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The Golden Age (500 - 1300) : Christianity spread across Ireland and the area became an area of peace and learning. As there were no towns, the Monastry became the chief centre of all social activity and culture. It was for prayer; to learn a trade; a hostel; a hospital; an almshouse and a market place, Inishmacsaint being one of the early Monastries.
The English invasion at first was gradual with the north of Ireland strongly resisting. They were Catholic and wanted to stay that way. These peaceful people had adjusted to invasion without resistance for centuries. They were farming people responsible for their small farms. The land was owned by a sept (clan) that allocated it to families within their sept. The farms became smaller as the number of families increased.
By 1600 the English began to invade North Ireland in earnest. James I decided to confiscate all the land and dealt it out to the new landlords from England and Scotland. The Plantation Era had begun. The tenant farmers were to be English and Scottish. Those from Scotland came in droves. Among them were my Johnstons; Irvines; Dundas; Creightons with the Crawfords and Hassards from England. All were tenant farmers and my ancestors ....., some became landowners and prominent people within the area. The Irish Catholics were forced to take a backseat. They became labourers, very poor unlanded people with even their religion curtailed.
The original Irish farmers tilled their land to produce wheat, barley and oats with a few sheep and cattle. The new tenant farmers, the Planters, wanted to make their fortunes as did their landlords, so corn for export was planted, cattle grazed and flax grown to establish the Linen Industry. The staple diet was one meal per day consisting of oatmeal bread, wild vegetables and butter (potatoes were in the south but as yet had not reached Fermanagh.
British villages were established, Churchill being amongst the first. In 1612 the town of Inniskillen was founded later to be known as Enniskillen, the governing town of the county. The Church of Ireland came into being as did the Presbyterian. The planters were happy but the Irish were not. Preachers made no attempt to speak Irish, so the Catholics were not encouraged to become Protestants. They were just ignored.
In 1649 Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland to "put down the papists". He confiscated the land of the rebels and reallocated it. The problem was not solved; the Catholic Irish refused to become Protestants and the Planters who were Protestant, refused to become Catholic.
Rent "had to be paid" to the rich Protestant landowners or to the church of Ireland. All had to pay a "tithe" (tax) to the church of Ireland even if they did not own land and just worked for a wage. Landlords or owners were often absent, paid men to collect the rent and in general were not interested in their tenants or labourers, doing nothing to improve their living or working conditions. The proud Scots became tired of living and working like slaves. Their leases had run out and being outbid by the Irish Catholics bidding for their own land, they decided there was no real tie with Ireland, so they left by the thousands, heading for north America and Canada. The land became more crowded and conditions worsened. The staple diet was now potato-meal milk with the entire country existing on it.
1800 saw the tenants join rank with the land owners, showing a united front to the Irish Catholics who were now too numerous and aggressive. The Great Potato Famine of 1845 - 1847 saw the loss of over40,000 people in Fermanagh alone. The effects of the famine lasted until 1851 and post famine, Fermanagh saw farm sizes increase with better homes and fewer families (less people in general as most had died or left the country). The church of Ireland was abolished and with it those "tithes". The Wesleyan Methodist Church was established but many refused to join, instead forming their own church, the Primitive Methodist, maintaining the link with the old church. It was the Primitive Methodist that my Johnston family helped to establish in Windsor Rd, Old Toongabbie.
The Ulster Custom allowed a tenant to sell or auction the remainder of the lease to the incoming tenant. Tenants, if the lease was almost finished, refused to improve their land. They just migrated. The River Erne flooded every year. The land was poorly drained being mainly bog so the impact of the potato blight was extremely severe.
Added to all the above was typhoid in 1817 and 1818. The churches and authorities directed the peasants to scrape and then scrub their floors (compact dirt) but this did not avert further disaster. In 1823, 1833, 1834 and 1844, cholera hit closely followed by the Potato Famine.
I would suggest that our ancestors came to Australia to get away from health, political and religious problems and to get a new start in a new country. Tens of thousands had gone to North America and Canada in the 1700s but was there room for more? People were leaving Ireland by the shipfull just to get away.
