Agricultural History Review, Volume 54 Part 1 (2006), p. 167

Ireland in the early nineteenth century was frequently characterized by contemporaries (especially those who resided in Britain) as underdeveloped, impoverished and lawless. Crime, especially agrarian crime (referred to in Ireland as ‘outrages’) was regarded as being especially prevalent, with landlords as the target. Many of these stereotypes have persisted and, even today, they appear in general accounts of Irish history. This fascinating book, which contains the texts of over 500 threatening letters unearthed by Stephen Randolph Gibbons mostly in the National Archives of Ireland, throws new light on Irish agrarian crime. It also provides many counterpoints to such facile generalizations. At the same time, though, what was widely referred to as the ‘state of Ireland’ question – in contemporary newspapers, parliamentary reports and political debates – was justifiably a source for concern, with the letters providing ample testimony of poverty, estate mismanagement, landlord indifference, and tenant resentment. The title of the book, ‘Captain Rock’, refers to the signature that most often appeared on the end of the letters (Gibbons identifies over 100 other pseudonyms). The use of a false name not only ensured that the author remained anonymous, it placed the threat within a wider network of agrarian agitation, thereby contributing to the belief that lawlessness was indeed widespread and widely supported.

Many of the demands made by Captain Rock in his various guises are specific and concerned with local or immediate issues – tithes, rent, food prices, evictions, religious antagonisms. The threats proffered ranged from attacks on cattle, to house burning, to assassination. The letters show less interest in regional, national or British politics, and contain surprisingly few references to contemporary politicians; even Daniel O’Connell, who dominated nationalist politics for almost three decades, achieved only two mentions. A strength of this collection is that it shows the concerns of a group within Irish society, poor agricultural labourers, that have traditionally not had a voice of their own. But as well as offering insights into the lives of working people, this collection throws light on other aspects of Irish society: the interaction between landlords and tenants; the day-to-day working of the forces of law and order; and the government’s response to Irish problems (including the use of local informers). Gibbons also suggests in the illuminating and thoughtful 43-page introduction, that the letters demonstrate that literacy was quite dispersed, even if the majority of letters indicate little formal schooling. Interestingly, the letters are written in English, the language of officialdom but not of the poor of Ireland. The letters also suggest that a moral economy existed in Ireland before the Famine, with many similarities to pre-industrial protests in Britain and other parts of Europe.

The collection ends in 1845, the year associated with the appearance of potato blight and the onset of famine in Ireland. A second volume, which examines the Famine and post-Famine period, based on this generally over-looked source, would be a welcome addition to Irish historiography.