1881 AD

1881 AD The population in Ireland was now at 5,174,836  being made up of 3,951,818 who were the Catholic majority, mostly tenant farmers and peasantry, with the Ascendancy Episcopalian Church of England / Ireland adherents amounting to 639,574 being mostly made up of the wealthier and official class and among the other Dissenters / non - Conformists were the Presbyterians who numbered 485,503 who were situated mainly in the central and the north - east of the Ulster Province, with the balance of the population mainly made up of Methodists, Congregationalists and Baptists. 

   From 1881 AD - 1891 AD the Encumbered Estates Act and various Land Acts were to be introduced to assist the Land Lords who were in great financial trouble in Ireland, and to try and return the land in Ireland back to the population in Ireland to finally bring an end to the rural troubles and dissension that had existed for Centuries under the English and British Governments.   

January:  Once again the British Imperial Government still plagued by Conservatism took a negative approach to the problems occurring in Ireland, when at the new session of the Westminster Parliament in England they introduced another Irish Coercion Bill to suspend the Habeus Corpus Act in Ireland to which Charles Stewart - Parnell the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party was violently opposed and the debate over this particular negative Bill was to last for 46 hours until the British Liberal Government Speaker eventually closed the session to bring it to a halt and once again this was to only further increase the unrest in rural Ireland. To make matters worse William Forster the British Chief Secretary was to carry out this further Irish Coercion Act with great severity on the Irish population, which then further added to the ongoing chaos that was still occurring in Ireland.

     The Irish Home Rule Party / Irish Parliamentary Party  was now in a strong position under the leadership of Charles Stewart - Parnell, and with the extension of the franchise (the right to vote) were getting even stronger and William Gladstone the British Liberal Prime Minister agreed to appoint a new committee to examine the relations between the Land Lords and the tenant farmers under the provisions of the Irish Land Bill that had been previously enacted in 1870 AD and although there had been an earlier commission already appointed by the previous Conservative Government it still had not made it's report and the Irish M.P.'s had convinced William Gladstone that something had to be done immediately. There was a great need now to protect the tenant farmers in Ireland who were in arrears already through no fault of their own, otherwise they too would be evicted without compensation, but unfortunately the measures of relief to the tenant farmers that were put forward were dropped after being defeated once again by the veto of the unelected Conservative controlled House of Lords, and immediately there was a corresponding increase in the disturbances again in the rural areas. This further rebuttal by the Conservative controlled and unelected House of Lords in England convinced the Irish Land League that they would have to push onve again for much more radical reforms. The two parallel Royal Commissions previously set up to inquire into the actual relations between the Land Lords who had their Estates in Ireland and their tenant farmers on these Estates in Ireland, reported back to the William Gladstone and the Liberal Government and it was no co -incidence that both Royal Commissions had agreed that the power of the Land Lords, who had their Estates in Ireland over the tenant farmers in Ireland, should be curtailed much more then what had been allowed under the previous 1870 AD Irish Land Bill.

April 2nd: Joseph Corcoran and Brian Flannery were shot dead by the Dublin Castle's R.I.C police under Sergeant Armstrong, while further evictions were being carried out on tenant farmers near Loch Gara,  in Co. Sligo - Co. Roscommon in the north - west of the Connacht Province, who was then lynched by the other tenant farmers who were present and upset among the crowd and because of these terrible fatalities, Timothy Healy was able to secure the Healy Clause in William Gladstone's 2nd Irish Land Act, which was a Bill to reform the dreadful land system that was still being allowed to operate in Ireland, which was in reality actually only an extension to the 1st Irish Land Act that had been meant to ensure that improvements carried out by the tenants did not mean further rent increases for the tenants. The result of all of this was to be known as the 3 Fs (being Fair Rent by arbitration), Free Sale, (enabling the tenant to sell his right of occupancy for the best market price) and Fixity of Tenure, when the rent was paid. These measures had previously only been available to the Ulster Province non - Catholic tenants before, but it had now been also accepted that the other Irish tenantf armers really had an interest in their tenanted land, and finally it passed both Houses in the Westminster Parliament. (Despite this many among the Conservative Liberals themselves would not wear it, including the Duke of Argyll, who also resigned from William Gladstone's ministry in protest, but Gladstone's common sense as a Statesman had once again won the day.