It was noted that most of the migrants were Planters coming of their own free will and unassisted, they had no ties and felt free to settle anywhere.
None of my family appears to have been short of money when they came to Australia so I would guess they converted their leases to cash. My Johnstons started coming to Australia in 1850 with three generations settking in the Parramatta/Toongabbie area.
The Irish - County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
JOHNSTON CREIGHTON
DUNDAS HASSARD
IRVINE CRAWFORD
The English invasion at first was gradual with the north of Ireland strongly resisting. They were Catholic and wanted to stay that way. These peaceful people had adjusted to invasion without resistance for centuries. They were farming people responsible for their small farms. The land was owned by a sept (clan) that allocated it to families within their sept. The farms became smaller as the number of families increased.
By 1600 the English began to invade North Ireland in earnest. James I decided to confiscate all the land and dealt it out to the new landlords from England and Scotland. The Plantation Era had begun. The tenant farmers were to be English and Scottish. Those from Scotland came in droves. Among them were my Johnstons; Irvines; Dundas; Creightons with the Crawfords and Hassards from England. All were tenant farmers and my ancestors ....., some became landowners and prominent people within the area. The Irish Catholics were forced to take a backseat. They became labourers, very poor unlanded people with even their religion curtailed.
The original Irish farmers tilled their land to produce wheat, barley and oats with a few sheep and cattle. The new tenant farmers, the Planters, wanted to make their fortunes as did their landlords, so corn for export was planted, cattle grazed and flax grown to establish the Linen Industry. The staple diet was one meal per day consisting of oatmeal bread, wild vegetables and butter (potatoes were in the south but as yet had not reached Fermanagh.
In 1649 Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland to "put down the papists". He confiscated the land of the rebels and reallocated it. The problem was not solved; the Catholic Irish refused to become Protestants and the Planters who were Protestant, refused to become Catholic.
Rent "had to be paid" to the rich Protestant landowners or to the church of Ireland. All had to pay a "tithe" (tax) to the church of Ireland even if they did not own land and just worked for a wage. Landlords or owners were often absent, paid men to collect the rent and in general were not interested in their tenants or labourers, doing nothing to improve their living or working conditions. The proud Scots became tired of living and working like slaves. Their leases had run out and being outbid by the Irish Catholics bidding for their own land, they decided there was no real tie with Ireland, so they left by the thousands, heading for north America and Canada. The land became more crowded and conditions worsened. The staple diet was now potato-meal milk with the entire country existing on it.
1800 saw the tenants join rank with the land owners, showing a united front to the Irish Catholics who were now too numerous and aggressive. The Great Potato Famine of 1845 - 1847 saw the loss of over40,000 people in Fermanagh alone. The effects of the famine lasted until 1851 and post famine, Fermanagh saw farm sizes increase with better homes and fewer families (less people in general as most had died or left the country). The church of Ireland was abolished and with it those "tithes". The Wesleyan Methodist Church was established but many refused to join, instead forming their own church, the Primitive Methodist, maintaining the link with the old church. It was the Primitive Methodist that my Johnston family helped to establish in Windsor Rd, Old Toongabbie.
The Ulster Custom allowed a tenant to sell or auction the remainder of the lease to the incoming tenant. Tenants, if the lease was almost finished, refused to improve their land. They just migrated. The River Erne flooded every year. The land was poorly drained being mainly bog so the impact of the potato blight was extremely severe.
I would suggest that our ancestors came to Australia to get away from health, political and religious problems and to get a new start in a new country. Tens of thousands had gone to North America and Canada in the 1700s but was there room for more? People were leaving Ireland by the shipfull just to get away.
It was noted that most of the migrants were Planters coming of their own free will and unassisted, they had no ties and felt free to settle anywhere.
None of my family appears to have been short of money when they came to Australia so I would guess they converted their leases to cash. My Johnstons started coming to Australia in 1850 with three generations settking in the Parramatta/Toongabbie area.
Written by : Gwen Bates, Member WFHG, TOL March 2005
Updated : 4 Oct 2007