Farming in Galway Before the Famine
By
Size of Farms
The size of farms in County Galway in the first half of the nineteenth century varied from one acre to those in mountain districts of many hundred acres. The number of farms above 1 to 5 acres in 1841 amounted to 27,992; above 5 to 15 acres, 12,663; above 15 to 30, 2,030; and above 30 acres, 1,645, which for a rural population of 403,746 represented 33/8 acres per head. The Devon Commission adopted four classes to describe the house accommodation attached to these farms. The figures given by the Commission show the degree of misery in the county in the first quarter of the century. The lowest or fourth class comprised all mud cabins having only one room and represented 52.8 per cent of the families; in the third class; a better description of cottage also built of mud, but varying from two to four rooms and windows, and amounted to 37.6 per cent; in the second, a good farm house, or in town, a house in a small street having from five to nine rooms and windows, equal to 9 per cent; and in the first all houses of a better description than the preceding classes, represented .4 per cent.
It was abundantly proved by the evidence given before the Commission that the farm buildings in County Galway were insufficient even for the then low state of tillage. It was found among other proofs of this, reference made to the practice of threshing corn upon the public road. Some farmers built their own houses, and the custom was to place almost every building below the level of the adjacent ground. The dwelling house had a step down to it resulting in general dampness throughout the houses. Cabins were generally built of clay on a foundation of stone on a slope at right-angles to the contours so that the top ends were excavated into the hill side and profited from the semi-subterranean warmth, while the lower end housed the animals, the slope allowing the refuse to drain away. Some had rounded corners making them an elongated oval in plan. Horizontal bands or tops of bog-fir, sally or heather, were pegged into the thatch at intervals. In Connemara the scallop or scobe thatch was secured by bent rods which were hidden except at the ridge and along the eaves, where they were worked into lozenge patterns.
Farms in Connemara and the mountain baronies west of Galway were generally very large, and were set by a bulk rent from 50 to 300. They were chiefly occupied in grazing young cattle. Along the coast and in the valleys the farms were small. As at present, in the greater part of the county stone walls formed the fences. Formerly the usual way of building these walls was to pile up stones without any order in a kind of filigree work. An improvement was where long thin stones were used, placed upright on the broad end, and those of the next size wedged in an upright position between the first, and the wall brought to about four feet high by a repetition of the operation with the smaller stones which keyed them like an arch.
Leases and Rents
Leases were generally for 31 years, or three lives, but the custom of limiting leases to 21 years, or a life, had crept in by 1820. Dutton tells of a farmer of County Galway who waited on his absentee landlord in Westmeath for the purpose of obtaining a renewal of his lease. As an inducement, the tenant explained that in addition to the other improvements that he had made, he had planted a great number of trees. The landlord turned up his nose, and remarked, "Sir, I give you no thanks for planting trees, my agent tells me they only encourage sparrows to destroy the corn." Many landlords exacted the payment of their rents a few months after it was due, some in a few days; but the usual custom was to leave half a year's often a whole year's rent in the tenants hands, called the hanging gale. Often landlords were obliged to take their rent in small sums as the tenant received it at fairs or markets.
Houses and lands were liable to local taxation - the County Cess, generally called public money - levied by the grand Jury. This tax, or cess, fluctuated year by year from 5d. to 18d. per acre for the spring half year and in summer it was much higher. The cess varied in every barony. Other charges in addition to the county cess were quit rent at 21/2d. per acre; vestry money for church (Established) repairs of about 11/2d. per acre. Hearth, window, dogs, and carriage taxes, with a number of voluntary taxes, such as one for the destruction of vermin.
The wretched conditions of the rural labourers in Galway was a necessary consequence of the deficiency of employment. The supply of labourers being so much greater than the demand for them, the landlords were able to rate their wages at the lowest amount which would support life. Various expedients were adopted for enabling these low wages to provide necessaries for the labourers and their families, all consisting of some method of obtaining a small portion of land for raising a stock of potatoes as a supply of food for the year.
