "moonlighting", in turn prompted reprisals, creating a spiral of violence.
The victims of this agrarian violence were frequently Irish land agents, middlemen, and tenants. Merchants and millers were often threatened or attacked if their prices were high. Landlords' agents were threatened, beaten, and assassinated. New tenants on lands secured by evictions also became targets.
Another secret agrarian society to take up the cause of the peasantry called themselves "The Molly Maguires".
The Mollies (invariably young men) distinguished themselves by dressing in women’s clothing, using powder or burnt cork on their faces, and pledging their allegiance to a mythical woman — Mistress Molly Maguire — who symbolized their struggle against injustice.
The name “Molly Maguire” was based on the story of an elderly woman, reportedly named Molly Maguire, who was turned out of her rental home by an unfriendly landlord, and left to struggle to survive with no shelter; or so the story goes.
For years, the Mollies left notices on the doors of landlords with threats should they dare to treat their tenants in the same fashion – notes that were signed “Molly Maguire.” It remains unknown if this elderly woman ever actually existed.
However, the Mollies earned worldwide recognition when the “Address of ‘Molly Maguire’ to her children”, was published in Freeman’s Journal, the leading daily newspaper in Ireland, on 7 July 1845.
"The Address of Molly Maguire to her Children" has been described as a blueprint for civil disobedience.
This "Address" was followed a few weeks later with another letter to the newspaper titled "Molly Maguire's Law".
There has been so much discussion and so much has been published labeling 19th century Irish landlords as despicable, evil, heartless creatures - characterizations which, undoubtedly, was true in some cases.
Because of this history, it was with great trepidation that I ventured into researching our family history. I didn't know what I would learn about our ancestors.
So it was with much relief and pride that I am discovering the truth about our great great grandfather, the Landed Proprietor.
The infamous Molly Maguires praised Patrick Edward Reilly as one of the "good landlords".
I am concluding this essay with an article which appeared in Friday, November 18, 1859 edition of The Evening Freeman and the Clare Journal:
GREAT REJOICING IN BALLYEA
On Tuesday night last, the tenants on the property of P. E. O'Reilly, Esq which was lately purchased under the Incumbered Estates Court, to mark their thanks and gratitude to that gentleman for his uniform kindness toward them since he became their lamdlord and also to show , in some manner, their feelings towards him who was good enough to promise to all leases of their separate divisions , without any advance on their first agreement , which was in accordance with the valuation of a farmer of their own class and with which they are perfectly content, lit enormous bonfires through the property, kept up dancing and other harmless amusements until the small hours of the morning dispersed them to their separate homes, happy and contented with themselves and their landlord. If this system was adopted by the landed proprietors throughout Ireland what a different tale would the people have to relate; there would be plenty and to spare, if the landlords throughout the country acted as Mr O'Reilly has dome towards his tenants.
Thank you for reading and please don't be shy about leaving a comment!
EPILOGUE
History gives a nation its bearing on what it is and how its people are affected by what has happened in the past.
Its kings and queens, its wars - with victories and defeats - these all mold a nation’s culture into the way it views itself in the present.
In the same way, a family history presents how a family has survived and come to terms with the great social and cultural experiences of the ages.
We hope these stories will give each member of our family a foundation and, in some small way, explain how we came to be what we are today.
Hopefully, through these vignettes, our future generations will gain a knowledge of the energy and dynamism, the loves and hates, the errors and mistakes, the victories and failures, the struggles and successes that make us what we are.
Our family history presents a fascinating read - and, hopefully, some lessons to be learned in the process.
