On local disturbances in Ireland; : and on the Irish Church question

Preface

Of the two subjects discussed in the following pages, the first respects an important element in the condition and character of the Irish peasantry, viz., their disposition to organized crime and disturbance, and the causes which have led to the existence of this disposition. On the general question of the state of the Irish poor, the Report of the Commission of Inquiry will doubtless furnish all the information to be desired ; but the connexion between crime and poverty in Ireland, and the true origin and objects of the disturbances which unhappily have been so prevalent in that country, are questions, allied indeed with the problem proposed to that Commission, but not necessarily forming a part of it.

Lest an inquiry of so much interest should remain unattempted, I have sought to collect all the information to which I had access on the subject of Irish disturbances, and to take a connected view of the whole ; with the purpose of ascertaining by what means

b2

IV PREFACE.

it may be possible to establish permanent tranquillity among the peasantry. This subject I have pursued with great detail through its different parts ; and although the explanation which results from it is only one element in the decision of the arduous problem of the expediency of a poor-law for Ireland, it is nevertheless an element of great importance, and one which involves the consideration of the characteristic evils in the condition of the agricultural labourers of that country.

With regard to the mode of treating the subject, it appeared to me that in a question so vexed with contradictory opinions, a bare appeal to evidence, to which the reader might not have the means of referring, would be iin>atisiaetory and inconclusive. I have therefore extracted at full length all the chief statements bearing on each point which I was able to find ; and although in so voluminous a mass of evidence, some te-timonies may have escaped me, I am not aware of any material fad which is not sufficiently illustrated bj the statements ol trustworthy witnesses.

The substance ol the remarks on the Irish Church question, which I have subjoined, has already appeared

as an article in the third number of the London Review.

The different questions relating to Ireland are so inti-

PREFACE. V

mately connected, that no apology is required for combining the discussion of these two subjects in the same volume. This connexion is especially perceptible in the present case; as not only the character of the measures themselves, but the order in which they are to be carried into effect is of paramount importance. The motives for a mal-administration of the poor's fund have been found to be sufficiently numerous in England ; but how much will the difficulty of a frugal and impartial distribution of relief be increased, if a sectarian spirit is superadded ; and if the cause of the Catholic pauper is zealously supported against the parsimony of the Protestant landlord and rate-payer ! If, therefore, the difficulty of administering an Irish Poor Law would be great under any circumstances, how much greater must it be while the Church question remains unsettled.

It is earnestly to be desired that no impatience of interest, or of party zeal, should precipitate the decision of the various Irish questions which must shortly occupy the attention of the Legislature. Events have now reached a crisis, at which one false step might never be retrieved. Ireland is still as clay under the potter's hand : the elements of society in that country are still floating in chaos, and await the hand of power to fix and fashion

Vi PKEFACE.

them. In England and Scotland the form of society is so firmly established, that if we consider large periods of time, little seems to depend on the individual character or acts of the persons who may, for the time being, stand at the head of affairs ; and its advances are gained by its own slow but steady efforts. But it is otherwise in Ireland. Improvement and civilization must there descend from above ; they will not rise spontaneously from the inward workings of the community. Hence it is above all things to be hoped, that those who may now be said to hold in their hands the destinies of that important country, will take a connected view of its entire condition ; that they will deliberately frame a consistent scheme of policy with reference not to present exigencies, but to the future welfare of Ireland, and its relations to this country ; that they will seek to guide events, not to wait upon them ; that they will not falter at this trying moment; and that thus they may happily follow up the great work which has been too long postponed, of raising the Catholic population of Ireland to a level with the inhabitants of Great Britain, not only in political rights, l>ul also in wealth and civilization.

Contents

IRISH DISTURBANCES.

Introduction .

Chapter I. — History of Irish Local Disturbances from 1760 to the present day. The Whiteboys or Levellers, in 1761

The Rightboys, in 1785

TheOakboys, in 1764

The Steelboys, in 1772

Peep o' Day Boys, and Defenders, in 1785

Orangemen and Ribbonmen

Rebellion of 1798

The Thrashers of 1806

Disturbances since 1806

Page

19 33 35 36 37 39 40 43

Chapter II. — Causes of Disturbances in Ireland. Policy of England towards Ireland . . 46

Relation of Landlord and Tenant in Ireland . 48

Character of the Irish Landlords . . 54

State of the Irish Peasantry ... 54 Increase of the Agricultural Population, and want of

Employment . . . . 57

Poverty of the Peasantry, the cause of the Disturbances 58 viii CONTENTS.

