The Lansdowne Estate under W S Trench by Gerard J Lyne

The full title of the book is The Lansdowne Estate in Kerry under W S Trench 1849 – 72.

William Steuart Trench, land agent and author, was appointed agent of the Lansdowne estate in Kerry after the Great Famine. He was vilified for shipping some 4,000 destitute persons from Kenmare to the United States and Canada. With a view to preventing further destitution he devised a set of iron ‘rules of the estate, ‘ regulating marriage and other intimate aspects of tenant life.

His autocratic rule made him hated, but he and his son also conferred lasting benefits on the locality through afforestation, road construction, improvement of tenant housing and a programme of urban renewal. The book  combines description of a land agent’s responsibilities with a uniquely detailed image of tenant life.

This is a book of considerable scholarship and is a credit to the author.