Failure of the Potato Crop
The prolific but uncertain root on which the Galway rural population, like the rest of the Irish people, became, year after year, more dependent for existence, had their hopes dashed in several seasons. Before the Great Famine there were a number of failures of the potato and the corn crops. In 1724-5 there was severe weather resulting in failure of corn crops, due to blight, and the price of barley rose to 400 per cent, and oatmeal to 200 per cent, when the distress of the peasantry was due to premature consumption of potatoes. In 1726-9 floods were followed by frosts, the corn crop failed; winter stocks of potatoes were consumed two months earlier than usual; and thousands died of famine which lasted till 1729 and inspired Swift's Modest Proposals. 1739 saw very severe frosts in early November which continued throughout the winter. The potato crop was destroyed by rotting and by frost, and there was a shortage of food throughout 1740 and 1741. A very wet season caused the failure of potato and corn crops, especially the latter, with secondary rot in tubers in store.
Large numbers are said to have died throughout the country and the Viceroy, the Duke of Bedford, sanctioned 20,000 for relief. Owing to the shortage of potatoes, corn rose to exorbitant prices in 1765-6, a year which began very wet and was followed by a drought and subsequent frost which ruined the potatoes in the clamps. Government bought and distributed corn to the poor, and forbade the export of corn and its use in distilleries. Drought and 'curl' in 1769-70 with the failure of the potato crop, caused widespread distress, although the export of food continued on a large scale after the harvest. With late Autumn frost and heavy snow in January, the season of 1784 saw the freezing of tubers and secondary rots, great distress, and a great increase of emigration to America. The lack of growth and the partial failure of the potato crop due to the severe drought of 1801 caused starvation and scurvy among the poor; and the great distress in Galway in 1807 was caused by the severe frost in November and throughout the year. There was a partial failure of the potato crop through lack of growth - half of the crop being destroyed. Following the shortage of the 1816 crop famine conditions ensued in 1817. There was a typhus epidemic in parts of Galway, some evictions, rot in the clamps and total failure of the oat crop. The year opened with a drought and was followed by a very wet autumn.
The year 1821 with its frosts in spring, a dry summer and a very wet autumn threw a great part of the West, including Galway into a state of decided famine. Potatoes were planted late. May was cold; in June there was frost with a north wind, and sometimes a scorching sun. the autumn was wet and severe, and the consequent floods did extensive injury. Hay floated of the lowland meadows, and in some places fields of potatoes were completely washed out of the ground and carried away. There were deaths from starvation, and the Government failed to provide potatoes or oats. The famine was met by Government grants; by the contributions from the London Tavern Committee; the Dublin Mansion House Committee and to a limited extent by private charity. In June, 1822, the Government voted 100,000 "for the employment of the poor in Ireland, and other purposes relating thereto, as the exigency of affairs may require." In July of the same year the sum of 200,000 was voted "to enable His Majesty to take such measures as the exigency of affairs may require." The London Tavern Committee, with the aid of a letter written by the King, received subscriptions amounting to 304,280 17s. 6d., of which 44,177 9s. was raised in Ireland. The Dublin Mansion House Committee collected 30,406 11s. 41/2d and the total sum from charitable collections was 334,587 8s. 101/2d., of which 74,584 0s. 41/2d., was raised in Ireland.
Famine conditions, especially on the coasts of Galway, Mayo and Donegal occurred through severe storms in 1830 which damaged crops, especially potatoes. In 1831, severe storms caused very late planting, dry rot attacked the potato crop, and the Government voted 74,000 for relief in the West. Large sums were collected for the same purpose in England and Ireland. Although 1832 was a good growing season potato seed suffered from dry rot and the whole crop was failure, being heaviest throughout Galway and Mayo. There was increased emigration to the United States in 1833 due to the failure of the potato crop. Curl attacked the growing crop. During the years 1835-7 there were partial failure too in County Galway; and with the excessively wet season of 1839 there appeared "Black Rust " in August, again resulting in the failure of the crop. The price of corn and potatoes rose to a great height, and relief was organised by Captain Chads of the Royal Navy on behalf of the Government. There was a very wet season, especially from August onwards, which caused "dry gangrene " of potatoes and a poor cereal crop in Galway, but distress was not severe.
