Michael Davitt

Davitt, Michael

Davitt, Michael (1846–1906), nationalist and labour leader. Son of an evicted tenant farmer of Straide, Co. Mayo, Davitt spent his childhood and youth in Haslingden, Lancashire, where he lost his right arm in a factory accident in 1857. He joined the Fenian movement in 1865 and was sentenced in 1870 to fifteen years' penal servitude for gun‐running. Released on ticket‐of‐leave, December 1877, Davitt became an architect of the New Departure, a founder of the Land League, and leader of the agrarian struggle of 1879–82. He became disillusioned, however, as the emphasis shifted from a general reform of the agrarian system to a defence of the vested interests of the larger tenant farmers. Imprisoned in Portland jail from February 1881 to May 1882, Davitt, under the influence of Henry George, used the time to reformulate his agrarian ideas in the direction of land nationalization, a policy predicated upon an alliance of nationalist and British working‐class interests. However, the policy produced an open breach with Parnell in 1884 and failed to attract popular support. Despite his differences with Parnell, Davitt vigorously supported the Liberal–nationalist alliance. Following the party split 1890, he became anti‐Parnellite MP for Meath 1892, and West Mayo 1895–99. He helped found the United Irish League 1898, but was unattuned to changes in the land question since the 1870s, and bitterly critical of the Wyndham Act, 1903. He published Leaves from a Prison Diary (1885), and The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland (1904)

James Loughlin

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"Davitt, Michael." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Davitt, Michael." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-DavittMichael.html

"Davitt, Michael." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-DavittMichael.html

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Davitt, Michael

Davitt, Michael (1846–1906) Irish nationalist and land reformer. The son of an Irish farmer who had been evicted from his holding, he opposed the British-imposed land-holding system in Ireland. In 1865 he joined the IRISH REPUBLICAN BROTHERHOOD, a movement committed to the establishment of an independent republic of Ireland. He was sentenced to 15 years' penal servitude in 1870 for smuggling weapons for the FENIANS. Released in 1877 he helped found the Irish Land League in 1879, an organization formed to achieve land reform. With Charles Sewart PARNELL, he sought to protect Irish peasants against evictions and high rents. He was elected a Member of Parliament in 1882 while in prison, and again in 1892 and 1895. The agitation that he led influenced Gladstone to introduce the 1881 Irish Land Act, guaranteeing fair rents, fixity of tenure, and freedom to sell (the Three Fs) to tenants.

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"Davitt, Michael." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Davitt, Michael." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-DavittMichael.html

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Michael Davitt

Michael Davitt , 1846–1906, Irish revolutionary and land reformer. He joined the Fenian movement in 1865 and was imprisoned three times by the English for his revolutionary activities. Davitt and Charles Stewart Parnell were the leading figures in the organization of the National Land League in 1879 (see Irish Land Question ). Influenced by the theories of Henry George , Davitt broke with Parnell over the question of land nationalization. But he remained an important Irish leader and was instrumental in bringing the Parnell and anti-Parnell factions together in the United Irish League (1898).

Bibliography: See his The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland (1904); study by T. W. Moody, Davitt and Irish Revolution, 1846–1882 (1981).

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"Michael Davitt." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Davitt, Michael

Davitt, Michael (1846–1906). Irish nationalist. Born in the famine period, evicted at the age of 5, Davitt lost his right arm in an accident in a Lancashire cotton-mill when he was 12. He joined the Fenians and in 1870 was sentenced to fifteen years in gaol for treason-felony. Released after seven years, he persuaded Parnell of the potential in a land reform agitation. In October 1879 he formed the Irish Land League, with Parnell as president. He took a hostile line to Parnell after the divorce scandal and was returned to Parliament in 1895. Though his early belief in violence moderated, Davitt alienated many supporters by his anticlerical views and his collectivist attitude towards land.

J. A. Cannon

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JOHN CANNON. "Davitt, Michael." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Davitt, Michael." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-DavittMichael.html

JOHN CANNON. "Davitt, Michael." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-DavittMichael.html

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Davitt, Michael

Davitt, Michael (1846–1906). Irish nationalist. Born in the famine period, Davitt lost his right arm in an accident in a Lancashire cotton‐mill when he was 12. He joined the Fenians and in 1870 was sentenced to fifteen years in gaol. Released after seven years, in October 1879 he formed the Irish Land League, with Parnell as president. He took a hostile line to Parnell after the divorce scandal and was returned to Parliament in 1895. Though his early belief in violence moderated, Davitt alienated many supporters by his anticlerical views and his collectivist attitude towards land questions.

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JOHN CANNON. "Davitt, Michael." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Davitt, Michael." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-DavittMichael.html

JOHN CANNON. "Davitt, Michael." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-DavittMichael.html

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Davitt, Michael

Davitt, Michael (1846–1906) Irish nationalist. Imprisoned in 1870 as a member of the Fenian movement, Davitt and Parnell established the Irish Land League to organize Irish tenant farmers against exploitive landlords. The League gained concessions of fair rents, fixed tenure and freedom of sale in the Land Act (1881).

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"Davitt, Michael." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Davitt, Michael." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-DavittMichael.html

"Davitt, Michael." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-DavittMichael.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

A radical reformer.(Michael Davitt: Freelance Radical and Frondeur)(Book review)
Magazine article from: Irish Literary Supplement; 9/22/2008
Michael Davitt; new perspectives.(Brief article)(Book review)
Magazine article from: Reference &amp; Research Book News; 2/1/2010
Michael Davitt; freelance radical and frondeur.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Reference &amp; Research Book News; 8/1/2007

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