Page

Necessity of Lund to the Maintenance of the Irish

Peasant .... 78

Ejectment of Tenants ... 79

Consequences of the Ejectment of Tenants . 80

Constant tendency to Disturbance . . 87

Connexion between Poverty and Turbulence . 88

Chapter III. — Character and Objects of Irish Disturbances

Division of Crimes according to their Effects . 94 Difference between the Crimes of Ireland and those

of other countries ... 96 The Whiteboy Association, intended to regulate the

dealings between Landlord and Tenant . 99 Chief objects of Whiteboy Crimes, to protect the Tenant in Possession, and to prevent the employment of Strangers . . . .102

Connexion of Whiteboyism with Religion . 123

Connexion of Whiteboyism with Ribbonism . 155 Ribbon and Whiteboy Oaths . . .163

Connexion of Whiteboyism and Political agitation . 174

Chapter IV. — Means employed in Irish Disturbances. Description of persons by whom the Whiteboy crimes

are committed . . . .179

Preparatory arrangements for the commission of a

Whiteboy crime . . . 190

Intimidation of accomplices by the Whiteboy leaders 193

Swearing Id of the Peasantry . . 194

Liability of the Peasantry to intimidation . 201 Influence of the Priests in checking the spread of

Wliltrbnyism .... 203

Rapid tranemieeion of Intelligence . . 208

Robbery oi Armi .... 210

P MMMH of ATOM by the Peasantry . . 213

CONTENTS. ix

Page

Serving of threatening Notices . . 219

Persons who commit the Crime come from a distance 223

Nature of the Whiteboy Crimes . . 225

State of a disturbed District . . . 227

General feeling of insecurity . . . 232

Characteristics of the Whiteboy Crimes . . 233 Complete Intimidation during the prevalence of the

Whiteboy Disturbances . • . 236 Classes of Persons against whom the Whiteboy offences are directed . . . 238 Persons not engaged in dealings with Land are spared 244 Demoralization produced by the Continuance of

Whiteboy Disturbances . . . 249

Hatred of the Law among the Peasantry . 250

Intimidation of Prosecutors . . . 257

Protection of Witnesses by the Government . 269

Collection of Funds to pay for the defence of Prisoners 275

Continual influence of the Whiteboy System . 278

Factions ..... 279 General Character of the Factions among the Irish

Peasantry . . . 280

Encouragement of Factions by the Magistracy . 289

Connexion of Factions with Whiteboyism . 294

Abduction of Unmarried Women . 295

Chapter V. — Effects of Irish Disturbances

Alienation of the Upper and Lower Classes . 298 Cruelty of the Peasantry . . . 299 Liability of the Whiteboy System to pass into Insurrection ..... 302 Destruction of Property produced by the Whiteboy

Sufferings of the well-disposed part of the Population 303

Dread of Detection at the Cessation of Disturbances 304

General Character of Whiteboyism . . 306 x CONTENTS.

Chapter VI. — Suggest io?is of a Remedy for Irish Disturbances

PaSe Impossibility of suppressing Whiteboyism by punishment ..... 308 Mode in which the Irish destitute Poor are maintained 309 Classes of Mendicants . . . 310 Irregularity of Employment, not the low Rate of Wages, the Cause of the destitute state of the Irish Labourer . . . . 311 The Irregularity of Employment makes Land a necessary of Life . • . . 312 Transition from Villenage to the state of an Independent Labourer . . . . 313 This Transition not effected in Ireland . . 318 Difficulty of passing from the Cottier to the Labourer

state in Ireland . . . .319

Inability of the Landlords to effect the Change . 320

The Change can only be effected by a Legal Provision for the Poor . . . .321 General Objections to the Principle of a Poor Law 321 Its countervailing Advantages . . . 322 Theoretical Objections, good in themselves, but outweighed by the peculiar circumstances of Ireland 323 Possibility of making a sudden change in the turbulent disposition of the Irish Peasantry . 324 Necessity of administering Relief in Ireland by means

of Workhouses .... 328

Objections to Workhouses : 1. That they do not provide Employment for the People . . 329 2. l.\|»iiiMV(])i>> of Workhouses . . 330 'J. Prejudice of the Irish Poor against Workhouses 330 4. Liability of Workhouses to be burnt . 331 Operation of a Poor La* to be assisted by Colonization 332 Insufficiency of other measures to alia y Disturbances in Ireland: I. Settlement of Church Question. 2. Education, 3 Repeal of the Union . . 335

CONTENTS. xi

IRISH CHURCH QUESTION.