Salaman states that
"within the domain of the potato itself, social distinction in Ireland occasionally came to be based on the variety of potato eaten. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the poor ate Lumpers and the rich Gregors Cups. The Lumper proved itself extremely susceptible to blight and played a sinister part in the famine years of 1845 and 1846. Prior to that, it had been extensively grown by the poorer classes in Galway and throughout Ireland. It was a good cropper, but poor in quality. The Cups, a red-skinned variety, was very popular and was grown extensively from 1808 onwards, and was a great favourite up till the Great Famine, as 'they stayed too long in the stomach.'"
For the Galway town market, large quantities of two very early varieties were grown from outside the town to Connemara - Windileers and Wicklow Bangers.
Labourers - 3 classes
Labourers were of three classes (1) unmarried servants, who resided with their employers; (2) cottiers, who held, in addition to their cabin, a small lot of ground at a fixed rate, generally payable in labour; (3) those who held only a cabin, with perhaps a few perches of land as a garden, and who depended for their subsistence chiefly on potatoes raised on land taken in con-acre. The first class, or farm servants were the more fortunate. They were provided with food, and their wages though small were sufficient to supply them with clothes, and even in some cases to allow them to save some portion of their earnings.
The other classes of labourers in general held their tenements from farmers, who usually received the rent in labour, calculated at the lowest rate of wages payable in the county. The cottiers with land, were the least miserable. They were in a general way in the position of sub-tenants of the allotments, which they held. They retained the same ground in their hands year after year, so as to derive the benefit of the manure, which they might be able to apply to it. The third class, holding merely a wretched cabin, or, with it, only a so-called garden, in general unable to obtain employment even at the lowest rate of wages, were the most wretched among the many wretched classes in the county. Their condition for the most part was miserable and destitute. According to the Devon Commission their average daily pay, when employed was 8d. Where labourers received food from their employers, their pay was, of course, less, and generally ranged from 4d. to 6d. per day. Women and boys employed in agricultural labour usually received half the wages paid to men. The miserable houses of the cottiers and labourers were sometimes built by the landlords, but often by the cottiers or labourers themselves. The Devon Commission considered it not an over-calculation to say that in many cases the rent paid for these hovels would exceed 50 per cent per annum upon their cost; this rent being generally paid in labour, taken at the lowest rate, and exacted at the most inconvenient or pressing time of the year.
Con-acre
The practice of letting land in con-acre was very prevalent in Galway. Con-acre was little known in eastern counties except as potato-land, or land let under a con-acre contract for a single crop of potatoes, but in Galway con-acre was frequently taken for the purpose of raising crops of oats, hay and flax, as well as potatoes, though potatoes was always the crop for which con-acre was chiefly sought. The vendor manured the ground, and performed all the labour required to prepare it for sowing, while the purchaser obtained the seed, planted it, and carried out all the subsequent labour. The price of con-acre varied in different districts of the county. Where the land and manure was good, or on rich ley land, it varied from 10 to 14 and Irish acre. On the poorer lands, however, the price was about 6 an acre, and sometimes less. Near the towns of Galway, Ballinasloe, Loughrea, Tuam and Gort, very high rates were charged for unmanured land, and was generally let for only one crop. The rent of con-acre was sometimes paid in cash, often in labour, and sometimes partly in cash and partly in labour. Although it was illegal, in default of payment local usage gave the vendor of con-acre a lien on the crop, entitling him to hold it until the rent was paid.
Farm Implements
Tillage in Galway, with the exception of some estates, was defective in the highest degree, whether as regards the permanent preparation of the land essential to successful tillage, the limited selection of the crops cultivated, or the relative succession and tillage of those crops. The ordinary methods followed were not only defective, but primitive. The common plough in general use was incapable of performing good work. Wakefield described it as chiefly made of wood, with a long beam. The breast, which was also of wood, had seldom any ground, and when there was one it was not shod. The shock or share had hardly any wing, so that the furrow was forced up by the breast of the plough. The sock in general use was of cast iron. The Scotch plough and Leicester-shire wheel was in use on the farms of a few landlords and was a small swing plough, described by Wakefield and others as a most excellent thing of its kind.
