N.U.I. St. Patrick's College Maynooth the Decline of the Big House In
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
N.U.I. St. Patrick’s College Maynooth Title: The decline of the big house in Ireland, 1879-1950 By: Terence A.M. Dooley, M.A., H.D.E. Thesis for the degree of Ph.D. Department of Modern History, St. Patrick’s College," M aynooth Head of Department: Professor R.V. Comerford Supervisor of Research: Professor R.V. Comerford Date: December 1996 In two volumes VOLUME I Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................... v Abbreviations .....................................................................................................vii Abbreviated titles ............................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction.....................................................................................1 Chapter 2: The big house: Its environs and personnel on the eve of decline i Architectural design ....................................................................... 14 ii Interior splendour ..........................................................................20 iii Household staff ............................................................................. 27 iv The demesne ................................................................................. 31 v Demesne employees .................... 38 vi Demesne farming ........................................................................... 41 Chapter 3: Landlords and their families I: Opportunities and careers, 1850-1914 i Marriage patterns ..........................................................................47 ii Education .......................................................................................56 iii Occupations chosen by younger sons ........................................... 61 Chapter 4: Landlords and their families II: Social lives and leisure pursuits, 1850-1914 i Big house entertainment .............................................. 67 ii Foxhunting ....................................................................................74 iii Horse racing ...................................................................................80 iv Clubs .............................................................................................. 86 v Conclusion .....................................................................................95 Chapter 5: Rents, debts and mortgages in mid-Victorian Ireland Introduction ..................................................................................98 i Rent increases in mid-Victorian Ireland ........................................ 99 ii Mprtgages as an alternative to raising rents ................................ 105 iii What caused landlord indebtedness in mid-Victorian Ireland? „109 iv The significance of rental decline from 1879 .............................. 121 v 'No capitalist will now lend on Irish estates' ............................... 136 Chapter 6: Land acts, land sales and increased taxation, 1881-1950 i Land acts, 1881-1896 ..................................................................145 ii Land Acts of 1903 and 1909 ....................................................... 155 iii Free State Land Acts 1923-33 .................................................... 168 iv The shift from landed income to invested income ......................177 v The rise in taxation ......................................................................183 Chapter 7: Landlord politics, 1880-1914 i Landlords and national politics in mid-Victorian Ireland ............ 197 ii Landlords and local politics in mid-Victorian Ireland ................. 199 iii The assault on landlord politics at national level in late Victorian Ireland ..................................................................205 iv The assault on landlord politics at local level in late Victorian Ireland ..................................................................213 v Landlord apprehensions of Home Rule ...................................... 222 Chapter 8: The end of landlord representation in Irish politics, 1914-50 Introduction ............................................................................... 235 i Landlords and Unionist organisation in Munster, Connaught and Leinster, 1885-1914 ..........................................235 ii Landlords and Unionist organisation in the three Ulster counties, 1885-1914 ........................................................ 245 iii World War I and the weakening of Unionist sentiment ............253 iv The Irish Convention 1917-18 and partition ...............................257 v After independence: The decline of Unionism in the Free State ....................................................................................264 vi Landlord political representation in the Free State ....................271 Endnotes, Volume 1 .....................................................................................283 Chapter 9: Landlord intimidation and big house burnings during the war of independence, 1919-21 Introduction ...............................................................................331 i The renewed land war and the breakdown of law and order ......332 ii The burning of big houses during the war of independence .......349 Chapter 10: Landlord intimidation and big house burnings during the civil war, 1922-23 Introduction ............................................................................... 363 i The commandeering of big houses during the truce ....................364 ii Continued disorder and landlord intimidation .............................366 iii Landlords’ pleas for help ........ 373 iv The burning of big houses during the civil war ...........................378 Chapter 11: Compensation claims i The aftermath of destruction ...................................................... 390 ii Pre-truce compensation claims ................................................... 397 iii Damage to Property Compensation Act 1923 ...........................405 Chapter 12: The changing world of the big house, 1880-1950 i Decline in big house expenditure ................................................416 ii Alternative expedients ................................................................423 iii The sale and fate of big houses .................................................. 429 iv The struggle to retain ancestral homes ...................................... 436 v Fortuitous marriage alliances? .................................................... 443 vi The thinning of Irish landlord society .........................................447 Chapter 13: Fox hunting, horse racing and clubs, 1880-1950 i The disruption of fox hunting, 1881-1923 ................................. 455 ii The significance of disruption .................................................... 463 iii Landlords and the administration of horse racing, 1880-1950 ...470 iv Club life, 1914-50 .......................................................................484 Chapter 14: Big house servants, 1880-1950 Introduction ................................................................. 489 i Servant life in the big house ....................................................... 490 ii Remuneration ............................................................................. 495 iii Employment opportunity in the big house ................................. 501 iv Changes post World War I ........................................................ 514 Chapter 15: Aspects of big house life in Action Introduction ................................................................................525 i The lure of the big house ............................................................526 ii Mythologising the role of dissipative heirs ................................ 527 iii World War I and the myth of the lost generation .......................536 iv The theme o f iso lation ................................................................548 v Conclusion ..................................................................................556 Chapter 16: Conclusion .................................................................................558 Endnotes, Volume II.....................................................................................569 Appendix I: An alphabetical list of the 100 houses in the sample ............ 613 Appendix II: Tables ......................................................................................... 618 Bibliography......................................................................................................663 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this work owes a great deal to many individuals and staffs of various institutions. Without their help, it would not have been possible. My greatest debt is to Professor R.V. Comerford of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. I wish to thank him for his erudite comments, the patience he has always shown, and his constant encouragement. I would like also to extend my thanks to all the staff of the Department of Modem History in Maynooth who made my sojourn there such a pleasant one. The staffs of the following institutes were at all times helpful and co operative: the National Library (with especial thanks for allowing me access to a number of unsorted estate records which appear in the bibliography), the National Archives, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, the Public Record Office of London, the libraries of Trinity College, Dublin and St. Patrick's College Maynooth, the University College Dublin