Page Irish Church Question . . . 341

Religious Census of Ireland . . . 342

Geographical distribution of the different persuasions 343

Disproportionate increase of Protestants and Catholics 345

System pursued by the State with respect to the different persuasions . . . 349 Evils of this system — 1st. No provision for the Catholics . . . .351 2nd. Provision for the Protestants too large 352 Connexion between Church and State • . 359 Civil and Religious motives for establishing this connexion .... 360 Evils accruing to the State from its connexion with a

Religious bigotry caused by the interference of Government . . . .367 Evils accruing to a Church from its connexion with

the State .... 372

The State ought not to decide on forms of religious

Difference between Establishment, Endowment, and

the Voluntary system . . . 379

Plan recommended for Ireland, to endow the Clergy

of all persuasions . . . 381

Objections to this plan considered . . 382

Temporal advantages of Protestantism and Catholicism compared . . . 386 Mode of carrying this plan into effect . 391 Evils produced in Ireland by the maintenance of the Roman Catholic Church on the voluntary principle .... 394 Evils falsely imputed to the voluntary principle . 394 Advantages falsely imputed to the voluntary principle 399 Real objection to the voluntary principle . 400 xii CONTENTS.

Page Inapplicability of the voluntary principle in Ireland,

on account of the poverty of the Catholics . 408 Difficulty of providing accommodation for the worship of Roman Catholics in Ireland . . 309 Defective state of the Roman Catholic Chapels . 410 State Provision for the Roman Catholic Clergy of

Ireland recommended . . . 424

Advantages of the measure . . . 425

Mode of carrying it into effect . . . 428

Note (A.) On the Poverty of the Irish Peasantry in the

18th Century . . . 435

Note (B.) Statistical Account of the Crimes of Ireland

Note(C.) On the state of the Scotch Peasantry in the

first half of the 18th Century . . 446

Note (D.) On the Absenteeism of Irish Landlords before

the Union . . . .451

Note (E.) On the Emigration of the Irish Protestants 454

ERRATA.

Page 37 line 9, far bodies read body.

Page 1.49 line 9, for exclusively read almost exclusively.

Page -7'J line IS, fur the rarely read the more rarely.

IRISH DISTURBANCES.

Introduction

For the last seventy years Ireland has been the scene of constantly recurring disturbances ; sometimes consisting only of the murder of a few persons, or the burning of a few houses, and sometimes rising to general insurrection. Successive governments have apparently exhausted every means in their power to suppress the evil, but without success. The statutebook has been loaded with the severest laws; the country has been covered with military and police ; capital punishment has been unsparingly inflicted ; Australia has been crowded with transported convicts ; and all to no purpose. Committees and Commissions have collected piles of evidence ; the most various plans of policy have been recommended by different persons ; some have attributed the turbulence of the inferior Irish to their inherent barbarism ; some to their religion ; some to their hatred of England ; some to their poverty ; some to their want of education. Much new legislation has been tried, and in vain : in a large part of Ireland there is still less security of person and property than in any other part of Europe, except perhaps the wildest districts of Calabria or Greece : and there are persons who altogether despair of establishing permanent tranquillity in Ireland, and who think that it is an exception to all the ordinary rules of government. Such reasoners sometimes even push their political fatalism so far as to conceive that there is an innate and indelible tendency in the Irish to disturbance and outrage ; that Ireland has been cut off by nature

2 INTRODUCTION.

from the rest of the civilized world, and been foredoomed to a state of endless disorder ; so desponding, indeed, is their language, that they almost seem to view the Irish people in the same light as Don Juan d'Aguila, the Spanish commander, who (as we are told by Lord Bacon) after the battle of Kinsale, "said in open treaty, that when the Devil upon the mount did show Christ all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them, he did not doubt but the Devil left out Ireland, and kept it for himself*."