The harrow in general use was of a very crude construction. It was destructive in use, the teeth being so fixed that several followed each other in the same track, leaving much of the ground untouched, resulting in leaving much of the seed uncovered. Drill machines were used by few, but drill barrows were in constant use.
The small farmer and cottier had no other means of threshing other than the flail. The three parts of the flail were the helve or "hand-stave," a straight stick of any light wood such as ash or larch, the shorter and heavier swingel or beater, called the "souple," generally made of hazel, holly or birch, and the flail-joint hanging or "mid-kipple " which was of sheep-skin or goat-skin thong, a length of flax, or an eel skin.
Shovels on the whole, were made of wood, edged round and pointed with iron. Five different loys or spades were used in the county. The blade sometimes was straight sided, tapered slightly, or it expanded towards the mouth and like the two-eared spade it may have had a cranked or round life; but it was always narrow, ranging in width from 31/2 to 5 inches. The loy was, in fact, a specialised tool for sod-cutting and ridge-making. In Central Galway the loy had a 14 inch blade with a slightly fish-tailed edge which was a little wider than the foot end. It had a cranked lift. In East Galway a similar loy was fitted with a curious two-piece half; the foot-rest, or "spade-tree" which went into the socket of the blade was fastened to the ash shaft with iron bands.
Carts were only used by the landlords as they were too expensive for small farmers. Inside cars (those with the wheels under the body) with wooden axles were in general use, but the Leinster car (with the wheels outside the body) was also known. In Connemara and in hilly districts slide-cars shod with iron were in use. The Select Committee on the Employment of the Poor in Ireland stated that the plough, carts, and barrows were generally of the rudest description.
It is interesting to note that Lambert of Creggclare was the first landowner to introduce the threshing machine to Galway. Few farmers in the county had sufficient tillage to keep such a machine constantly at work.
Oxen were not generally used in the county in agriculture. A few landlords such as Sir John Blake of Marble Hill, Lord Ashtown, Lord Riverstown, Browne of Moyne, Martin of Ballinahinch and Bellew of Mountbellew, used them for most kinds of work. As a rule, the animals were yoked to their bare necks, no collar being used. Spayed heifers were, in some places, found to be superior to oxen. By the beginning of the nineteenth century the use of oxen was going out of fashion. Cottiers often yoked a horse and cow together, and some farmers used four oxen to a plough. The value set on one was from 2 to 2. 5s. each.
Breeds of Cattle
The breed of cattle in the county was almost entirely long horned. They were the produce of bulls of many years before, and were regularly imported from England during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The best heifers generally were sent to the great May fair of Ballinasloe. In the baronies of Ross, Moycullen, and Ballynahinch, the original breed were middle horned, usually of a black or rusty brown in colour, and were larger than the Kerry breed. The bulls generally had wide set horns like bullocks. Some of the bigger landlords owned a good many pedigree cattle, such as Devonshire's, Herefords, a few Teeswater, or short horned, a few Kerrys. Browne of Moyne regularly purchased calves in Aran. The prices of these calves on the islands and in the Galway market were higher comparatively then calves in other markets in the county. Mountainy cattle were subject to a disorder called the cripple, and were cured by bringing them to the sea shore, or to sandy river beaches, and feeding them on bran. Dutton records that cattle in 1803 were much leaner than in previous years due to a general lack of water.
Between 1827 and 1842 the Shorthorn came into popularity throughout East Galway, and specimens of the pure Shorthorn, or good crosses of this breed were to be seen. The prizes at the Ballinasloe Show in 1812 and 1813 carried, in addition, premiums of 50, 30 and 20 in each of the four classes for the best bulls:
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- Longhorn, Ulster or Connaught
- Longhorn, Leinster or Munster
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- Any other breed, Ulster or Connaught
- Any other breed, Leinster or Munster.
Wakefield wrote that in County Galway the whole of the summer grass was set apart for winter food, without hay or other artificial provider, and beasts so fed were brought in excellent condition to the May fair at Ballinasloe. The old native cattle were much esteemed by the dairymen of the midlands and south as they were excellent for the pail when brought down to more luxuriant grass.
