Athenry Crime Follow Up: Who were the United Irish League? by Ronan Killeen

As many of you noticed in a previous article Athenry Crime 1859-1912 the United Irish League  pops up a lot to do with land this short article will explain who they were I have take the following passage from S. J. Connolly's book The Oxford Companion to Irish History:

"The United Irish League was founded in 1898 by a man called William O'Brien to agitate for redistribution of the western grass ranches to small farmers. It was instrumental in reuniting the Nationalist Party in 1900, after which it became a constituency and fund-raising organisation. 
   O Brien lost control of the UIL and soon opposed it bitterly. In the later years it was propped up the Ancient Order of Hibernians, but contracted sharply after 1916; the Dublin Offices closed in 1920. 
   The land question was both UIL's strength and weakness. Its inability to take up other issues was symptomatic of the Nationalist Party to prevent the development of cultural nationalism into a hostile political force between 1900 and 1916. The UIL could still be militant in easter Connaught during the years 1898-1901 and 1906-9."

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