1853 — 1915

Land & Liberty

The survivors organise. The Land League breaks landlordism, and Parnell makes Home Rule the question of British politics. The GAA in 1884 and the Gaelic League in 1893 rebuild a pride in games and in language. By 1914 Home Rule is law, and suspended for a world war. Ulster and Ireland are both armed and drilling.

Open this age on the atlas ↗

Click any county to open its page.

Who holds the land

County boundaries were fixed in 1610 and are the ones shown here. The colours are an approximation of who held sway, county by county.

United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland ↗
After the 1798 rising, the Act of Union (1801) abolished the Irish parliament. Ireland sent MPs to Westminster — and O'Connell, Parnell and Redmond fought there to loosen the knot.

Antrim Armagh Carlow Cavan Clare Cork Donegal Down Dublin Fermanagh Galway Kerry Kildare Kilkenny Laois Leitrim Limerick Derry / Londonderry Longford Louth Mayo Meath Monaghan Offaly Roscommon Sligo Tipperary Tyrone Waterford Westmeath Wexford Wicklow

🕯 Unknown history The word 'boycott' is a Mayo export. In 1880 the Land League ostracised land agent Captain Charles Boycott so completely (no labourers, no shops, no postman) that within weeks his name was a verb in newspapers worldwide.
One of these for every age and every county →

Sources for this age

The map is this site's reading of who held each county, drawn onto today's borders; the articles above are where each power and event can be checked.

People of this age

Charles Stewart Parnell — The 'uncrowned king of Ireland'
Michael Davitt — Land League founder, one-armed Fenian
Douglas Hyde — Gaelic League founder, later first President
Edward Carson — Dublin barrister who led Ulster's resistance
Anna Parnell — Ran the Ladies’ Land League, and its £60,000 of relief, while the men were in Kilmainham

Almost everyone who lived through this age left no name. Records keep kings, abbots and whoever could write, so this is a list of who was written about rather than who was here.

📜 The chronicle — events of this age

1858

The Fenians ↗

The Irish Republican Brotherhood is founded in Dublin on St Patrick's Day; its American twin, the Fenian Brotherhood, follows the same year.

1866

The transatlantic cable at Valentia ↗

From Valentia Island, Kerry, the first fully successful telegraph cable to America goes live — Europe and the New World now minutes, not weeks, apart.

1867

Fenian rising ↗

The rebellion fizzles, but the Manchester Martyrs' deaths ignite a generation.

1879

Land War begins ↗

Davitt's Land League rises in Mayo — the same year as the apparition at Knock.

1880

Captain Boycott ostracised ↗

Mayo invents a word the whole world adopts within weeks.

1884

GAA founded ↗

In Hayes's Hotel, Thurles, seven men organise Gaelic games into a national movement.

1886

First Home Rule Bill ↗

Gladstone converts to Irish self-government; the bill splits his party and fails.

1893

Gaelic League founded ↗

Douglas Hyde's movement to 'de-anglicise Ireland' — nursery of a revolutionary generation.

1904

Abbey Theatre opens ↗

Yeats and Lady Gregory give the revival a national stage.

1907

The Crown Jewels vanish ↗

The Irish Crown Jewels are discovered missing from Dublin Castle days before a royal visit. Despite a viceregal commission, they have never been found.

1912

Ulster Covenant ↗

471,000 sign against Home Rule (one leader’s claim to have signed in blood is disputed); the Belfast-built Titanic sinks the same year.

1913

Lockout and Volunteers ↗

Dublin's great labour war; rival volunteer armies begin to drill.

Quick answers

When was Land & Liberty in Ireland?

Land & Liberty spans 1853 to 1915 in this atlas. The survivors organise.

Who ruled Ireland during Land & Liberty?

United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland held the whole island in this atlas's reckoning. After the 1798 rising, the Act of Union (1801) abolished the Irish parliament. Ireland sent MPs to Westminster — and O'Connell, Parnell and Redmond fought there to loosen the knot.

What is a lesser-known fact about Land & Liberty?

The word 'boycott' is a Mayo export. In 1880 the Land League ostracised land agent Captain Charles Boycott so completely (no labourers, no shops, no postman) that within weeks his name was a verb in newspapers worldwide.

↗ links go to the relevant Wikipedia article for each event and ruler (sources & further reading).

Spotted an error, or know a better story for this age? Suggest a correction.