Dairying
Dairying was almost unknown in the county except near the towns. On the west side of Galway large quantities of good butter was produced. Near every town supplies of butter, it would seem, were ample. Surplus butter was salted and generally sold in Galway. Dutton states,
"The merchants of Galway have lately very laudably offered premiums for the best butter, and I trust they will shortly become exporters. Mr. Dodd, who was formerly an eminent provision merchant in Dublin, and who is now weight-master and butter-qualifier of Galway, has taken every pains to improve and extend the butter trade."
There was a big demand for butter made at Barna, being "made of the natural colour of butter, and not spoiled by the addition of too much hot water." According to Dutton every cottier near Barna had a cow, some perhaps two. He did not think any cheese was made in the county, except cream cheese. A custom prevailed in the county which permitted the calf to empty two teats while the cow was being milked, the belief being that the calves would not thrive if fed any other way.
Generally, hay was the only winter food except where winter-age was kept. Little green winter feeding was available. Cottiers did, however, house their cattle at night in winter, and fed them potatoes, hay and straw in small quantities. Near towns possessing breweries grains, selling at 1s. 8d. per barrel, were in constant use for the feeding of stock. Meadows were cut as late as October for the purpose of getting as much as possible from the land; and a large part of the hay of the county was produced on callows.
Horses and Ponies
The garron - "the black horse, with legs overgrown with long legs " - was to be found all over the county. The Galway horse was, in fact, one of all-work. It had to carry the farmer to market, draw his small car, "and perform every other kind of labour necessary in his agricultural pursuits." It was, when young, in constant demand by the small farmers in the eastern counties.
The old breed of strong hunters, for which the county was famous had almost disappeared and had given place to what Dutton described as:
"mongrel racers, not able to carry weights, and could not stand a moment without exercise, and were so bandaged up with sheets and rollers, and carefully shut out from all air in their stables."
The breed of horses belonging to farmers and cottiers was generally poor, and were described as large, heavy and ill-shaped. There is no record of Suffolk punch horses being in use in the county. Through the efforts of the Dublin Society, and to the high prices paid for cavalry horses, the breed of horses was steadily improving.
Connemara had been famous for its ponies, and Dutton complained that from an injudicious cross with large stallions they had lost much of their celebrity, and that it was difficult to procure one of the true breed. He had seen some stallions in Martin's stables at Oughterard "quite sufficient to destroy the breed of any country, especially of Connemara." D'Arcy of Clifden had succeeded in improving the breed by obtaining a small sire.
The smaller farmers and cottiers relied on the ass for their carrying and the gradual replacement of the horse by this animal was regarded as a sign of increasing poverty. Asses were common upon holdings up to three acres, and were coming gradually to be employed in place of horses even upon large holdings.
Breeds of Sheep
The breed of sheep in the county had been generally improved by the beginning of the nineteenth century.
"When I first came to Ballinasloe," wrote Dutton,"having always heard so much of Connaught sheep, I was not a little surprised at seeing such multitudes with thick legs, booted with coarse wool down to their heels, and such a bushy wig of coarse wool on their heads, that you could scarcely perceive their eyes; at present they have nearly all disappeared, and given place to a fine breed, not to be equalled by the general stock of long woolled sheep in England."
The introduction of the Leicester ram, it was claimed, did deteriorate the wool, and the Farming Society of Ireland to rectify the failing offered premiums for the best ram's fleece. The breed of Merino sheep was confined to a few landlords. Dean French produced 246 fleeces of Merino on Ryland which sold for 1s. 11d. per lb., and 23 fleeces of third quality at 1s. 8d.; Athy sold 33 fleeces of pure Merino for 2s. 2d. per lb; and the Rev. Mr. Vincent had 20 fleeces of pure Merino breed with the native short wool sheep. South Down sheep were not much liked in Connemara, the wool being too short as compared with the native breed which had longer and finer wool.
The breeders of sheep were more careful of the condition and quality of their flocks than any other livestock breeder. The wool produced by Galway sheep was reputed to be both large in quantity per head and excellent in quality. The mutton produced was for the Galway farmer, a less important factor, in the money he received for sheep rearing, than the wool.