      The Opposition Conservatives too were fearing conflict between both the British Houses of Parliament at Westminster, but they had now finally succumbed to the fact that some drastic measures, (from their point of view), had to occur to solve the ongoing turmoil in Ireland and to this end Land Courts were set up to fix the rents, judicially on application, by either the Land Lord or the Irish tenant farmers, which were then fixed for 15 years, and for the same period if their was a mutual agreement registered on the actual rent to be paid that had been decided between themselves. A permanent interest by the Irish tenant farmer in the land of Ireland was now recognized, and this made the Land Lords more co - operative in their dealings, if the tenants actually had the economic ability to purchase their own lands. Unfortunately the struggling tenant farmers, who were the majority, were not in a position to take full advantage of the finance available to do so, although the advance on the land was increased from 2/3 to 3/4 of the value of the holding to be repaid over 35 years, as most had no ready cash and only a few hundred were able to actually purchase any of their tenanted lands. Despite this economic financial barrier, the overall power of the Land Lords was now gone forever and "dual ownership" had been created now under British Common Law, but the Irish Land League intended to end all of the rural turmoil in Ireland and stood for outright tenant ownership of their land, and there was to be much more violence and outrage still to come until this was to be finally accomplished.

   In a By - Election for Co. Tyrone in Central Ulster Province the candidate from the Irish Land League was able to defeat the Liberal candidate, as they were well disposed to the 2nd Irish Land Act, but any chance of any firm alliances with the tenant farmers in the other Counties there, were now gone.

    Charles Stewart - Parnell and his followers in the Irish Land League were still hostile to the British Government proposals so far, as the 2nd Irish Land Act had done nothing for the tenant farmers who were in arrears through no fault of their own, and therfeore it excluded any lease holders from any immediate benefits, and the Irish Land League were now in a quandary as to whether to ignore the 2nd Irish Land Act and take on the British Liberal Government by using the only method left to them by continuing to attack the Land Lords. If they did this this would mean the end of any chance of Irish Home Rule, while if they accepted the 2nd Irish Land Act this would mean that the tenant farmers would have no further need for the Irish Home Rule Party and they would then lose their support towards this goal. To try and stop any further evictions of the tenant farmeres who were in arrears and those on leases, Charles Stewart - Parnell made a courageous decision to go on the offensive over these deletions from the 2nd Irish Land Act that had not given any protection to those tenant farmers already in arrears and no benefits for those already on leases, and because of the support he was receiving from the Irish American Clann na Gael / The Organization his speeches became much more inflammatory.

      The Irish Republicans / I.R.B in Ireland during this period, although still basically leaderless, were still active in the north of Co. Cork in Southern Munster and the British Liberal Government now produced another Irish Coercion Act to arrest any Irish men without trial and suspension of any of their normal Civil Liberties, and this new negative Act was passed in the Westminster Parliament by 303 to 46 votes and Charles Stewart - Parnell and 34 other Irish members were then suspended and escorted out of the British Westminster House of Commons for objecting to it, and another 1,000 Irish men were now to be imprisoned at the will of the British Dublin Castle authorities in the Devil's 1/2 Acre. Joseph Gillis Biggar from the Irish Parliamentary Party was also suspended from the British House of Commons on 2 occasions for continuing to carry out his Obstruction technique in the interests of drawing some of their attention towards Irish Affairs / Irish Home Rule and the results of all of this was thatonce again during this year there were a further 2,590 rural crimes reported throughout Ireland as the tenant farmers and the Irish population became even more restless. William Forster the British Chief Secretary who operated from within the Dublin Castle for the Liberal Imperial Government in the Devil's 1/2 acre believed that Charles Stewart - Parnell the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party was out to wreck the 2nd Irish Land Act and wanted something personally to be done about him.

