Westport’s United Irish League
The year opened amid real anxiety in the poorer western districts. The difficult seasons of 1897 and early 1898 had exposed the fragility of many small holdings, especially in Connacht. Potato supplies mattered greatly to households with little margin for failure, while much land was still held as large grazing farms. To small farmers and labourers living on congested or uneconomic plots, the sight of extensive pasture could make the unequal distribution of land appear as immediate a hardship as rent itself.