More on evictions in Lyreacrompane

Today I am continuing Kay O'Leary's heart rending stories of evictions in the 19th century.

In 1881 the agent for the Lyreacrompane landlord, John Hurly, was Lucy Anne Thompson. She was not satisfied with the rents the tenants were paying and she decided to increase them.

When the tenants refused to pay the increase they were ruthlessly thrown on the roadside and depended on their neighbours for shelter and support.

At a Land League meeting held in Duagh in 1881, Rev. B. Scanlon, President, informed the gathering that the bulk of tenantry on most of the properties in the parish were under ejectment or had proceedings against them for the recovery of rent. Rev. Scanlon also stated that “in every portion of the County where Ms. Thompson holds sway the unfortunate tenants were in the same sad conditions as they are in Lyre”. Fr. Scanlon was the National Convention delegate for the Duagh Land League. 



Some testimonies from the time are clear evidence of the difficulties tenants had in dealing with their landlords.

In March 1881 Julia Nolan wanted to assign her holding and cattle to her son John on the occasion of his marriage. The landlord objected. After the passing of the Land Law Ireland Act in 1881, she applied to have a fair rent fixed. The Landlord resisted the application on the ground that she had parted with possession. In February 1884 she executed a formal deed of assignment to her son John. He then applied to have a fair rent fixed. The Landlord again resisted.



In April 1881 Mr. W. Hartnett, sub-sheriff, accompanied by a force of police evicted Mary Gallivan, Knockanbrack. Mr. George Sandes was her Landlord. Mrs. Gallivan, a widow had gone to Mr. Sandes to get him to acknowledge her son, Michael, as the tenant of the farm. Mr. Sandes would not acknowledge a change of tenancy unless Michael Gallivan paid £200 and agree to an increase of £10 a year on the rent. The Gallivans were unable to meet the demand and Mr. Sandes had them evicted.



Denis Scanlon was a tenant on the Hurly Estate, which was been managed by Lucy Anne Thompson. In 1858 Denis Scanlon held his farm under Lady Locke before John Hurly purchased it at a yearly rent of £8. 5s. The Government valuation was £8 10s. Following the purchase of the estate by John Hurly, Denis Scanlon’s rent had been increased to £20 and Ms. Thompson was demanding a further increase of £5 per annum.



In June 1881 a large contingent of police, regiments of soldiers, cavalry, infantry, ambulance wagons etc. arrived in Listowel. This formidable army marched from Listowel to Carrigcannon (Lyreacrompane) putting terror into the inhabitants of the district, between. They soon arrived at Denis Scanlon’s house. They immediately asked him to abandon the home of his birth. This he refused and at once the law went into action. The bailiffs threw large stones against the door and eventually gained entry followed by the sheriff. Scanlon was dragged from his home, the home where his grandfather was born. His wife and six children were also thrown out of their home. A neighbour immediately gave them shelter.



More on this tomorrow

Evictions in Lyreacrompane

This week I'm going to share with you some research done by Kay O'Leary on a terrible time in Ireland's history, in particular the devastating effect the land war had in a small community in North Kerry;

Evictions and notices of evictions were the order of the day back in the 1880’s. Representatives of the law and the landlords marched through the land from end to end and thousands of families were left homeless. The emigrant ship took many to foreign shores but others resolutely refused to go while many of them lacked the means to pay for the voyage.

 All of this reign of terror was taken place even though Mr. Gladstone had introduced the Land Act, which, in his opinion, was to settle the land question in Ireland.



At this time the Land League was pointing out the desire of the Irish people to own their own land. For promoting this idea they were declared communists by the Tory Party.



In 1877 the number of families evicted in Kerry was 18. 


In 1881 – 192.

In 1883 – 403.

 In 1884 – 410.


Thirty-two thousand pounds – extra police tax was paid out for the County of Kerry between the years 1884 – 1887 while the population in the same period through evictions and emigration had decreased.



In 1883 the evictions in Kerry were more numerous than those of the rest of Ireland put together.

This was the era in which the moonlighters were most active but Kerry had not always been a county of rebellious fame. Going back ten years moonlighting was unheard of in the county.

 It was in this setting that evictions in Lyreacrompane took place.



Our newly elected president

We have elected a poet and orator as our ninth president. Go maire sé an céad!
Among all the acres of newsprint that will be covered today with profiles of him, I offer you this insight into the human heart of Uachtarán na hEireann. I hope the link works. It's Michael D. reading The Betrayal, a poem he wrote for his father .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko2DXuP_2EM

Listen out for all the resonances to the recent presidential campaign: old age, perks of the presidency, American citizenship, eyesight problems, family....

