Captain Hamilton became the agent of the property in 1879, on the death of Mr. Vesey.  One of his earliest acts was to advise Mr. Brooke to grant an abatement of 25 per cent. in June 1881, while the Land Act was passing.  At the same time, he cautioned the tenants that this was only a temporary reduction, and advised them to get judicial rents fixed.

The League advised them not to do this, but to demand 25 per cent. reduction again in December 1881.  This demand was rejected, and forty writs were issued.  The tenants thereupon in January 1882 came in and paid the full rent, with the costs.

Eleven tenants after this went into Court, and in 1883 the Sub-Commissioners cut down their rents.  In five cases Mr. Brooke appealed.  What was the result before the Chief Commissioner?  The rent of Mary Green, which had been L43, and had been cut down by the Sub-Commissioners to L39, was restored to L43; the rent of Mr. Kavanagh, cut down from L57 to L52, was restored to L55; the rent of Pat Kehoe (one of the two tenants “ejected” from Mr. Brooke’s office as already stated), cut down from L81 to L70, was restored to L81; the rent of Graham, cut down from L38 to L32, 10s., was restored to L38.  Other reductions were maintained.

This appears to be the record of “rack-renting” on the Coolgreany property.

There are 114 tenants, of whom 15 hold under judicial rents; 22 are leaseholders, and 77 are non-judicial yearly tenants.  There are 12 Protestants holding in all a little more than 1200 acres.  All the rest are Catholics, 14 of these being cottier tenants.  The estate consists of 5165 acres.  The average is about L24, and the average rental about L26, 10s.  The gross rental is L2614, of which L1000 go to the jointure of Mr. Brooke’s mother, and L800 are absorbed by the tithe charges, half poor-rates and other taxes.  During the year 1886, in which this war was declared against him, Mr. Brooke spent L714 in improvements upon the property:  so in that year his income from Coolgreany was practically nil.

What in these circumstances would have been the position of this landlord had he not possessed ample means not invested in this particular estate?  And what has been the result to the tenants of this conflict into which it seems clear that they were led, less to protect any direct interest of their own than to jeopardise their homes and their livelihood for the promotion of a general agrarian agitation?  It is not clear that they are absolutely so far out of pocket, for I find that the Post-Office Savings Bank deposits at Inch and Gorey rose from L3699, 5s. 4d. in 1880 to L5308, 13s. in 1887, showing an increase of L1609, 7s. 8d.  But they are out of house and home and work, entered pupils in that school of idleness and iniquity which has been kept by one Preceptor from the beginning of time.

CHAPTER XV.[25]

* * * *—­Mrs. Kavanagh was quite right when she told me at Borris in March that this country should be seen in June!  The drive to this lovely place this morning was one long enchantment of verdure and hawthorn blossoms and fragrance.