The Wyndham Land Act, 1903: The Final Solution To The Irish Land Question?

The Irish Land Act, 1903 was better known as the Wyndham Act after its author George Wyndham, chief secretary o f Ireland from 1900 to 1905. Despite being the most comprehensive and ambitious of all o f the land acts introduced by the British government for Ireland, it has received little attention from historians. In fact, apart from some contemporary explanatory legal texts, there is not a single published work devoted to the Wyndham Act. This thesis intends to address that lacuna and provide the first scholarly study o f the act from its origins to its subsequent amendment by the 1909 land act. By extension this thesis is a study o f various aspects o f the Irish land question from c.1900 to 1909. However, it does not purport to be a systematic examination of the nationalist political response to the act or, indeed, o f its contribution to the history o f the United Irish League (U.I.L.). Nor is it a comprehensive analysis o f the unionist political response. While both have been examined and their relationship to the land question and the Wyndham Act investigated they do not form the central focus of this thesis. Instead the main focus is on the origins, operation and legacy of the act.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

National University of Ireland Maynooth

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Cosgrove, Patrick John

• History

Language dc:language

en