Star of the Sea: A Postcolonial/Postmodern Voyage into the Irish FamineMain MenuAbout This ProjectStar of the Sea OverviewJoseph O'ConnorIn this section, you will learn more about Joseph O'Connor and the other works he producedPostcolonial TheoryPostmodernismThe Gothic in Star of the SeaHistorical FiguresLanguage and Music in Irish CultureBiology of the FamineLandlords, Tenants, and EvictionsIn the following pages, you'll learn about landlords, tenants, and evictions during the Irish Potato FamineGovernment Policies and EmigrationMediaMemorialsContributorsBrief biographies of the people who made this book.
Family evicted by their landlord during the Irish Land War c1879
1media/Paper-Grunge-Background-103-625x351.jpg2016-03-02T13:16:22-08:00How Tenants Were Evicted11Evictionsplain2016-04-10T12:10:18-07:00After seeing the reasons that led to evictions, it is also crucial to know about the ways landlords carried out evictions. “Although many landlords carried out evictions directly, there was an increased demand for the services of land agents with specialized knowledge of cost-cutting legal procedures and the innumerable practical difficulties encountered at eviction sites” (Murchadha 246). So these agents were the ones who attacked tenants directly and evicted them out of their cabins. Some landlords did not confront tenants directly. O’Connor remarks that “[these agents] would clamber onto the roofs of doomed cottages and saw through the main beams until the walls collapsed. Sometimes they’d simply burn out the people” (54). Sometimes, as Gray says, “landowners would give the evicted a few pounds compensation for peaceful surrender or allow them to carry away their thatched roofing” (68). It is clear that landlords who did not tolerate tenants who could not pay rent simply aimed to destroy tenants’ “dwellings” so that tenants would not return into them.
Works Cited Gray, Peter. The Irish Famine. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995. Print.
Murchadha, Ciarán Ó. "Famine Clearances." Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture. Ed. James S. Donnelly, Jr. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 245-247. World History in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
O'Connor, Joseph. Star of the Sea. Orlando: Harcourt, 2002. Print.
Researcher/Writer: Kalai Laizer Technical Designers: John Huebner and Ashley Hacker
