Chapter III

THE QUESTION OF THE IRISH LAND--SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE
LAND SYSTEM OF IRELAND TO THE YEAR 1870

Great importance in the history of Ireland of the conditions
of land tenure--The ancient Celtic land system and its
characteristics--The Norman conquest of Ireland--Norman
feudalism in the Irish land--The policy of Henry VII., and
especially of Henry VIII.--The era of the conquest and
confiscation of the Irish land--The possessions of the
O'Connors of Offaly wrested from them--Forfeiture of the
domains of Shane O'Neill, and of the Earl of Desmond--Attempts
at colonisation--All Ireland made shire land--The extinction
of the old Celtic land system--The Plantation of Ulster--
Progress of confiscation during the reigns of the two first
Stuarts--The Civil War--Immense confiscations made by
Cromwell--His scheme of colonisation a failure--The era of
confiscation closes after the battle of the Boyne and the fall
of Limerick--The Penal Code of Ireland--Its fatal effects on
the Irish land--Dismal period in Irish landed relations--
Gradual improvement--The period described by Arthur Young--
Evil traces of the past remain--Whiteboyism and agrarian
disorder--State of Irish landed relations up to the rebellion
of 1798, and after the Union--Over-population and the
results--Distress after the Peace--State of Irish landed
relations up to 1844--The Report of the Devon Commission--The
Famine and its effects on the Irish land--The Encumbered
Estates Acts--State of Irish landed relations from 1848 to
1868 84-129