Land Is All That Matters - The Struggle That Shaped Irish History

In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe everyone lived off the land in one way or another. In Ireland, however, almost everyone lived on the land as well. Agriculture was the only economic resource for the vast majority of the population outside the north-east of the country. Land was vital. But most of it was owned by a class of Protestant, English and often aristocratic landlords. The dream of having more control over their farms, even of owning them, drove many of the most explosive conflicts in Irish history. Rebellions against British rule were rare, but savage outbreaks of murder related to resentments over land ownership, and draconian state repression, were a regular feature of Irish rural life. The struggle for the land was also crucial in driving support for Irish nationalist demands for Home Rule and independence. In this vast and epic narrative, Myles Dungan explores two hundred years of agrarian conflict from the ruinous famine of 1741 to the eve of World War Two. It