L O - ( o Z Z A STUDY OF THE UNITED IRISH LEAGUE IN THE KING'S COUNTY, 1899-1918 by John Noel McEvoy Thesis presented for Master of Arts Degree National University of Ireland, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth Submitted to Department of Modern History Head of Department and Supervisor of Research: Dr. R.V Comerford July 1992 1 This work is dedicated to my parents and family, for all their help, guidance, and encouragement down through the years. ii CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv LIST OF MAPS V LIST OF TABLES Vi ABBREVIATIONS IN TEXT AND FOOTNOTES viii INTRODUCTION - The King's County in 1900 ix Chapter 1 Born into turmoil - the emergence of the UIL in the King's County, 1390-1901 1 Chapter 2 Crisis of Identity, 1902-03 18 Chapter 3 The Wyndham Land Act and its implications for the UIL 35 Chapter 4 The Ranch War, 1906-09 56 Chapter 5 The decline of the UIL accelerates, July 1909 to April 1912 80 Chapter 6 The "Rigged" Convention, May 1912 to December 1914 102 Chapter 7 Attempted Reorganisation, January 1915 to October 1916 120 Chapter 8 The Rise of Sinn Fein, November 1916 to April 1918 141 Conclusion 164 APPENDICES 176 FOOTNOTES 184 BIBLIOGRAPHY 219 i i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first of all like to extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to Dr. R.V. Comerford who painstakingly supervised the progression of this work during the past year. His constant encouragement, help, guidance, and inspiration, as well as his generosity with his time in meeting to discuss problems at all hours, will never be forgotten on my part. I would also like to extend thanks to all the members on the staff of the Department of Modern History at Maynooth for their encouragement and help to me during my years at the college; to Mr. Jim Keenan, Cartographer, for his generosity in making stencils available to help draw the maps included in the thesis; and to my fellow student and friend Mr. Terence Dooley, whose banter helped to shorten many a trip to Dublin, while his ability to "hold" a microfilm reader in the National Library when it appeared as if half Ireland required one must surely set him up for the position of a diplomat. The staff of the following institutions were very helpful and kind throughout my period of research; The National Library of Ireland; State Paper Office and Public Record Office, Dublin; Trinity College Library; Offaly County Library; British Newspaper Library, Colindale; and the Public Record Office at Kew, London. I would also like to thank Mr. John Kearney and Miss Agnes Rigney and their staff (Deniece, Edel, Siobhan, Sinead, Collette) at the Offaly Historical Research Centre for their help with sources and typing the thesis; and to Mr. John Clarke, Tullamore, whose recall of events, particularly in relation to the "Tullamore Affair" were most welcome. My greatest debt at all times has been to my family, for their unwavering help down through the years, and especially to my parents who made my third level education possible. Without their help, encouragement, guidance, and patience to put up with my failings, it is hard to see how this thesis could have been brought to fruition. Finally, I would like to thank my uncle Paddy Greene, and his very kind wife Mary, for their hospitality and generosity shown to me during my visits to London. Their friendship enabled me to survive the home sickness for the boglands of Offaly, while their guidance helped me to survive the glittering lights of that same city. Sean McEvoy 26th July 1992 iv LIST OF MAPS Page Map of the King's County showing physical features and lines of communication xx Map of the King's County showing Tullamore and Birr Electoral Division and Baronies xxi Map of the King's County showing the main areas where Nationalist Societies emerged after 1900 xxii v LIST OF TABLES Page TABLE 1. Tonnage carried on the Grand Canal, 1898-1956. xi 2. Class of Houses inhabited and percentages of population alloted to in Ireland and the King's county in 1901. xiii 3. Percentage of Various Sizes of Farms in the King's county in 1901. xiv 4. Population of Birr and Tullamore and their respective religious professions in 1901. xvi 5. Constitution of County Councillors elected for the King's county in 1899. 7 6. Return of Urban District Councillors and Guardians for King's county in 1899 and the previous elections. 8 7. UIL Officials holding Grazing and Evicted Farms on 1st February 1903 in certain selected counties. 20 8. Showing the number and percentage (in brackets) of members of the UIL elected in the Local Government Elections of 1902 for certain selected counties. 