Over the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first of the twentieth, several so-called 'Irish Land Acts' were passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to reform the system of tenancies which had existed in Ireland largely since it was colonised by the English. These peasant tenants often had few rights and were at the mercy of their landlords, but several Acts had been passed to make it easier for them to buy their land. The 1903 Act, known as the Wyndham Act after the current Chief Secretary for Ireland, did not make sale of land compulsory, but tried to make it attractive to both landlords and tenants, mainly by contributing a large pot of funds, with which the government would make up the difference between a price …
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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Irish Land Purchase Act". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=11726, accessed 23 November 2024.]
