Land Acts (Ireland)
The Land Acts (officially Land Law (Ireland) Acts)[1] 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
Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act 1870
Background
The British Prime Minister,
Policymakers made much use of the statistical data recently collated in Griffith's Valuation (1853–68).
Terms
- 1. The Ulster custom or any similar custom prevailing elsewhere, was given the force of law where it existed.
- 2. Tenants not enjoying this protection (the vast majority) gained increased security by:
- a) compensation for improvements made to a farm if they surrendered their lease (these had previously been accredited to the landlord, hence no incentive to the tenant);
- b) compensation for 'disturbance', i.e. damages, for tenants evicted for causes other than non-payment of rent.
- 3. The John Bright Clauses, which Gladstone accepted reluctantly, allowed tenants to borrow from the government two-thirds of the cost of buying their holding, at 5% interest repayable over 35 years, provided the landlord was willing to sell (no compulsory powers).
To prevent eviction by rack-renting, and so avoiding paying compensation to tenants, the Bill said that rents must not be "excessive", leaving this for the courts to define. But the House of Lords in a wrecking amendment substituted "exorbitant" in its place. This enabled landlords to raise rents above what tenants could pay, and then to evict them for non-payment without giving any compensation.
Consequences
However well-intentioned, the Act was at best irrelevant, at worst counter-productive. Fewer than 1,000 tenants took up the Bright Clauses, since the terms were beyond most tenants and many landlords did not wish to sell. Many substantial leasehold farmers, who had led the campaign for land reform, were excluded from the Act because their leases were longer than 31 years. Legal disputes over customary rights and "exorbitant" rents actually worsened landlord-tenant relations. Figures do not indicate any impact of the Act on the rate of eviction, which was anyway at a low level. In the late 1870s when depression struck, evictions for non-payment of rent mounted, tenants had no protection, and in reply 'outrages' and the campaign by the
Bessborough Commission
The "Report of her Majesty's Commissioners of Enquiry into the working of the
Agricultural depression
From 1873 to 1896, farmers in Britain and Ireland suffered the "Long Depression" with its lower prices. Grain from America was cheaper and better, and was exported to Europe in ever-increasing amounts. Meat could be sent in refrigerated ships from as far as New Zealand and Argentina. For many tenant farmers in Ireland this meant lower net incomes with which to pay the rents they had agreed. This impacted most on the poorer, wetter western parts of the island that also suffered from the 1879 famine. This provided the context and arguments for further legal reforms.
Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881
The
Despite a short-term reduction of rents (by about 20% by 1882) this act can generally be seen as economically ineffective. Instead of cutting costs or increasing productivity, Irish farmers increasingly turned to the Irish land courts to cut their rents and jack up their dwindling incomes. The land purchase element can be described as counterproductive because the conditions tenants now enjoyed under this Act gave them no incentive to buy, furthermore, some economic historians dispute the effectiveness of land purchase as a solution to the Irish land problem. Land purchase significantly reduced the amount of capital in Ireland that could have been invested to improve efficiency and competitiveness of Irish farms. Therefore, some headway is made towards lower rents but this is at the cost of lower rates of productivity growth in Irish farming. [citation needed]
Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act 1882 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 18 August 1882 |
The Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act 1882 (
The act was further amended by
Overview
The flawed economics that lay behind these acts exposes a political aim on Gladstone's part, to destroy the raison d'être of the Land League (following the recent Land War). Although the second Land Act ushered in a period of tentative calm, it became clear further reforms were necessary.
The act undermined the Land League by granting fair-rent control, fixity of tenure on leases, and freedom of sale: all to be overseen by the new government-sponsored Irish Land Commission. The 1881 act involved state participation in the redistribution of land-ownership. Because of attacks on landlords, the police and witnesses, the Protection of Persons and Property (Ireland) Act 1881 was passed, which added to the atmosphere of distrust of the authorities. An overview of the land war, the reforms and the effect of the Coercion Act was published in 1888 by the journalist WH Hurlbert, an Irish-American Catholic.[14]
A symbolic significance of these land acts are how far Gladstone had come from his starting point. Judicial control of rent levels and the establishment of many land courts was a change from Gladstone's policy of 'retrenchment' and his commitment to free markets.
