Ballinglass Incident
1846 CE.
Shown on the map at 53.484°, -8.341°.
The Ballinlass incident (Irish: Eachtra Bhaile an Leasa) was the eviction of 300 tenants on 13 March 1846 in Ireland, in the context of the Great Famine in Ireland (1845–1849). At this time, Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, governed directly by its parliament in London. Most Irish peasant farmers were tenants under landlords, producing cereals, potatoes and livestock. But only the potatoes remained as food for the farmers themselves; the other products were used for paying the rent and exported from Ireland to Great Britain. These exports continued when the potato crop failed in 1845. Farmers who failed to pay the rent in this situation were evicted from their homes and land. It is estimated that tens of thousands were evicted during the famine. The 300 inhabitants of the townland of Ballinlass in Galway County, in the Barony of Killian, northeast of Mountbellew, were relatively "wealthy" and able to pay their rent.
Text from the Wikipedia article Ballinlass incident, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.