Pigs
Wakefield found pigs:
"in such general request that they are to be met with in every part of the Kingdom. No house is without one. They are kept to a considerable age, sometimes to that of two years, and are seldom fed upon corn."
Trimmer in A Brief Inquiry into the State of Agriculture in the Southern Parts of Ireland (1809) states:
"There is scarcely a tenant of any cabin who is not possessed of one hog of a very large kind, and from its being the custom to keep it to the age of two and sometimes three years, it becomes an enormous size."
Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall during their tour through County Galway describes the original Connaught pig which they found very prevalent in the county:
"He is a long, tall and unusually, spare animal; with a singularly sharp physiognomy, and remarkably keen eyes. His race is still preferred by the peasantry; for he will 'feed upon anything' - even the thin herbage of the common; and the 'rearing' costs neither trouble nor expense. For the purpose of sale, however, he is useless; and as it is the pig that 'pays the rent' and is seldom or never bought up for 'home consumption,' the Connaught pig is nearly extinct and probably in a few years will be found only in pictures."
The Halls added that ugly and unserviceable as were the Connaught pigs, they were the most intelligent of their species. They told of an acquaintance of theirs having taught one to 'point', and that the animal found game as correctly as a pointer; that he 'gave tongue' too, after his own fashion, by grunting in a sonorous tone; and that he understood when he was to take the field as well as any dog. It would seem that the Connaught pigs used to prefer their food - potatoes - raw to boiled, and could live well and comfortably where other pigs would starve. They were capable of scrambling over walls, and of running up mountains like goats.
The Farming Society of Ireland did much to foster the improvement of the swine of the county. The Society gave 30 and two medals for competition annually at Ballinasloe between 1812 and 1816. In 1816, however, only two awards were made, the report stating "So few swine have appeared at the present or last shows, that the society will probably discontinue the premiums and encourage the propagation of the best breeds by other means." In October 1818, we read in connection with the Ballinasloe Fair, "the Society will distribute a number of well bred boars and sows and grant a moderate encouragement for keeping them."
Caused by the great demand by jobbers, particularly from Waterford, as from the demand from England, especially from around Manchester, the price of pigs remained high in County Galway until 1820, when there followed a sudden and big fall in prices.
Manure
The principal manure was called black mud or mooreen - the surface of a bog - brought home generally in baskets or kishes, and spread about the yard, sometimes up to the door of the cabin. This was mixed with any dung, clay or gravel, that could be scraped together and if near a road, the cottiers often dug away part of it, and the ditches too, on either side. These attacks on roads and ditches often brought forth strong threats from the magistrates. Dutton states that he saw a tenant on the estate of Miss Netterfield prepare compost. Another manure was ashes, prepared by burning the surface soil and was generally used for potatoes. Although this practice of burning soil was illegal, it was nevertheless carried out on quite a big scale. This paring and burning (denshiring) was according to Estyn Evans, a survival from ancient custom, and a peculiar tool, the flachter, designed for skimming was used for the purpose. Sometimes the old thatch of the cottage, soaked with soot from the turf fire, was another source of manure. A kind of manure called oyster bank sand, and seaweed, were used along the coast, especially in Connemara. Lime was used between Oughterard and Glan.
Pasture
Pasture occupied a great part of the lands of the county and varied from the rich feeding grounds of Ballydonnelan and district, to the light, healthy sheep walks between Monivea and Galway and extending into County Clare. Between Tuam and Castlebar the land was light and sound. Lettings fell in 1814 from an average of 34s. an acre to as low as 15s. in 1823, due to the agricultural depression following the Napoleonic War. Considerable pasture was available on the different turloughs, especially that of Turloughmore, which extended from Claregalway to Tuam and fed seven or eight sheep to the acre for about four months. An extensive country of many miles between Athenry and Adrahan, stretching down to the sea at Kinvara, was chiefly occupied by sheep. Between Craughwell and Galway for several miles in area, pasturage was the general occupation.
