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Other Results of the Famine. |
The Cottiers classes were almost wiped out. They had little land and were unable to feed themselves during the Famine. Those that did not die of starvation lost their land when they entered the Work House due to the Gregory Clause.
The
average size of the farms increased after the Famine as:
(a)
farmers wanted to enlarge their farms so that they would never suffer
from another major famine again
(b)
Subdivision came to an end and
(c)
When farmers changed from tillage to pasture so they also needed larger
farms.
In
some cases the ownership of estates also changed.
Many landlords sold their estates when British Parliament passed the
ENCUMBERED ESTATES ACT. This was
passed to make it easier for landlords who had mortgaged their lands during the
famine to sell. Unfortunately the
new landlords were often worse than the old ones, as they wanted to make the
biggest profits possible and so just raised the rent.
This made life more difficult for the tenants.
Meath experienced some of these changes especially the change over from tillage to pasture.
Colm
Cooper.