Land ownership talk opens new season of library lectures

The first of Cavan Library Service's Autumn Lectures for 2025 takes place on Thursday October 2 at 7pm in Johnston Central Library. Speakers taking part in this year’s series include Assistant Prof Jonathan Cherry, Prof Eunan O'Halpin, Prof Mary E Daly, Dr Brendan Scott, and Prof Edward Burke.

Dr Jonathan Cherry, who is an Assistant Professor at the School of History and Geography in DCU, will begin the series with a presentation titled 'Land ownership in County Cavan: a protracted revolution'. He will discuss the transfer of land ownership in County Cavan from landlord to tenant farmer which first began in the 1870s under the terms of the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland Act and continued down to the 1930s. Dr Cherry states that “This protracted revolution gradually removed the long-established landlord tenant relationship” thereby “creating a new class of owner occupiers”.

“However,” he adds, “a significant demand for land remained in the 1920s, as the Irish Land Commission sought to address both the need for new farm holdings, in addition to making some existing small farm holdings economically viable.”

The land identified in addressing these issues, was the untenanted land, in particular the demesne lands held directly by the landlords, which under legislation passed in 1923 could be acquired through compulsory purchase.

Jonathan’s lecture will firstly examine land ownership in County Cavan in the 1870s before charting the impact of land reform between 1870 and 1930 on changing land ownership in the county and will conclude by examining the interactions of the Irish Land Commission with the Farnham estate and their agency there between 1924 and 1931.

The five lectures are scheduled to take place each Thursday during October. Further details in relation to each lecture and venue will be provided in the coming weeks.