At a time when many questions affecting the welfare of Ireland are under public discussion, and are likely soon to occupy a large portion of the attention of the legislature, it seems desirable that some attempt should be made to ascertain the true causes and nature of the disturbances in question ; and to discover whether there is anything so extraordinary in the character of the poorer classes in Ireland as to bid defiance to the best established rules of legislation ; or whether the appearances alluded to may not be explained without supposing any deviation from the general course of human nature.

With this view, I propose, in the first place, to trace the history of the various local disturbances which prevailed in Ireland in the latter half of the last century (so far as the imperfect accounts of them given by contemporary writers will permit), and next, fully to explain, by means of evidence taken by several parliamentary committees, the nature of these disturbances, which have continued, with partial interruptions, but unaltered character, from about the accession of Geo. III. {o the present day.

■ war with Spain : Bacon's Works, vol. v. p. 276.— Ed. Montagu

Chapter I. History Of Irish Local Disturbances From 17g0 To The Present Day

By the settlement of Ireland after the revolution of 1688, the poAver of the new government was so firmly established, that no combined movement took place in favour of the ancient dynasty, not even during the Scottish rebellions of 1715 and 1745*. The system

; The feeling so long and so ardently entertained by the Jacobites of Scotland in favour of the family of their former princes, did not prevail in Ireland to anything like an equal extent, notwithstanding the large numbers of Catholics in the latter country. " As to the Pretender (says Swift» in his 7th Drapiers Letter, written soon after 1 724) his cause is both desperate and obsolete. - There are very few now alive who were men in his fathers time, and in that prince's interest ; and in all others the obligation of conscience has no place. Even the papists in general, of any substance or estate, and their priests, almost universally are what we call Whigs, in the sense which by that word is generally understood." Vol. vii. p. 46. ed. Scott.

"It is notorious (says Plowden, Hist. Review, vol. i. p. 336), that when Murray, the Pretenders secretary, gave up all the letters and papers relative to the last rebellion in Scotland, a scheme which had been planning and contriving for seven years before, it plainly appeared that the Jacobite party had no dependence upon, or connexion or correspondence with, any Roman Catholic in Ireland ; the very name of that kingdom not having been once mentioned throughout the whole correspondence."

Dr. Campbell, in his Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland, published in 1777, speaking of the common people of Athlone, says, " Curious to learn their sentiments as well as manners, I have entered into conversation with them as often as possible, and I could not find them so much attached to the house of Stuart as I apprehended. They have frequently spoke of James II. with indignation. He called the Irish cowards; and said that all was lost through their fault at the battle of the Boyne : this they have not forgot, and do not fail to recriminate ; they brand him with a name the most opprobrious in their language, and expressive of the most dastardly cowardice. Some of them have said to

B 2 of Irish government, adopted in order to further the Protestant and English interest, and the severe penal code against the Catholics, though unsuccessful in converting the natives to the reformed faith, nevertheless so coerced the mass of the people, as to prevent any open insurrection. By degrees, however, as population increased, the closer contact of the miserable peasantry led them to form local and limited combinations, for the purpose of shaking off those burdens which pressed most heavily upon them, but which, when thinly scattered over the face of the country, they could not hope successfully to resist*. The first of the risings which originated in this new state of things, and which had little or nothing in common with the previous troubles in Ireland, (such as the great rebellion of 1641,) was that of the JVliiteboys, or Levellers, in 1761. These insurgents were so called, because they wore white shirts over their clothes, as a badge of their union, and because one of their principal objects was the levelling of the fences of newly-inclosed waste land. The immediate cause of their rising is stated as follows bv Dr. Curry, the earliest and best informed writer on the subject :—

in". ' We expect little good from any of the race of Sheemas-a-cacca<r/i"' P. 27 \. See also Curry's Review of the Civil Wars in Ireland, vol. ii. p. \ 260. On the tranquillity of Ireland about the middle of the eighteenth eentarr, we B pamphlet by Dr. Lucas, entitled M A short but true History oftb R . Progress, and bapp) Suppression of several late [nsurrec-

mmonlj called Rebellions, in Ireland." Reprinted. Dublin, 1 700.