Halloween in Listowel

Everywhere you look in Listowel there are goblins, ghosts, witches and other halloween fare on display.

When I went out and about in town to do my Halloween photo shoot, I met Jim Halpin who kindly posed with his "doorman".

The boys school combined the gruesome and the funny in its themed window display.

Below is just a sample of what is to see in the shop windows

Mary McAleese in Listowel and some NKRO news

I took this photo in the marquee in the grounds of The Lartigue on the day President McAleese and her husband came to town to perform the official opening.  Do you recognise some well known faces in that crowd? I thought that it was fitting to include it today as we elect her successor.

Now some NKRO news.

We are very lucky to have on our committee a very talented graphic artist, Grace Kelly. She has designed this beautiful logo for us and you should be seeing lots more of it in the future.

The Advertiser  http://www.theadvertiser.ie/ has given us the opportunity to submit a weekly column so, starting next week, look out for news of our doings, some old photos and more old guff from me online and in print.

Date for the diary: Friday November 4 another session of music, raffles and craic, this time in The Harp and Lion in Church St. Listowel.

Coming soon, news of other music sessions in venues other than pubs and in places other than Listowel.

Halloween Ghouls and other Yolks

Today we are all out voting in the presidential election so there will be a good buzz in town. Voters making their way along Church St. will encounter this ghoul at Jimmy Halpin's door. Don't worry. He is harmless!

I took this photo on Convent Street this week. Looks like a sign of development. Good news surely.

Next week we will have http://www.listowelfoodfair.com/ Looks like a brilliant programme in store for us this year. This next is from this week's Kerryman.

Billy and Joe to yolk around at Food Fair

 Listowel publican Billy Keane will battle it out with Joe Murphy, Director of St John's Arts Centre Listowel in an Omelette Challenge at the Listowel Food Fair next week. Credit: Photo by Domnick  Walsh

October 26 2011

TWO of Listowel's best known hosts might have egg on their faces by the end of the Food Fair as Billy Keane goes head to head with Joe Murphy in a challenge to see who can cook an omelette the quickest.

It's all part of the Saturday Live Kitchen event modelled on the BBC cookery show and taking place on Saturday, November 5, in the Kerry Parent's and Friends' Association centre in Clieveragh at 2pm.

Most of the event, however, will feature three top professionals from the north Kerry food industry — Armel Whyte, from Allos, Marius Crifan from the Horseshoe Bar and Gemma Ryan from Ruairí's Bar in Tralee.

"It's shaping up to be a lot of fun indeed," Armel told The Kerryman. "We will be up against the clock making dishes and the audience will be in with a chance of tasting the food as well. I'm really looking forward to it even though it is not going to be easy by any means!"

"It's a great departure for the Food Fair, a festival that's hugely important to Listowel and north Kerry food. One of the most important things about the festival this year I think is in the fact it's programme is geared to all ages. It is amazing how interested children, in particular boys, are getting in cooking and baking and it is not simply seen as something for girls anymore among the younger male age group."

Kerry gastro pub of the year for the last two year's running, Allo's continues to win customers through its use of local ingredients — something the Food Fair will have in common as it promotes local producers.

"Our beef for instance is all sourced from within a ten-mile radius of Listowel and we pride ourselves on our contribution to the local economy in that regard."

In the Horseshoe, chef Marius Crifan is now gearing up for the Saturday afternoon showdown and cook-off. "This is going to be a lot of fun, believe me. I will be cooking two chicken dishes on the day, one in our special Horseshoe style. But I'm only going to have about twenty minutes I think in which to do them so I will have to be very organised!"

Saturday Live Kitchen will also give Marius a chance to flag a looming expansion for his business. " The Horseshoe will be expanding into next door soon and one of the dishes I am going to make will be from our new menu so I'm really looking forward to that too.

Decentralisation in reverse

From Radio Kerry website today;

25 Oct 2011

HSE centralising Kerry’s local dental clinics

The HSE is centralising Kerry's local dental clinics to the county's two main towns. The public dental clinics in Listowel and Dingle moved to Tralee yesterday, and Kenmare's will move to Killarney later this year or early in the New Year. Sinn Féin TD for Kerry North West Limerick Martin Ferris is criticising the decision, saying it's deeply disappointing. The HSE says it's closing the local dental clinics because of new standards for dental provision in terms of hygiene, infection control, and decontamination. Services previously provided in Listowel and Dingle moved to Tralee yesterday; while the Kenmare public dental clinic will move to Killarney later this year or early in the New Year. Deputy Ferris says it's deeply disappointing, and feels this will be a huge burden on people, particularly on parents of young children. He believes it may also force some parents to bring their children to private dental clinics, putting further financial pressure on them.

This seems like a retrograde step to me.