66 Rathdrum, 12th December, 1844. "Between the hours of six and seven o'clock, P.M., 10th instant, as Mr. John J. Byrne, of Kilpatrick, J.P., was returning from Dublin to his own house, having got off the Arklow omnibus, and on his own jaunting car, he had not proceeded more than about 100 yards, when, at a part of the road situated as above, he was fired at from behind the road ditch by some person or persons as yet unknown. His coachman, who was driving at the other side of the car, states he felt the contents pass by his face; and from the extreme narrowness of the road, and its proximity to the place from whence the shot was fired, the escape must have been very narrow indeed. At a very early hour yesterday morning, I received a report of this occurrence. It appears Mr. Byrne, J.P., is the agent of the Misses Byrne of Cabinteely, and in that capacity was coming down from Dublin with an habere from the sheriff, to take possession of land, the property of the Misses Byrne aforesaid, and to eject a family named Byrne from it, the following members of which family, named Patrick, John, William, and Charles, are suspected of being persons of bad character, and the ejected tenants, of having either themselves committed or concocted the outrage in question. A man named John Walsh saw the shot fired at least saw the flash of the powder and heard the report. Walsh was brought before Colonel Acton for examination. He appears a very unwilling but most important witness. "JOHN CROKER, S.I. "The Inspector-General." (Signed) The two next reports which I shall read are from the county of Donegal. They are of recent date, and the localities to which they refer are probably well known to some of the commissioners. They will show that the agrarian system meets with ready support in the northern as well as in other portions of Ireland : "County of Donegal, "Ramelton, 11th January, 1845. The "I have to report that, at an early hour on the morning of the 10th inst., some evil-minded person, or persons, as yet unknown, set fire to the office houses of James Stephenson, of Ballyarre, containing eleven head of black cattle, all of which were destroyed; also one hay stack and one turf stack, which stood close to the offices. The loss is estimated at about £100. cause assigned is, that Stephenson took the farm on which he now resides, in 1839, from Thomas Patterson, esq., of Gortlee, near Letterkenny, the landlord, which was formerly held by Michael, Patrick, and Charles Heraghty, who had been ejected for non-payment of rent in 1836. The Heraghtys frequently said (and used threats) that they ought to have received compensation from Stephenson for the loss of the farm, and he suspects that they have taken the above method of being revenged because he did not accede to their opinion. "Sir James Stewart, bart., J.P., is of opinion that as large a reward as possible should be offered. I visited the scene on the 10th, and I have seldom beheld a more disgusting spectacle than the burned carcases of the dead brutes. "I have ordered vigilant patrols in the vicinity of Ballyarre. "The Inspector-General." (Signed) "A. K. Fox, S.I. "I have to report that on the night of the 9th instant, about the hour of half-past one o'clock, some person, or persons, maliciously set on fire, in several places, two ranges of office houses, the property of Alexander Maxwell, which communicated to his dwelling, all of which was entirely consumed, together with his furniture, farming implements, carpenters' tools, plank, &c.; also a stack of threshed oats, a quantity of potatoes, and four heifers; also a quantity of furniture, the property of Hugh Sweeny, who occupied one of the apartments. "Sir Robert Bateson, the landlord, Robert M'Clintock, John Ferguson, esqrs., and other magistrates, assembled at the scene of outrage on the 11th instant, and held an investigation relative to the burning, where I also attended, but no information was elicited that would lead to the discovery of the guilty party. The magistrates suggested that a large reward, both public and private, should be offered, and they are also determined to offer a large reward. "The cause assigned for this outrage is that the former tenant, John Rankin, fell into arrears of rent, and was unable to manage the farm, in consequence of which he was obliged to surrender it. Sir Robert Bateson advanced Rankin a sum of money for peaceable possession, who emigrated to America last year, and previous to leaving the country is said to have used threats that if Maxwell, or a man named Irwin, should occupy the farm, the place would be destroyed, no matter where he should be: which threats must have been carried into execution by some of Rankin's friends. “R. MARTIN, Head Constable. (Signed) "The Inspector-General." The last report with which I shall trouble the commissioners is from the King's county, and was received by us yesterday : "Upon this morning, between eight and nine o'clock, four men came to William Murphy's house, as above, and asked his daughter, Catherine, for a drink of water, and on getting it said, 'Is Mr. Todd,' meaning Simon Todd of Geashill, come out yet' she said she did not know; they then walked down the road until they came to the gate on Mr. Todd's fields, into which they turned, and going to where John Byrne and two other labourers were at work, they ordered them to quit working for Mr. Todd until a settlement was