Book Description

The response of agrarian activists in Ireland to the crisis which, from 1884, was precipitated by a decline in prices for cattle and dairy prices, an increase in imports of grain from America, Canada and Australia to the British market and a downturn in turn in the British economy was the founding of the Plan of Campaign in 1886. The Plan was a system of collective bargaining, whereby the tenants offered their landlords a reasonable rent and, if he declined, lodged it with trustees, who would use it together with funds from other sources to support them, if they were evicted. The Plan, which was accompanied by the boycotting of those who aided evicting landlords, was denounced to Rome by the Duke of Norfolk and Captain John Ross of Bladensburg as immoral. A papal delegate was sent to Ireland on a fact-finding mission in 1887. A decree condemning it was issued in April 1888, and caused consternation both among church and political leaders and the general catholic public. The Vatican tried for the next couple of years to get a generally unenthusiastic hierarchy to implement the decree, but with limited success. Shortage of funds and the Parnell split eventually put an end to the Plan. The decree and the reaction to it have long interested historians but, until now, no one has made use of the archives of the Roman congregations that were concerned with Irish agrarian and political issues. It is hoped that this study will further illuminate this controverted period.