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Tithe War
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The Tithe War in Ireland (1831-36) refers to a series of periodic skirmishes and violent incidents connected to Catholic resistance to the statutory obligation to pay tithes for the upkeep of the Anglican Church of Ireland.
e payment was a traditional obligation on those working the land to pay ten per cent of the value of certain types of agricultural produce for the upkeep of the Church.
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Encyclopedia
The Tithe War in Ireland (1831-36) refers to a series of periodic skirmishes and violent incidents connected to Catholic resistance to the statutory obligation to pay tithes for the upkeep of the Anglican Church of Ireland.
Background
Tithe payment was a traditional obligation on those working the land to pay ten per cent of the value of certain types of agricultural produce for the upkeep of the Church. After the Reformation in Ireland, tithe payments were directed to the established Protestant church, the Church of Ireland. This church was not supported by the majority, who were more than seventy-five percent Roman Catholic.
In 1829 the Wellington government succeeded in passing the (Catholic Emancipation Act) in 1829, despite defiant royal opposition to the emancipation for U.K. Catholics promised during implementation of the Act of Union in 1801. Passage paved the way for election of Daniel O'Connell as the first Catholic to enter the U.K. parliament. Nonetheless, the tithe obligation remained until 1869 and the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland by the Gladstone government. The tithe burden lay on tenant farmers. More often than not, tithes were paid in the form of livestock. In 1830, given the system of benefices in the Church of Ireland, almost half the clergy were not resident in the parishes to which they were assigned. Some even lived in England. These facts increased farmers' resistance to paying for their support.
After the Emancipation, a campaign of resistance to collection began. It was successful enough to have a serious financial effect on the welfare of established church clergy. In 1831 the government compiled lists of defaulters and issued collection orders for the seizure of goods and chattels (mostly stock). Spasmodic violence broke out in various parts of Ireland , particularly in counties Kilkenny, Tipperary and Wexford. The armed Irish Constabulary, established in 1822, attempted to enforce the orders of seizures, often taking stock and produce at markets and fairs, where crowd witnessed the entire process.
The "War" 1831-36
The first clash of the Tithe War took place on 3 March, 1831 in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny when a force of 120 armed police tried to enforce seizure orders on cattle belonging to a Roman Catholic priest. With the approval of his bishop, he had organised people to resist Tithe collection; his example soon spread. Shortly afterward, in Bunclody, county Wexford, a crowd resisting the seizure of cattle was fired upon by the Irish Constabulary. They killed twelve and wounded twenty. This massacre caused people to organise resistance and use warning such as church bells to signal the community of the approach of police. On 14 December, 1831, resisters used such warnings to ambush a detachment of 40 armed police at Carrickshock in County Kilkenny. They killed twelve constables, including the Chief Constable, and wounded many of the rest.
The U.K. Government reinforced the army, as it feared a repeat of the 1798 uprising. Taking stock of the continuing resistance, in 1831 the authorities recorded 242 homicides, 1,179 robberies, 401 burglaries, 568 burnings, 280 cases of cattle-maiming, 161 assaults, 203 riots and 723 attacks on property directly attributed to tithe-enforcement. Nonetheless, it continued enforcement of payment. In 1835 the conflict came to a head with the Rathcormac massacre, County Cork, when armed Irish Constabulary and military reportedly killed 17 locals and wounded some 30 more, in the course of enforcing a tithe order of 40 shillings.
Outcome
The government was alarmed by several aspects of this massacre: the order to fire was given by a clergyman, so many were killed for such a pittance, and the people strongly withstood several volleys and at least one charge by the troops. Finding collection and the associated outrages an increasing strain, one official lamenting that “it cost a shilling to collect tuppence”, the government suspended collections.
In 1839 parliament introduced the Tithe Commutation Act. This reduced the amount payable by about a quarter and made the remainder payable in rent to landlords. They were to pass payment on to the authorities. Tithes were thus effectively added to a tenant's rent payment. This partial relief and elimination of the confrontational collections ended the conflict. Roman Catholics, however, were still required to pay toward maintenance of the Church of Ireland until its disestablishment by the Gladstone government in 1869.
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