made between him and Daniel Brien. Byrne and the other two labourers, Tierney and Coughlan, immediately quit work, and the men went off in the direction of Ballycommon. "I am just returned from the scene, and I found that the four men were seen by several persons, but that they were total strangers in that part of the country-that they were certainly armed, as there was observed a large bulk under each of their coats, and that two of the Philipstown police were on the very same lands in a few minutes afterwards; but their pursuit, I heard, was unsuccessful. I have a description of the four men, but it is so vague I do not send it forward for insertion at present, as I hope to make it more accurate in a day or two. "This is the land on which a plough was broken on the night of the 6th instant, and about which Mr. Simon Todd was served with a threatening letter on the 7th. Mr. Todd gave his tenant, Daniel Brien, £117 and the crops, to give him up the quiet and peaceable possession: he gave up the land, and was preparing to quit the house; but I hear that immediately after the Extracts from dreadful murder of the Shepherds, his conduct at once changed, and nothing Endence. will now do him but to remain in possession of the house and farm, rent free, for I believe he hardly ever promises to pay any rent. "The Inspector-General." (Signed) "J. S. STUART, S.I. 12. In that case there is a determination to hold land?—Yes. The tenant to whom the landlord had given the crops and £117 as compensation for the surrender of the farm, is represented as being now resolved to keep forcible possession. And this is alleged to be a consequence of the recent murder of the Shepherds in the same county, who were immolated for taking land from which a widow was ejected. A daring outrage, such as the assassination of the Shepherds, is perpetrated with the double aim of intimidating the landowner, and of emboldening refractory tenants. When a district becomes disturbed, we find that the recollection of bygone transactions relating to land (in which the arrangements of the proprietor had been peaceably effected at the time) are revived, and the occupying tenant, who has been hitherto perhaps unmolested, becomes an object of persecution-even after a lapse of years. The circumstances of each case of the letting of ground seem to be engraven on the minds of the rural population around. There are causes, however, of agrarian disturbance distinct from the cases where the object is to uphold the defaulting tenant against the landlord, and to wreak vengeance on those who dare to enter into occupation of a farm from which the previous cultivator had been ejected. I allude now to disorders which originate in the difficulty which the peasantry experience, in some parts of the country, and more especially in the best grazing districts, in procuring potato ground. The owners and holders of land are unwilling to break up ground which is profitable for pasture. The peasant, if unable to procure a potato garden, has no hope of feeding his family, and is driven to desperation. This state of things rouses the feelings and engages the sympathies of the surrounding population, who lend a willing hand to redress such evils by violent means, such as the turning up of land; and by other unlawful measures to compel the andholder to grant potato ground. In districts where no such difficulty in procuring potato or con-acre ground is experienced, we have, nevertheless, outrages proceeding from the prevailing disposition of the peasantry to regulate, arbitrarily, all transactions respecting the letting of ground. If the landholder exacts what is considered too high a price, he is threatened, and his property injured; and the peasant who undertakes to pay that rent is likewise obnoxious to persecution. In a recent instance we had a report of the posting of a threatening notice, denouncing vengeance against every one who undertook to pay more than certain prescribed prices for con-acre. I think the sums named were £10 per acre for bawn (old pasture), £8 for manured stubble, and £6 for rough stubble: these being the very terms used in the notice. 13. Some of the outrages which have taken place in Roscommon have been the turning up of grass land-have they not?-Yes. We have, as yet, had only one instance this year (1845) of the turning up of land there; but the authorities are apprehensive of further disorders of the kind, and precautionary measures have been adopted to guard against the evil. A very daring outrage, however, has Evidence. recently occurred in that county, where the object was to intimidate Extracts from the landowner, and induce him to let potato ground. His steward was stopped and threatened, and the horse upon which he rode was shot on the spot. 14. Can you state by what description of persons agrarian outrages are chiefly committed-The agents in these outrages, I believe, are generally the servants or labourers of farmers-persons who are usually called " farmers' boys." It is a curious circumstance, confirmed by the testimony of those who are most experienced in such matters, that the periods in which the outrages prevail most extensively are not the periods in which the population suffer most, either from the effects of an insufficient harvest, or from other causes of privation. In such seasons, although suffering under the want of food, it is observable that the rural population in