By Ann Healy

Source; Tuam Herald 10 January 1987

IMAGINE, if you will, what it was like to live in rural Ireland a little over a century ago. Only the landed gentry (all of English descent). who had money and land. could vote. Their vote only mattered to the English Parliament as Ireland had no independent government of her own.

The luxury of democracy which we take for granted today, did not exist for the Irish citizen. Of course, if any of us were alive then we would not be too worried about a vote that only worked in England. We would have been more concerned about the everyday needs of survival. Landlords demanded high rents and imposed heavy taxes on farm yields. As a result, their tenants had little chance of improving their lot. With no political representation and no vote, the Irish people were completely under British rule.

It is hard for us today to imagine the effects of the social and political restrictions imposed upon the Irish then. The majority, however, accepted their fate and felt impotent to react against the imperialistic system. Perhaps, their lack of education and the gruelling domestic situation in which they wallowed helped to make any hope of freedom an impossibility. Such educational and social deprivation only helped to convince the Irish   peasantry that the English were indeed a superior race who almost deserved the ‘right to exercise the dominion of vassalage over them and their lands. It was not until the likes of Michael Davitt,’ Parnell and John Redmond came along that the Irish people felt they had a right to be free and that there was any hope of achieving that right.

ISAAC BUTT

It must be said, however, that the English landlord system which reigned supreme in Ireland at the time, was not all bad and indeed, some government representatives were enlightened enough to know that England could not and would not rule Ireland

One such man was Isaac Butt. He was a Tory barrister who came from Donegal where his father was a Church of Ireland clergyman. He was one of the most eminent and respected barristers to live and work in Ireland during the heyday of the English landlord system. Once in a letter to Lord Lifford, Butt wrote: ” … the personal character of a landlord is but a poor security for the tenant.” This very simple statement reflects the sensitivity and understanding which Butt displayed towards the Irish situation. One must remember that Butt was a Tory “pur sang.” Yet he displayed an intelligence and capacity for experience that was uncommon to most Irish Tories. He was not above thinking that the Irish deserved to be independent and when given the chance he never failed to make his feelings known.

Butt founded bis views on his own first-hand experiences and the belief that the Irish people were easily influenced by good example, authority of station and the power of intelligence. He made it clear that in his opinion, many landlords did not exercise these qualities. In his opinion, the Irish revered high lineage – and to ‘some extent this is still true. He believed that the estrangement of classes at the time led to a mutual distrust between landlord and tenant because, as he said himself “There is in the Irish gentry a hereditary distrust of the Irish people. They are taught from their youth up to believe in “Irish contempt of law, and of the rights of property.’ The people reciprocate the hostile feelings of the gentry.” Because of these views, Butt believed that many landlords were placed in situations whereby they were “unfitted” to rule and control the lives of their tenants.

COURTROOM FIREBRAND

With such views, it comes as no surprise to learn that Isaac Butt started Home Rule in the 1870s. Quite apart from his social and political views, Butt also had a reputation for being a firebrand in the courtroom. He had successfully defended mem ers of the I.R.B. during the 1860s and his colleagues said that “The cause of the poor was as dear to him as nis own.” Butt was in his element when a case held a human interest which appealed to his sympathies and sense of compassion. He was not interested in fees but rather in seeing the case of the Irish properly represented in the English court of law.

PETER BARRETT

Having such a reputation, not to mention the validity of his views concerning the landlord system in Ireland at the time, it was obvious why Isaac Butt should have taken it upon himself to defend an Irishman. Peter Barrett, formerly of Moorpark, Athenry, on a charge of shooting at Captain Giles Eyre Lambert, Castle Lambert, Athenry, with the intent to murder him, on Sunday, July 11th, 1869

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

In the context of its historical setting, the attempted assassination of a landlord by his ex-tenant lit a fuse of emotion among the local Irish people which later helped to ignite the national will to fight for freedom. Today, the significance of this trial fades with the passage of time. However, at the time in question, this trial, the legal procedures, the feelings of hatred and! injustice it stirred up among the social classes, and the final outcome  bear testimony to the situation in Ireland at the time, its influence on our present political and social situation. and not least, to the flawless views put forward by Isaac Butt, a Tory, and a man of English descent, on the suspect landlord system of the time.

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE TRIAL

Captain Giles Eyre Lambert inherited his father’s estate in 1867 at Castle Lambert, a few miles north-east of Athenry. Two years later he evicted Barrett’s father. his wife and family from a 70-acre holding in Moorpark, near Castle Lambert It is believed that the reason for the eviction was jealousy. Apparently the Barretts had a large, thatched farmhouse and a good holding, while Captain Lambert’s brother, Tom (who was also his tenant), lived in a modest house just across the road from them. It is alleged that the hunt met one morning outside Tom Lambert’s gate and one of them, pointing at Barrett’s house, asked if Mr. Tom Lambert lived there. To his chagrin everyone laughed when it was discovered that the house in question belonged to some tenants, the Barretts. Shortly afterwards. Captain Lambert evicted the Barrett family who were then forced lo move to a house in Swangate, Athenry. Luckily, some of their children were grown and one of them, Peter Barrett. was working as a postman in London,

THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Shortly after the eviction, on Sunday. July 11th, 1869. Captain Lambert was shot when walking alone up the avenue to his house, between nine and ten o’clock in the evening. He had gone to- dine with his brother in Moorpark and walked back after dinner, which was at five o’clock, accompanied by his sister and two nieces. After the women had taken some refreshments at his house and picked some fruit from the garden, he escorted them as far as tis gate-lodge.

On his way back along the avenue, leading to his own house, Captain Lambert noticed a man in a bowler hat standing in the shadows of some tall lime trees. Lambert asked the intruder to identify himself and when he failed to do so, Lambert set a small dog on him, The man then faced Lambert. pointed a small revolver at him and fired five shots in quick succession, at a distance of twelve yards, before escaping through a clump of trees known as “The Rookery.”

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE

Lambert fell to the ground. He had been shot twice in the stomach, while another bullet had lodged in his temple. It was this head wound which knocked Lambert to the ground and convinced his attacker, before he fled, that Lambert was fatally wounded. On the contrary, Lambert had been wearing a hard hat, and this had saved his skull from the ‘full impact of the bullet. It is believed that his pocket watch had also saved him from receiving a chest wound which could have proved fatal. After his attacker fled, Lambert managed to get up and stumble into the house. Shortly afterwards the alarm was raised and police later sealed off all exits to Athenry.