An added consequence of the land acts was the gradual displacement of the
The pace for land law reforms quickened after the Representation of the People Act 1884, which gave a much greater number of votes to the Irish rural electorate.
Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885 (Ashbourne Land Act)
Continued
Land Law (Ireland) Act 1888 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 28 June 1888 |
The act was amended by the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1888 (
Land Law (Ireland) Act 1887 (Balfour)
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
---|---|
Dates | |
Royal assent | 23 August 1887 |
The Land Law (Ireland) Act 1887 (
Land Law (Ireland) Act 1896 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 14 August 1896 |
The act was amended by the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1896 (
Local government was introduced two years later under the revolutionary Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, which in turn contributed to the success of the United Irish League (UIL) in the 1900 general election, laying the foundation for a lasting solution in the land question.
Land Purchase (Ireland) Act 1903 (Wyndham Land Act)
Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
---|---|
Royal assent | 14 August 1903 |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Irish Land Act 1903 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
Under pressure from both government, UIL and IPP, the
It differed from earlier legislation which initially advanced to tenants the sum necessary to purchase their holdings, repayable over a period of years on terms determined by an independent commission, while the Wyndham Act finished off
The Acts provided Irish tenant farmers with more rights than tenant farmers in the rest of the United Kingdom. Munster tenants availed of land purchase in exceptionally high numbers, encouraged by their Irish Land and Labour Association's leader D. D. Sheehan after he and O'Brien established an Advisory Committee to mediate between landlords and tenants on purchase terms which produced a higher take-up of land purchase than in any other province.[22]
Historian
- A complete success. By the time the Irish Free State was created in 1922, the system of peasant proprietorship had become universal... A land problem more than a century old had been solved, though it had taken more than 30 years of educating Parliament and landlords to do it. The scheme was intended as well to "kill Home Rule by kindness".[23]
Labourers (Ireland) Act 1906
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
---|---|
Dates | |
Royal assent | 4 August 1906 |
Labourers (Ireland) Act 1911 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 18 August 1911 |
Labourers (Ireland) Act 1919 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 19 August 1919 |
Having largely settled the Irish land question, William O'Brien, convinced by the success of combining the "doctrine of conciliation" with "conference plus business", turned his attention in a Second Phase to the Irish Land and Labour Association's demands for the need to settle Irish labourers in the soil. His parliamentary engagement achieved the successful enactment of the unprecedented Labourers (Ireland) Act 1906 (
Local Government (Allotments and Land Cultivation) (Ireland) Act 1917 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 2 August 1917 |
To provide small parcels of land for people to grow their own vegetables and fruits, Parliament passed the Local Government (Allotments and Land Cultivation) (Ireland) Act 1917.
Irish Land (Provision for Sailors and Soldiers) Act 1919
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
---|---|
Dates | |
Royal assent | 23 December 1919 |
Following the
Free State Land Acts
On the formation of the
The Land Commission had bought up 13 million acres (53,000 km2) of farmland between 1885 and 1920 where the
From 1923, the amounts outstanding under earlier acts were paid to the British government as "land annuities", accruing in a Land Purchase Fund. This was fixed at £250,000 annually in 1925. In December 1925, W. T. Cosgrave lamented that there were already: "250,000 occupiers of uneconomic holdings, the holdings of such a valuation as did not permit of a decent livelihood for the owners".[29] Despite this, his government continued to subdivide larger landholdings, primarily to gain electoral support.
The Land Act 1933, passed on a vote of 70–39, allowed the Minister for Finance to divert the annuities for local government projects.