23 9. King's county land sales arranged and in negotiation, November 1903 to June 1904 37 10. a) Lands sold and vested in purchasing tenants or in the Estates Commissioners or Congested Districts Board for re-sale to tenants in the King's county, to April 30th 1908 38 b) Lands agreed to be sold but not yet vested in purchasing tenants, including lands comprised in Estates for the sale of which to the Estates Commissioners and the Congested Districts Board proceedings have been instituted to April 30th 1908, for the King's county 38 11. Acreage of Untenanted land held by a selected number of landlords in the King's county in 1906 58 vi LIST OF TABLES Showing the acreage of farms let and acreage of farms unlet due to UIL influence in the King's county, 1907-10 63 Returns indicating the level of disturbance in connection with the Grazing system 70 Return (a) to 30th April 1908 and (b) to 31st March 1913 showing the extent of land purchase in the King's county 81 Number of UIL meetings reported in the Midland Tribune. 1910-12 87 Number of UIL branches affiliated to the National Directory for all Leinster counties, 1909-13 88 Funds collected by the UIL in the King's county, 1908-12 99 Number of branches of the UIL affiliated to the National Directory for all Leinster counties in 1914-15 125 Total funds collected by UIL branches in the King's county, 1913-18 127 Acreage of certain crops in the King's county in 1916-17 130 Number of Recruits from the King's county at particular periods up to October 1916 131 Price increases of various selected goods from 1914 to 1918 153 Breakdown of attendance of certain selected groups at UIL Directory meetings in 1911 and 1914 171 v ii ABBREVIATIONS IN TEXT AOH Ancient Order of Hibernians CC Catholic Curate Dr Doctor Fr Father (priest) GAA Gaelic Athletic Association GPO General Post Office INF (before 1900) Irish National Federation INF (after 1900) Irish National Foresters INL Irish National League IPP Irish Parliamentary Party IRB Irish Republican Brotherhood ITGWU Irish Transport and General Workers Union JP Justice of the Peace KCFA King's County Farmers Association LLA Land and Labour Association MFH Master of Fox Hounds MP Member of Parliament NS National School PP Parish Priest RDC Rural District Council RIC Royal Irish Constabulary TTA Town Tenants Association UC or UDC Urban Council or Urban District Council UIL United Irish League ABBREVIATIONS IN FOOTNOTES CO Colonial Office, Dublin Castle Records CIMR County Inspector's Monthly Reports CSORP Chief Secretary's Office, Registered Papers KCC King's County Chronicle KCI King's County Independent IGMR Inspector General's Monthly Report MT Midland Tribune NLI National Library of Ireland SPO State Papers Office, Dublin viii INTRODUCTION THE KING'S COUNTY IN 1900 When addressing the Quarter Sessions at Tullamore in March 1900, county court Judge Curran, referring to the tranquil state of the county, was moved to state that; ' I may say as I said on a former occasion, that the King's county is a model countyThis was indeed praise not lightly given, coming from a man who had gained reputation for his strict advocacy of law and order throughout the whole midland region at this time. It was also a reflection of the fact that the county had indeed become quite peaceable during the 1890's, unlike the Land League days of the late 1870's and early 1880's, when the county could claim the highest number of agrarian outrages per head of population in the province of Leinster, and indeed third highest in Ireland after Kerry and Galway.2 The county in question, namely King's or Offaly as it is known today, dates from 1556 when during the reign of Queen Mary and her husband, Philip of Spain, the plantation of Leix and Offaly was undertaken. The territory of Firceall, which had belonged to the Kingdom of Meath, was joined to that of the O'Carrolls (Birr), Coughlans (Ferbane - Clonmacnoise), O'Connors (Killeigh - Edenderry) and to the Fox territory (Clara and Tubber parishes), to make a new shire or county, called King's county in honour of Mary's husband Philip.3 It was for this same reason that the new county town was called Philipstown. The plantation had been deemed necessary on the grounds that the native Irish, particularly the O'Connors, were constantly attacking loyal English settlers in the Pale. The boundaries of the ancient Gaelic principalities received but scant respect; old Uibh Fhaili in particular found itself partitioned three ways, a substantial portion falling to the new Queen's county and Kildare.4 Throughout the thesis, the use of the name King's county will be preferred to Offaly, as it was not until June 1920 that an official decision was taken by the County Council at their annual general meeting to revert to the latter title,5 although the GAA had adopted it since 1903.