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| 2. Ireland |
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(See 1847, May 15)| Economics and society after the famine. The Irish potato famine (1845–47) decreased the population of Ireland substantially through death and emigration (the 1841 census listed a population of 8,175,124, but in 1851 the total was 6,552,385). Increases in evictions immediately following the famine furthered land consolidation but also met with increasing agitation by tenant farmers. The results of land consolidation reduced extreme poverty in Ireland but also made land, rents, and tithes a major issue in the years immediately following the famine. | 1 |
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| 1848, Jan. 3 |
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| The pope urged Irish bishops to forbid political activity by clergy. | 2 |
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| 1849, July 28 |
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| The Second Encumbered Estates Act, combined with the First Encumbered Estates Act (1848), accelerated the process of sale of mortgaged land. | 3 |
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| Oct. 14 |
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| The first tenant protection society was set up in Ireland at Callan, county Kilkenny by two Catholic curates, Thomas O'Shea and Matthew O'Keefe. These societies provided the basis for the Irish Tenant League, founded on Aug. 9, 1850. They expressed the growing concern among tenants regarding increased evictions following the famine. They received support from the Irish Presbyterian Church, which adopted a statute recognizing tenant rights (July 3, 1850). | 4 |
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