Judicial Rents

 

Judicial Rents

A period of relative peace followed the passing of the 1881 Land Act which allowed for the fixing of rents by judicial arbitration for a period of 15 years. Tenants who paid this rent would be given the protection of the law and compensated for improvements carried out, should they vacate their holdings. The judicial rents fixed for Bodyke during 1882-83 represented a 35% reduction on average.

The order fixing the fair (judicial) rent of Peter Flanagan under the Land Act of 1881.









 

However, agricultural prices in 1882 were unnaturally high and by 1886/7 – a period of severe depression – judicial rents were considered too high by the tenants and many had difficulty paying and sought reductions.
 

A three-page exchange of views between the landlord and his agents concerning Peter Flanagan's rent. Flanagan was a publican in Scariff, where he lived, and held 50 statute acres in Ballydonahane.In spite of being a former Secretary of the Scariff branch of the Land Leaguehe took no part in the Combination, preferring to settle with O'Callaghan.In this letter the landlord's agent conveys Flanagan's offer of £5 ayear for grazing of the mountain at Ballydonahane but the offer is refused.

The national 'Plan of Campaign' whereby landlords were offered a reduced rent which, if refused, was than banked to help evicted tenants, was adopted by the Bodyke tenants who entered into a 'Combination' to secure their demands. However, Colonel O'Callaghan refused to negotiate, stating that he had already agreed to abatement of rent and any further reductions would result in the financial ruin of his estate.