School: Abbeytown Convent N.S. (roll number 15043)

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1. Local Landlords (continued)

   “In the parish of Keash there was a landlord called Quirke.”

   

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   landlord and he died at an early age.
   The landlord who succeeded Quirke, was quite different. He was very kind to his tenants, and never expected rent from the poor people,who were unable to pay it. He allowed the tenants repair their homesteads as they pleased, and divided the land into farms giving each man an equal share.
   Every six months he invited all his tenants to his mansion which was situated near Ballymote. There they had feasting and drinking for about two days. Any tenant who failed to attend those feasts was punished by having his rent raised. During the Summer he made a feast for his tenants children, and he allowed his own children to play with them. This landlord was known as Scanlon.
   The old people say that during the time of the famine there lived a very cruel tyrant. He stored all his crops in large barns and when the tenants came to his gate begging for food, he turned them away and left them to die of starvation. Soon afterwards his crops were destroyed by rats and swarms of them infected his mansion. One by one his servants died of a terrible malady, and it is said that the landlord himself suffered dreadful torture

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. place-space-environment
      1. land management (~4,110)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Mr James Hannon

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Kesh, Co. Sligo