Agistment Dispute
Archived: 13 October 2026
In 1736, Ireland’s Protestant ruling order was tested and displayed through disputes, legislation, commemoration and print. The Commons opposed tithe on agistment, favouring landed interests against Church of Ireland clergy; Jonathan Swift attacked legislators in The Legion Club. Cork’s new civic arrangements combined cathedral rebuilding with a workhouse providing relief, discipline and compulsory labour. Dorset founded the Boyne obelisk, affirming a Protestant interpretation of Williamite victory. Catholic bishop James Gallagher published Irish-language sermons in Dublin, demonstrating resilient Catholic culture under penal restrictions. James Hamilton’s Dublin Daily Advertiser, the city’s first daily newspaper, reflected expanding commercial communication under unequal Protestant rule.