Ii appears, from accounts which cannot be very wide of the truth, thai th«- Dumber of Catholics in Ireland, in 1733, was less than ■ million and a halt. Sec Edinburgh Review, No. 124, p. 514. Towards i 7«)0, the population of Ireland was about four millions; of which about three mill I itholicf. London Review, No. 3, p. 230. In 1834 the

Dumber ol < itholici in [reland was 6,427,712, as returned by the Com mission* rsoi Public Instruction Ii baa therefore more than quadrupled

llllllN

" About this time great tumults had been raised, and some outrages committed in different parts of Munster, by cottiers and others of the lowest class of its inhabitants, occasioned by the tyranny and rapacity of their landlords. These landlords had set their lands to cottiers far above their value, and, to lighten their burden, had allowed commonage to their tenants. Afterwards, in despite of all equity, contrary to all compacts, the landlords inclosed those commons*, and precluded their unhappy tenants from the only means of making their bargains tolerable. Another cause of these people's discontents was the cruel exactions of tithe-mongers; these harpies squeezed out the very vitals of the people, and by process, citation, and sequestration, dragged from them the little which the landlord had left them. These are the real causes of the late tumults in Munster, and it may be safely affirmed that there is no nation that has not had tumults from such or the like causes, without religion coming into questionf ."

A letter from a gentleman in Youghall to his son in London (printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1762), likewise states, that the Whiteboys " all along pretended that their assembling was to do justice to the poor, by restoring the ancient commons and redressing other grievances J."

* By commons is here doubtless meant merely waste land. If there had been a right of commonage over these wastes, and they had not been private property, the landlords would have been unable to inclose them without the consent of the commoners.

•»• Dr. Curry's State of the Catholics of Ireland, in his Review of the Civil Wars in Ireland, vol. ii. pp. 271-2, (London, 1786). Dr. Curry was the author of an anonymous pamphlet, published in 1766, entitled, " A candid Enquiry into the Causes and Motives of the late Riots in Munster ; together with a brief Narrative of the Proceedings against the Rioters, in a Letter to a Noble Lord in England," which he in part repeats in the extract given in the text. See the Preface to his Review, p. iv., and for the high opinion of this tract entertained by impartial persons, see O'Conor's History of the Irish Catholics, Part I., p. 318-9.

% This statement occurs in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xxxii., in " A succinct Account of a Set of Miscreants in the Counties of Waterford, Cork, Limerick, and Tippcrary, called Bougheleen Bawins (t. e.

G HISTORY OF IRISH DISTURBANCES

The following letter from Mr. O'Conor to Dr. Curry, dated 4th June, 1702, and therefore written soon after

Whit Being an Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman residing

in Youghall to his Son in London." The following is a further extract from this authentic account of the proceedings of the early Whiteboys: — 4' Their first rise was in October last [1761], and they have ever since been increasing : they then, and all along, pretended that their assembling was to do justice to the poor, by restoring the ancient commons and redressing other grievances; for which purpose they always assemble in the night with their shirts over their clothes, which caused them to be called White Boys. Their number in the county of Waterford is computed at 600 or 700. They have done infinite damage in the county, levelling ditches and stone-walls, rooting up orchards, &.e. On the 11th ult. [March, 1762], 1 saw several ditches they had levelled, part of an orchard destroyed, and two graves they had dug on the road between Clonmel and Cappoquin; the graves were to hold those that did not comply with their orders. Some time before this, they came by night into the town (a large village) of Cappoquin, where is a horse-barrack, drew up in the green near the barrack, fired several shots, marched by

sentry with their piper, playing the Lad with the White Cockade. The 13th, 1 saw a bier near Affane Church, which they had carried [caused ?] two days before to be made, to carry people alive, and bury them in those graves. An esquire at Cappoquin, when a bachelor, agreed with a peasant for the use of his daughter, for which he passed the peasant Ins bond for 100/. : but on the esquire's entering the matrimonial state, he was compelled to take up his bond. They wrote to the

int to refund the money, upon pain of having his tongue drawn through hia under-jaw, and fastened with a skewer. On the 14th they

