Sources Essay of Joe Clarke

 

Sources for the History of Mount Bellew Estate, 1800-1850

Mount Bellew was slightly unusual in that the Catholic Bellew landlords retained their east Galway estate through the Penal era. In her book, Karen Harvey described their prosperity and social status as they entered the 19th century.

My essay will focus on sources describing conditions for tenants on landed estates between the Union and the Famine. There is valuable material in the Bellew Estate Papers but I need external, comparative evidence of the impact made by national trends at a local level, particularly on the lives of tenant labourers.

Themes I hope to explore include:

  1. Demographic trends
  2. Land rental
  3. Labour rates
  4. Food crises
  5. Health issues
  6. Agricultural production
  7. Estate management

Joe Clarke

joeclarke@eircom.net