Advertisement for new purchase forms relating to the Irish Land Act of 1903 in Thoms Directory 1904
Advertisement for new purchase forms relating to the Irish Land Act of 1903, page 46 of the Advertisements Section in the Thoms Directory of 1904
© Dublin City Public Libraries© Dublin City Public Libraries
Advertisement for new purchase forms relating to the Irish Land Act of 1903 in Thoms Directory 1904
Advertisement for new purchase forms relating to the Irish Land Act of 1903, page 46 of the Advertisements Section in the Thoms Directory of 1904
© Dublin City Public LibrariesThose tenants remaining after the famine in Ireland began to prosper and began to look for more security for their holdings. In 1870 an unsuccessful land act was introduced by the liberals trying to appease growing unrest in Ireland. 1878 famine struck Ireland again and with tenants faced eviction all over the country. Michael Davitt's newly established Land League held protests against evictions and this spread to agrarian violence throughout the West of Ireland. The land wars that followed pressured the government into legislating to assist tenant ownership. Along with other measures, the 1903 Wyndhem Act saw a considerable amount of land transfer from landlord into tenant ownership. The Act provided government assistance to tenants to buy their land from the landowner and gave landlords an incentive to sell with a 12% bonus if they sold their entire estate. Land has since been a highly emotive issue in Ireland, and the subject of many works of literature.