November 1st, 1847: Lord Clarendon meets a bishops' delegation which lays "at the foot of the throne the starving and awful condition" of Ireland. The Lord Lieutenant, believing Archbishop MacHale is the principal author of the episcopal statement, finds him surprisingly reasonable. Encouraged, Clarendon now writes to MacHale expressing concern at rural disturbances and clerical involvement.
This formidable archbishop, gratified that for the first time a government has sought his advice, replies outlining the situation in the west. The Poor Law is utterly inadequate. As evictions intensify the human misery, "the struggling people are burdened with the support of these outcasts from their homes". Men enraged by hunger and despair threaten the "derangement of society", he concludes.
Fear of social disorder is a constant concern of the clergy "anxious to preserve the souls of their flock from crime". The increase in evictions, coming on top of hunger and disease, has provoked a number of murders and attempted murders of landlords and agents.
In Ennistymon, Co Clare, a priest expects infractions of the law from people who say they would prefer to be shot by the military "than die the cruel death of starvation".
Alarmed at the prospect of a peasants' revolt, Clarendon impresses on the cabinet that Ireland needs help urgently: "It is impossible that this country can get through the next eight months without aid in some shape or other from England. Irish ingratitude and the poverty of England may be urged . . . but none of these reasons will be valid against helpless starvation or servile war."
James Fintan Lalor convenes a meeting of farmers in Holycross, Co Tipperary, to form a tenant league. A considerable number of the 4,000 present appear to be comfortable farmers.
Lalor says their principal object is to establish in Tipperary "the tenant-right of Ulster", which he defines as security of tenure so long as the tenant pays a fair rent.
The chairman, Michael Doheny, saw three cabins levelled this week. The notion is being promulgated among landlords that small farmers should be got rid of. Will the people submit tamely to the destruction or deportation of this class, he asks. Doheny urges constitutional rather than violent means. He advises payment of rent "where you are able but . . . not to starve for the sake of meeting any demand". He rebuts a widelyheld view that parliament has no power to interfere with the rights of property.
Meanwhile, "midnight legislators" are organising sporadic resistance to the payment of rents and poor rates. Near Mullinahone, between 60 and 100 armed men imprison two bailiffs while corn seized in lieu of rent is carried off. Elsewhere in Co Tipperary, constables protecting a rate collector fix bayonets to keep the people at bay.