this country generally bend with resignation to the visitation of Providence. On the contrary, outrages have been very numerous after the most prosperous seasons. It is easy to assign one reason why such should be the case. When the harvest has been redundant, illicit distillation has generally prevailed to a greater extent. When the market prices of grain are low, the farmer has strong inducements to turn his corn into whiskey if he can. Of late years, indeed, the spread of the temperance pledge has tended to counteract the evils which flow from illicit distillation; but I fear that even the temperance pledge has not operated as any check to outrage in Tipperary. Such is the extent of the system of terrorism in this last-named county, and so great the exactions to which farmers are exposed, in being laid under contributions to defend prisoners whose trials are approaching, or to minister to the revels of the Rockites, that any coercive enactment is palatable to the respectable portion of the rural community. I myself heard seventeen years ago, from the lips of a farmer who held a large tract of land on the mountain of Slieve-na-Maun, that he, and others of his class, regarded the insurrection act with favour, because it was a measure of protection to them against the tyranny exercised over them by their labourers and servants. Rev. Michael Lennon, P.P. Armagh. 104. Have there been any agrarian outrages in those districts, 59, Q. 104. and in what have they originated?—There have been several outrages of an agrarian nature; there were two of a very fearful character, indeed. The circumstances which were supposed to give rise to them were, that the landlord, in one instance, served notice to quit, I believe to the number of twenty-eight of his tenants. 105. In what year was that?-It was, I think, in the year 1840 or 1841. I am not positive whether it was 1840 or 1841. I had the circumstances from the agent of that landlord. It was upon the townlands of Tullyhard, Clarbane, and Lough Ross. The agent told me the proprietor wished to get possession of a part of each of those townlands, or rather, I believe, the whole of one, and a part of each of the others; and he served the people living upon those townlands with notice to quit. The agent told me, that he suggested to the landlord the propriety of giving some compensation to the people, before putting them away; he urged the matter strongly upon him, and the reply he got from him was, that he did not see how he was Extracts from called upon to purchase his own land. I did hear that he offered to Evidence. give some places to some of the tenants in another neighbourhood, a good distance off; but at the place he was sending them to, the people there thought they had a claim upon him for being put away; and the people, therefore, did not like to go, thinking they would not be well received. And while the matter was in this state, Mr. Powell was brought there to improve the lands in the way the landlord wished; and without putting the people away, he commenced draining and fencing the lands, under the direction of the landlord. The people were very much displeased, and remonstrated with Mr. Powell and the landlord both. They considered that the landlord • felt more for them than Mr. Powell did; he made himself very obnoxious to the people, and persisted in carrying out the views of the landlord; and the unfortunate result was, that the man was killed. It obtained great notoriety at the time, and six men were arrested for the murder. One of them was tried three times, two juries refused to find him guilty; the third did find him guilty. That was a man of the name of Hughes. It assumed very much a party character in the course of the trial, and there was a great deal of bad feeling originated from it. Vide Evidences 55 and 1025. Donegal. 202, Q. 30. Down. Down. 90, Q. 92. 106. What reason did they assign to you for not taking the land which was offered to them in another place?—They told me they could not go there to live with the good-will of people who had the land before. 107. Was Powell, who was so unfortunately murdered, supposed not to have been on good terms with the people about him Only for this reason, that he was a stranger to the country. He came from somewhere about Dublin, and was employed as a land steward. Mr. John Speer, farmer. 30. Have there been any agrarian outrages in the district, and in what have they originated?-Agrarian outrages are of rare occurrence here. However, when there is any, it is owing to a tenant being evicted from his farm; and that is hardly ever done, unless for non-payment of rent. Mr. John M'Carten, linen bleacher and agent. 154. Have there been any agrarian outrages in your district?— A few; not many, and none lately. 155. In what did they originate?-I think they can be clearly traced to disputed tenant-right, where the landlord refused to acknowledge it. 156. Do you remember a combination which existed a few years ago, among people who called themselves Tommy Downshires ? Yes. 157. What was the object of that combination ?-The object and intention was, to get the rents lowered. 158. Were the rents lowered in consequence in any cases ?—Only upon one particular property. Robert Holbeche Dolling, esq., magistrate and land proprietor. 92. Have there been any agrarian outrages in the district, and in what have they originated?—I am only aware of two in this part |