Disturbances and Distress
The
evictions didn’t provide a solution to the land problems in Bodyke.
An agreement on rent was reached, whereby about one third of arrears was paid
and abatements were granted on judicial rents. But in November 1891 Colonel
O’Callaghan, in financial difficulties, stopped the abatements. By 1892
many tenants had difficulty in paying rents, and had fallen into arrears.
The
two-page letter below is a
tenant’s letter to the landlord’s agent,
asking for more time to pay his rent.
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for larger version
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Rent
is paid, but has to be borrowed.
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Colonel O’Callaghan had decided on a ‘distress policy’ i.e.
the seizure of goods and livestock in lieu of rent. Special bailiffs were
appointed to carry out the distress but they frequently met with violence.
The
four-page letter below shows the
deposition of Patrick Dwyer, the Limerick
bailiff, who accompanied Colonel O’Callaghan’s
land agent, Stannard MacAdam, onto the
lands at Lisbarreen in March 1893. The sworn
statement illustrates the difficulties of
carrying out a distraint of goods in the
highly-charged atmosphere that prevailed.
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Having
duly distrained
the chattels
of the tenant, the bailiffs proceeded to sell the chattels (usually livestock)
at public auctions.
This
auction notice announced the sale
of the seized chattels of John Liddy of
Clonmoher who had been evicted from
his holding in 1887, along with his family
of six. His judicial rent was fixed at
£28.0.0 at the time of his eviction
though his actual rack rent was £48.10.0.
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In an effort to thwart the bailiffs in seizing the correct animals, the tenants
would switch livestock on their respective holdings, often leading to the
wrongful seizure of an animal. Colonel O'Callaghan was sued by some of his
tenants for damages resulting from the wrongful seizure of farm animals by
his agents.
Colonel
O’Callaghan is summoned
to appear in court over the wrongful
seizure of Darby Tuohy’s livestock.
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letter
In November 1893 Colonel O’Callaghan evicted eight tenants for non-payment
of rent and caretakers were installed to prevent reoccupation. In Spring of
the following year, the landlord’s cattle were put to graze on the evicted
farms.
Daniel
Ryan agrees to act as caretaker
for the house of an evicted tenant
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A series of cattle poisonings took place in Clonmoher during the summer and
early winter of 1894. Colonel O'Callaghan's son, Captain George O'Callaghan,
has left us this graphic account of the scene at Clonmoher: "On Tuesday
the 3rd [July 1894], the place presented a deplorable appearance. Eleven beasts
lay dead and dying. The dead carcasses were greatly swollen, and the torn
appearance of the sward around showed how the unfortunate animals had suffered.
One still alive had in its agony dragged itself down a hill and lay dying
in a ditch into which it had fallen." In all, a total of sixteen cattle
died under strange circumstances at Clonmoher.
The
two-page laboratory report below,
compiled for Colonel O'Callaghan in
February 1895 by Walter Thorp,
attributes the cause of death in the
case of the particular bullock under
examination to be due to arsenic poisoning.
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The
Land Acts of the first decade of the 20th century enabled tenants to buy out
their holdings, but negotiations between the Bodyke tenants and Colonel O’Callaghan
broke down. In 1909 the Land Commission acquired the Bodyke section of the
O’Callaghan estate compulsorily and tenants eventually purchased their
farms. The proposal of tenant ownership, put to the meeting in Scariff in
1880 by Fr Murphy, had become a reality. Its implementation, however, signalled
the end of the Big House and the landed estate in Ireland.
