A writer has taken the trouble
of recording in a pamphlet Irish evictions, from 1840 to the 3rd of
March, 1846; a period of about five years. Up to March, 1846, evictions
_arising from the Famine_ had not really begun, although preparations
were being made for them; so that those recorded in the pamphlet were
carried out under no special pressure of circumstances whatever. The
writer premises that he regards his list as far from complete, inasmuch
as it was compiled chiefly from the public journals, and every evicting
landlord uses all his power and precaution to keep his evictions as
secret as possible; still, it was found on record, that there were over
8,000 individuals evicted in Ireland during those five years, many of
the evictions being attended with much hardship and suffering, such as
the removal of sick and dying persons in order to take possession. In
one case a dead body was actually carried out. In two instances,
comprising the dispossession of 385 individuals, the evictions took
place avowedly for the purpose of bringing in Protestant tenants; in a
third, 1175 persons were evicted by a noble lord, and although he did
not give his reason, his name and his whole career abundantly justify
the conclusion that this vast clearance was effected to make way for a
Protestant colony.
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