After the great famine from 1845 to 1851 Ireland found itself socially, emotionally, and economically drained. The country had two overwhelming concerns: the struggle of farmers to secure what financial holding they had and the struggle for some form of independence from Britain. These played out both through the legitimacy of government and through the desperation of revolution. More specifically, the governmental movements can be studied in two distinct parts: Gavan Duffy's Irish Tenant League of the 1850's and Isaac Butt's home rule movement of the '70's. Likewise, the revolutionary movements can as well be studied more specifically by looking at the occasional violent uprisings of farmers' secret societies and, more closely, by examining the Fenian movement of the 1860's. While neither group--those concerned with farmer's rights and those seeking independence--were effective separately, both sides came together in 1879 with a common focus: to gain due recognition from British Parliament. Two successes came from this union of forces. First were the Land Wars of 1879-1882, and second was the acknowledgment by the British liberal party of the need for self-government within Ireland.
Directly resulting from the famine, Ireland's populations suffered an immediate death count of approximately two million, yet during the two decades surrounding the famine the total populous was cut in half due to the consequential emigration to both Britain and the United States. (Kee 258) But, the number of inhabitants wasn't the only thing to decrease as a result of the starvation. The once strong opposition to British rule of Ireland emerged dramatically weakened, as well; Ireland divided herself on the issue of union with Britain. The Nationalist, while still holding the majority, were in no way producing a strong push to separate. The Unionists on the other hand, primarily those Protestants of the north-eastern region of the island, were enjoying a tremendous boost in an industrial revolution. Happy and secure with their lives financially, they supported their economic mother-land.
The first noticeable movement to lift up the national spirit following the great famine came in 1850 with the formation of the Irish Tenant League (I.T.L.). The League's central focus was to establish an independent party within Parliament whose focus, in turn, would be on Irish tenant farmers and the 3 F's:
As the I.T.L. floundered and faded away, a new push was felt. In 1858 the Fenians, also known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.), was founded in both Dublin and New York. This group of radical nationalists clearly supported the Irish quest for independence, but they went further to claim that Britain would not listen unless struck by violence. They believed the fulfillment of this dream for independence should be the only focus. Thus, anything else, such as the land reforms of the Irish Tenant League, only detracted from this point. Interestingly, though, the I.R.B. recruited heavily from the laboring class, primarily farmers. Because of this dependence upon the workers and their seeking of some form of common good, the I.R.B. has often suffered the label of Communist. An important distinction to be made, though, is that the I.R.B.'s concerns were purely nationalistic, not socially based. The Brotherhood grew tremendously during the mid 1860's. Due in large part to its foundation in New York, many U.S. military officers/sympathizers following the American Civil War moved to Ireland to support the movement.
As the I.R.B. continued to grow and as a direct result of the I.R.B.'s movement, a British statesman named W.E. Gladstone turned sympathetic to the Irish struggle. Among his other achievements, Gladstone produced the Land Act of 1870 to address the issue of the tenant/landlord relations. Though the act proved ineffective for its actual purpose, it marked a significant step for Ireland, for it was the first time that British Parliament had sided with the farmers.
While Gladstone was constructing his reforms, a man named Isaac Butt turned his focus to the topic of gaining Irish independence form Britain. In 1870, he started what came to be known as the home rule movement. Butt's objective was to create a sort of Irish Parliament lesser to that of Britain's but still accountable for and with authority to act upon domestic issues. By this point, many of the radical nationalists of the I.R.B. had grown tired of not seeing progress and decided to support the conservative push.
By 1878 these movements had gained well established supporters, but Ireland as a whole suffered:
As the combined result of falling prices, crop failures, and exceptionally wet weather, a multitude of small farmers were facing bankruptcy, starvation, and eviction. Here was a crisis that dwarfed in importance all immediate political considerations. (Moody 285)To address this problem a man named Michael Davitt founded the Irish National Land League with the basic goal of bringing together every independent political force in Ireland that sought either reforms for the farmers or an escape from the British repression. It worked. Financial assistance came from Clan na Gael, the I.R.B.'s branch in the United States. The strong arm of violence was provided by some of the Fenians more militant members. The Irish National Land League had everything it needed to make its voice heard by Britain. But, to be heard, it must first scream:
[T]he league's essential task was to organise resistance to the landlords for the immediate purpose of preventing eviction and securing a reduction in rents, and for the ultimate purpose of transforming the tenant farmers into owners of their holdings. (Moody 286)
As a result of this aggressive stance, the members of the Irish National Land League began the Land War of 1879-1882. They supported one another emotionally, economically, and, if need be, physically. Evictions were met with large, organized protest against the landlord. Supporters of the landlords suffered crippling boycotts. Jailed I.N.L.L. members took comfort in the knowledge that their families were cared for and protected.
The entire Land War movement was significant enough to grasp the attention of British Parliament. British Statesmen became convinced that the then current landlord system brought no good to Ireland, and they called for change. Answering that call was again the influential Gladstone. He tried to pass another land act concerning the 3 F's from years ago, the Land Act of 1881. Again it failed but was still successful in drawing much needed attention.
The Land War wasn't purely agrarian, though, it was a nationalist movement, as well. The Land League symbolically switched titles to the National League, and the tenacious Gladstone passed another bill in 1886. This too was unsuccessful at securing a lesser Irish Parliament, but it did draw in countless supporters and, eventually, numerous frustrated Unionists over the next decade while Ireland continued her push for independence.
The desperation of the mid century famine forcing the farmers into action couple with the burning desire for independence from British rule initiated the most powerful, wide-scale political movement in Irish history. Feeling no choice but to fight, this great push for civil justice came to a head in the Land Wars of 1879. At this, Britain could no longer turn a deaf ear and pretend life was stable in Ireland. Change was needed and change was obtained. By 1880 the citizens of Ireland were filled with a deep sense of strength within one another, and it was ultimately this strength that carried the people to complete revolution in thirty five years, one generation later--the generation that would be free.
Boyce, D. George. Nationalism in Ireland. New York: Routledge, 1991
Garvin, Tom. Nationalist Revolutionaries in Ireland, 1858-1928. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987
Kee, Robert. The Green Flag. New York: Delacorte Press, 1972
Mansergh, Nicholas. The Irish Question, 1840-1921. Buffalo: Univerity of Toronto Press, 1975
Moody, T.W. and F.X. Martin, eds. The Course of Irish History. Niwot, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1994