The pasturage of cottiers was generally ground converted for the purpose after a long series of crops, frequently wet and fed on by their cattle. In 1815 agricultural prosperity reached a high level, caused by the demands for supplies for the armies and navies. In that year, however, the war ended and a period of severe agricultural decline set in. The fall in the price of corn threw many large tracts of land out of tillage. Land was thrown into pasture and it has been stated that tillage was practised only by the poorest class of farmer. It was relatively easy, so far as law and custom were concerned to switch the agricultural system from one of pasturage to one of tillage. The switch-over was paid for in terms of human sufferings, and with the lives of cottiers and labourers.
The victory of Waterloo was followed by a great slump which seriously affected the rural labourers and cottiers in Galway. They found themselves evicted on the roadsides and as already stated, the demand for corn fell and there was a return to pasture, followed by the consolidation of holdings and abolition of small ones. A wave of eviction started gradually and reached its maximum by 1830, when it was halted by the Whiteboy Association on a number of estates in East Galway including those of Clanricarde, and on the Martin property in Connemara. Scoope, in his Letters to Lord Melbourne, wrote, "But for the salutary dread of the Whiteboy Association, ejectment would desolate Ireland and decimate her population ...." By Acts of Parliament passed between 1816 and 1820 power was given to the landlords to distrain on the tenants growing crops; keep them till ripe, and sell them when harvested. This meant that the tenant's sole subsistence, his potatoes, whether they were off his conacre land or from the patch of land near his cabin, could be seized and he and his family left without food. Many cottiers and labourers were imprisoned.
Information on the insecurity of tenure, parliamentary encouragement of eviction, the problem of finding land on which to grow their potatoes may be read from the evidence submitted to the Commission of Inquiry on the Irish Poor of 1835. The tenants had to emigrate or starve and the greater part of the emigration of the period was in no sense voluntary. The Census Emigration Returns showed that there left from the port of Galway during the ten years ended the 6th June,1841, 2,823 persons of which 2,484 went to Canada and 339 to the United States.
Robert D'Arcy, Land Agent to the Marquess of Clanricarde, in his evidence before the Devon Commission, stated that there was generally double or treble the people upon the townland than can live upon it. A direction was given to the land surveyor to lay it out in 15 or 20 acres, and then the great difficulty arose what to do with the tenants. About a mile from the town (Loughrea) there were about twelve persons to be disposed of. They cast lots for the land on condition that each man going out was to get 20, his lordship paying half, and the tenant who got the land paying the other half. This was settled, they got their money, and a good many went to America. D'Arcy settled with forty-nine other tenants, by giving them a free passage to America, amounting to 78 18s. 4d. He added that in the harvest of 1842, the estate paid to a Mr. Harvey a shipowner, 117 18s. 9d. for passages for fifty-six persons.
The Napoleonic War contributed chiefly to keeping up prices. By 1816 cattle prices fell. Calves could be bought cheaply and many farmers who during the war would have sold them to graziers for stock, fattened and killed them. Dutton records that in 1807 cattle were uncommonly cheap, and a general slaughter of calves and young cattle took place and the consequence was that in three years the prices rose. There was no fall in the price of sheep, but rather a rise. Wool sold in 1815 for 26s. a stone. In 1819 it rose to 32s., but fell in 1820 to 20s. a stone.
When malt only was used at the distilleries and breweries the towns of Galway, Loughrea, Tuam, Ballinasloe, Gort, Eyrecourt and Mountbellew, were well supplied with grain, but the demand for barley was decreasing generally. The numerous flour mills helped to increase and improve the cultivation of wheat, and afforded the farmer a ready sale for his corn. Tuam, Loughrea, Gort, Ballinasloe and Eyrecourt had market-houses, but Galway, where large quantities of grain were sold, was without one. Until 1810, the market house was a cellar in Market Street, according to Dutton, but from that date it was held in merrick (now Eyre) Square. Hardiman stated that , "A suitable market-house is much wanted, the old ruinous stable now used for the purpose being quite inadequate ..." Until after the Union little grain was exported from Galway. In 1804 a Thomas Appleyard began the trade which was extended by Messrs. Joyce,Messrs. Clarke, and some other merchants during the Napoleonic War. Payment was made in cash and sometimes by notes at short dates. Corn was usually sold by sample.