Fall of the landed class

THE history – or fate – of the Anglo-Irish in the 26 counties is well known. But what of that class’s experience in the North?

As Olwen Purdue of Queen’s University explains, like the history of the two states themselves, there are as almost as many differences as similarities.

Across Ireland, taxation – not least that levied in Lloyd George’s People’s Budget of 1909 – as well as the cost of labour, made the running of vast country houses increasingly difficult long before partition.