‘I Think the Greed of Land Is at the Root of This Class of Crime’

This chapter examines the consequences behind the house burnings. It studies the burning of Big Houses such as Moydrum or Summerhill or Kilmorna to reveal that, for whatever loose political or military reason, these burnings simultaneously ended centuries of landlord presence in an area and provided access to a sizeable amount of productive agricultural land to be divided amongst locals. In essence, micro social revolutions took place across the country. In the final analysis, while a Big House owner may have been a Protestant and a Unionist/Loyalist, a spy or informer, it was their traditional role as landlord that explained the lingering resentment in many localities, especially amongst those who had agrarian as opposed to political agendas, and it is arguable that the former were in the majority. Thus, as the chapter shows, the burning of Big Houses, and more widespread intimidation of their owners, was an effective stratagem to drive the owner away, leaving lands available for redistribution.