Hearts of Steel

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | 614 words | Copyright

Hearts of Steel (Steelboys), a movement of agrarian protest. Originating in conflict over the general reletting of the Donegall estate in Co. Antrim in 1770, it spread during 1771–2 to Cos. Down, Londonderry, and Armagh, as a general protest against rent levels and evictions, as well as against local taxation (cess) and food prices. On 23 December 1770 500 or more Steelboys invaded Belfast and forcibly rescued a prisoner. As a movement of social protest that insisted on its exclusively Protestant character, the Steelboys have been seen as a precursor of both the United Irishmen and the Orange Order.

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