mbled nt Lismore (between Cappoquin and Tallow), posted an advei tisement on the door of the post-office, requiring the inhabitants to have their houses illuminated, and a certain number of horses bridled and saddled, ready for them to mount against next night; which was complied with. On the night of the 10th they mounted, went to Tallow Bridge (near Tallow ), where they Levelled the ditches of several fine parks, and cut down a number of full-grown ash-trees (knee high) ; they

then led to Tallow : the horse inarched to the West Bridge, where

the commander called out, Halt, to the rightabout, and then proceeded

mt • tie- market -place in a smart trot. They broke open the Marshalsea,

<"• debtors; sent an advertisement to the justice, to lower

the | Q| one half; which he tamely complied with, though

ind a half of dragoons were quartered ven near him. On the

■ me to the l-Vrn point Opposite this town, levelled the ditches lite the hack window Of m\ parlour, and a mnsket-

Ihetown: thej made a large Are, dug a g nd erect

gall • -n reral shots, and al each discharge huzza'd ;

the first outbreak of these disturbances, gives a perfectly similar account : —

11 In relation to the disorders of the poor in Mnnster (he says), I assured him (Dr. Warner) that they proceeded from the throwing of that province, like Connaught and Leinster, into pasture-inclosures, which excluded these poor and reduced them into a state of desperation, and into that rage which despair on such occasions will dictate. I told him that the whole proceeded from laws which leave the better sort of our people no occupation in the inland counties but pasturage alone ; agriculture being virtually forbid on account of the shortness of their tenures. That in such a state papists worry papists, the rich excluding the poorer sort to make room for flocks and herds, which are easily converted into ready money and find a ready market*/'

Arthur Young, in his description of the early Whiteboys, exactly agrees with these accounts ; as he states that " they began in Tipperary, and were owing to some inclosures of commons which they threw down, levelling the ditches; and were first known' by the name of Levellers j" ."

A more detailed statement of the causes of the Whiteboy risings in 1762, but precisely agreeing with the accounts just quoted, is given by Crawford, in his History of Ireland, published in 1783. After having

sent several audacious letters to the inhabitants of this town, threatening to pull down several houses, particularly a handsome house at a small distance, which they said was built upon the waste. . . . The 29th, the ditches of Tirkelling and Ballydaniel, near Tallow, were levelled : 500 men in a day could not repair the damage." — Pp. 182-3.

* O'Conor's History of the Irish Catholics, part I. pp. 287-8. On the extent of pasturage in Ireland during the last century, see Newenham's Inquiry into the Population of Ireland, pp. 44 — 57.

t Pago 7~). — Arthur Young may be considered as an original authority on tin-, subject, inasmuch as he travelled in the South of Ireland in 1776, and collected his information on the spot.

mentioned that there had been for several years preceding 1701 a murrain amongst horned cattle in England, whither it had spread from Germany and Holland, he proceeds to say —

" From this cause a foreign demand for butter and beef became uncommonly great. In proportion these articles rose in value, until at last they grew to an immoderate price. Hence ground appropriated to grazing was more valuable than that under tillage. Cottiers being tenants at will were e\er\ where dispossessed of their little holdings, which, in considerable tracts, were set by the landlords to monopolizers *, who, by feeding cattle, were enabled to pay them a higher rent. In this manner even whole baronies were laid open to pasturage. Pressed by want of subsistence, numbers of the poor lied to large cities, or emigrated to foreign countriesf . Those who remained took small spots of land consisting of about an acre each, at an exorbitant price, [from] which they laboured to procure, if possible, the means of support for themselves and their miserable families. To lessen somewhat the burdens by which they were oppressed, some of their landlorda granted them the liberty of commonage. The relief was but temporary, for sometime after, in breach of justice and positive compact, they were deprived of this privilege. Tithes, and the small price given for labour, which, notwithstanding the increased price of necessaries, did not exceed the wages given in the days of Elizabeth, were circumstances which aggravated their distresses. As the calamities of these unhappy creatures arose principally from the extravagant price of land, a Dumber of them, either ignorant or incapable of the

Plowden, Hist. Review, vol L i>. :!.'S7, state* that the early Whiteboj i called these monopolizer! land pirates. Land shark is a word now used m nil a limilai tense in Ireland.

t Th«' cumber of those who emigrated was probably very inooDsidersble. The Catholic peasantr) of the South were too poor to raise the