The Land Act 1965 was designed to stop speculative purchases of land by non-Irish persons. The
The commission ceased acquiring land in 1983; this signified the start of the end of the commission's reform of Irish land ownership, though freehold transfers of farmland still had to be signed off by the commission into the 1990s. The commission was dissolved on 31 March 1999, by the Irish Land Commission (Dissolution) Act 1992, and most of the remaining liabilities and assets were transferred to the Minister for Agriculture and Food.[32] Many relevant historical records are held by the National Archives of Ireland.
Ground rents
A "ground rent" is a nominal annual rent paid where a property is held under a long lease. Legislation has reformed ground rents alongside the agricultural land laws (see above). While most tenancy reform legislation was enacted for agricultural land, urban and suburban occupiers / tenants have been allowed to "buy out" their ground rents from landlords, and so effectively can change a long lease into a
Paying ground rents is still considered by some to be an unresolved part of Ireland's history as a part of the United Kingdom; the Irish Government itself pays ground rents for iconic public buildings, including Government Buildings, the Four Courts, Dublin Castle and the Botanic Gardens. While the individual cost of each is relatively small, given inflation, an estimated 250,000 ground rents still exist in Ireland, with the state annually paying for example to the Duke of Leinster for some buildings. Brian Hayes, Minister of State for the Office of Public Works in 2011, stated that a referendum would be required to put the practice to an end. Residents of Hayes' own constituency continue to be issued demands for payment, with many ignoring them, though given that outstanding liabilities of ground rent hinder residents' ability to sell their homes, about 1,600 applications per annum are made to buy out ground rents every year.[36]
Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009
After years of debate, the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 comprehensively reformed the law of conveyancing, mortgages, registration of and claims to title,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Land Act 1925 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Northern Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 28 May 1925 |
Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Northern Ireland Land Act 1925 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
Northern Ireland Land Act 1929 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Northern Ireland |
Status: Amended | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Northern Ireland Land Act 1929 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
Northern Ireland Land Purchase (Winding Up) Act 1935 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Territorial extent | Northern Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 6 June 1935 |
Other legislation | |
Amends | amended |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Northern Ireland Land Purchase (Winding Up) Act 1935 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The
Land Registration Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 | |
---|---|
Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to revise the law relating to the registration of the title to land; to extend the compulsory registration of the title to land; to repeal and re-enact with certain amendments the law relating to the registration of statutory charges; and for matters connected therewith. |
Citation | 1970 c. 18 (N.I.) |
Territorial extent | Northern Ireland |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 23 June 1970 |
Text of the Land Registration Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Parliament of Northern Ireland passed the Land Registration Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 (c. 18 (N.I.)).
See also
- Land reforms by country
- Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment (Ireland) Act 1860
- Assignment and Sub-letting of Land (Ireland) Act 1826
References
Primary sources
- Wikidata Q107712188
- Davitt, Michael (1882). . Glasgow: Cameron & Ferguson.
Bibliography
- Bew, Paul (1978). Land and the national question in Ireland 1858–82. Dublin.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Bew, Paul (1987). Conflict and conciliation in Ireland 1890–1910: Parnellities and radical agrarians. Oxford.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 9780198205555.
- ISBN 9781910820964.
- Campbell, Fergus (2002). "Irish popular politics and the making of the Wyndham Land Act, 1901–1903". S2CID 154867217.
- Cosgrove, Patrick John (2008). The Wyndham Land Act, 1903: The Final Solution To The Irish Land Question? (PhD). National University of Ireland, Maynooth. (with detailed bibliography}
- Cosgrove, Patrick John (February 2004). "The social dynamics of nationalist politics in the west of Ireland 1898-1918". .
- Cosgrove, Patrick John (2005). Land and revolution: Nationalist politics in the west of Ireland 1891-1921. Oxford.
- Cosgrove, Patrick John (2012). "The Controversy and Consequences of John Redmond's Estate Sale under the Wyndham Land Act, 1903". The Historical Journal. 55 (1): 75–96. S2CID 153694902.
- Donnelly Jr., James S. (2001). The decline of the Big House in Ireland. A study of Irish landed families 1860–1960. Dublin.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Ferriter, Diarmaid (2004). The Transformation of Ireland, 1900–2000. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-443-4.
