Making its debut online at FindMyPast is an important collection recording (pre-Independence) government loan advances made to tenant farmers for the purchase of their land. The source material is the monthly/annual Returns of Advances Under the Irish Land Purchase Acts, published by HM Stationery from records created by the Land Commission. It contains more than 741,000 records noting the transfer of about 13.5million acres from the landlord elite to some 400,000 tenants.
FindMyPast has named the record-set the Ireland, Land Commission Advances, 1891-1920 collection.
If you're unfamiliar with the purpose and work of the Irish Land Commission, read FindMyPast's 'Learn More' description as a starter. You'll find some useful background material in Professor Terence Dooley's History Today feature, Wikipedia, and this Irish Times article from 2022.
As I'm attending a family wedding this weekend, I've had only a brief chance overnight to peek into these records, so can't provide a detailed overview at this point. I'll explore further next week and gather some reaction from genealogists, too.
Enjoy!
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| My great-grandfather's purchase of his tiny allotment on which he and his wife had raised nine children. |