October: Charles Stewart - Parnell was arrested for giving a "Boycott" speech at Ennis in Co. Clare in the north - west of the Munster Province under the new Irish Coercion Act, and he was to be imprisoned in the Kilmainham Jail in Dublin for 7 months, along with other Irish Land League leaders, which only served to increase his popularity, especially in regard to the Irish Americans from the Clann na Gael / The Organization in America who were supporting him, and it certainly did nothing to assist public opinion in regard to the British Imperial Government's 2nd Irish Land Act, which was not right and needed further amendments to encompass all of the tenant farmers problems on the Land Lord Estates. The Irish Land League under Michael Davitt now also came out in force, calling on all Irish tenant farmers to withhold any further rent payments and this action became known as the "No Rent Manifesto" so William Forster the British Chief Secretary in Dublin Castle acting for the British Imperial Government then also moved on the Irish Land League endeavouring to suppress it also, but this too only created further upheaval throughout the rural areas in Ireland.

      John Dillon the Irish Parliamentary Party M.P. from Co. Tipperary in the north - east of the Munster Province who was also in the British Westminster Parliament was imprisoned for signing the "No Rent Manifesto," as was William O Brien the old Labour stalwart, who was also another M.P. in the British Westminster Parliament who was from Co. Cork in Southern Munster who was also it's author, and the editor of the "United Ireland" newspaper, who would have a long and distinguished career of service to the pouplation of Ireland as a supporter of the Labour movement. Meanwhile, Charles Stewart - Parnell was now fearful that these ongoing types of disturbances in rural Ireland, that were being brought on under the British Imperial Government 's new Irish Coercion  Act, would help to destroy the "New Departure Strategy" that he previously worked out with John Devoy and the Clann na Gael / The Organization for a peaceful solution by constitutional means.

       The "Irish Ladies Land League" previously begun by  Anna Parnell, Charles Stewart - Parnell's sister, was now to fill the void that would be created by the British Liberal Government outlawing the Irish Land League until 1882 AD, and their activities during these times would stand them in good stead when they also later became involved in the "Women's Suffragette Movement" and the political Sinn Fein (We Ourselves) Party.

      John Redmond now became the Irish Parliamentary Party M.P. for New Ross in Co. Wexford in the south - east of Southern Leinster in the Westminster Parliament until 1891 AD, and he too later on was to become another leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party after Charles Stewart - Parnell and John Dillon, and although he was to at that time try and play a major role in Irish history he was unfortunately to die a very disheartened and dishonoured man in Ireland.

     Alexander Sullivan was elected as the American National Chairman of Clann na Gael / The Organization, and due to the perception of the constant frustration of anything really changing immediately democratically in Ireland he now wanted to act separately to the Irish Republican Brotherhood / I.R.B. in Ireland and was impatient for revolution, not long drawn out constitutional change, and he was to do so up until to 1885 AD and the Clann na Gael / The Organization was to commission the first American submarine, which was designed by John Holland who was himself originally from Ireland.      

     Two of the leaders of the future "Irish Independence" movement were both born this year, including Eamonn Ceannt / Kent who was born in Co. Galway in Southern Connacht, who was to grow up to be a clerk with a great love for Irish music and Irish freedom, who would beamong those to be executed in the future also by the British Imperial Government for his part in the 1916 Easter Uprising, while the other was Piaras Beaslaoi / Pierce Beasley an Anglo - Irish man whose family had come into Ireland in the mid - 17th Century AD from Lancashire in England, who was to become a great supporter of Michael Collins who would be the one to be heavily involved in removing the British Imperial Government's influence in 1922 AD from 26 of the Counties of the 32 of Ireland. (Pierce Beasley was also born at Liverpool in England and also had an English father and an Irish mother.

   The lack of any protection for all things sacred and Irish in Ireland still at this time, was highlighted by the fact that in the City of Armagh in the south - east of the Ulster Province they allowed the construction of the Bank of Ireland building on the original site of St. Patrick's Church, St. Columba's was by now the Provincial Bank and St. Brigid's was only a paddock, and St. Peter's & St. Paul's was now used as a set of stables, and St. Mary's had been converted into a dwelling while the Great School / University of Armagh and the Royal Cemetery were completely gone.

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