- Dooley, Terence (2004). "Land and politics in independent Ireland, 1923–48: The case for reappraisal" (PDF). Irish Historical Studies. 34 (134): 175–197. S2CID 152989456.
- Gailey, Andrew (1987). Ireland and the death of kindness: The experience of constructive unionism 1890–1905. Cork.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Guinnane, Timothy W.; Miller, Ronald I. (1997). "The limits to land reform: the Land Acts in Ireland, 1870–1909" (PDF). Economic Development and Cultural Change. 45 (3): 591–612. S2CID 17477539.
- McDonnell, Michael F. J. (1908). Ireland and the Home Rule Movement.
Citations
- ^ The Short Titles Act 1896, section 2(1) and Schedule 2
- ^ a b Bew 2007, p. 568.
- ^ King 2009, p. 81.
- ^ Matthew, H.C.G. (1986). Gladstone 1809–1874. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 192.
- ^ "SELECT COMMITTEE MOVED FOR". Hansard. 12 June 1863. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ Friedrich Engels to Karl Marc (17 February 1870) reprinted in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Ireland and the Irish Question (PDF). New York: International Publishers. 1972. p. 401. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Lyons, F. S. L. (1985). Ireland Since the Famine.
- ^ McDonnell 1908, pp. 61–62.
- ISBN 0-7171-2520-3
- ^ Hickey & Doherty: Land Acts p.287
- ^ Hickey & Doherty: Land Acts p.287
- ^ Hickey & Doherty: Land Acts, pp.287–88
- ^ Hickey & Doherty: Land Acts p.288
- ^ Hurlbert 1888 vol.1 online Archived 4 July 2020 at the Wayback MachineHurlbert vol.2 Archived 12 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Perry Curtis paper, 2003". Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
- ISBN 0-7171-2520-3
- ^ Hickey & Doherty: Land Acts p.288
- ISBN 0-7171-0645-4.
- ^ King 2009, pp. 68–69.
- ^ Ferriter 2004, pp. 62–63, 159.
- ^ "Land Purchase Acts 1903+1909 encyclopedic definitions". Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ISBN 0-7171-2744-3.
- ^ Webb, R. K. (1968). Modern England from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. p. 430.
- ^ McKay, Enda (1992). "The Housing of the Working Classes 1883–1916". Saother. 17. Irish Labour History Society: 27–38.
- ^ Irish Land (Provision For Sailors and Soldiers) Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 6, c. 82 of 1919). Enacted on 23 December 1919. Act of the UK Parliament. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ Land Law (Commission) Act 1923 (No. 27 of 1923). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ISBN 0-7171-2744-3.
Note 238, p. 295: Joseph Sheehan, 'Killing Landlords by Kindness', paper read to conference of Irish Historical Students' Association, 1993. - ^ "PRIVATE BUSINESS. - TREATY (CONFIRMATION OF AMENDING AGREEMENT) BILL, 1925—SECOND STAGE (Resumed) – Dáil Éireann (4th Dáil) – Vol. 13 No. 17". Oireachtas. 10 December 1925. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "Public Business – Land (Purchase Annuities Fund) Bill, 1933—Final Stages – Dáil Éireann (8th Dáil) – Vol. 46 No. 8". Oireachtas. 16 March 1933. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ "8: Land Regulation | All about Land". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ Irish Land Commission (Dissolution) Act 1992 (No. 25 of 1992). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978 (No. 16 of 1978). Enacted on 28 June 1978. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 2005 (No. 7 of 2005). Enacted on 19 May 2005. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ Dudley Edwards, Ruth. "Still lookin' for Lucan, the conspiracy wonks". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
- ^ "State making ground rent payments on 53 properties". The Irish Times. 16 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "Property Registration Authority -". Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ http://www.mhc.ie/publications/item/127/land-and- [dead link]
- ^ Land And Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 (No. 27 of 2009). Enacted on 21 July 2009. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.