As the year of commemoration of 1916 comes to a close and we examine where Ireland is today, it is an opportunity to look at the events that proceeded the rising and at Michael Davitt in particular who was that rare breed, an effective politician, who changed everything and literally without firing a single shot. 

The events of 1916 and the establishment of the Free State were precede by the revolution on the land. In the decades before the Rising the ownership of the land was transferred from the landed gentry to the tenant farmers who worked it. This represented the greatest power shift in Irish history since the Plantations and provided the key platform for the political and military events that were to flow from it. This revolution in land ownership was the successful outcome of The Land War, a transformative struggle that united all strands of national opinion and that was led by Michael Davitt. ‘Davitt: Our land’ is his story’

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Michael Davitt was born in Straide, Co. Mayo on the eve of the Great Famine. His family survived the hunger but were evicted during the clearances of 1849. The family fled to England where Davitt’s father found work. Michael, himself found work in a cotton factory at age nine. Then at thirteen years of age he lost his right arm in a work accident. The tragedy resulted in his getting an education. Then in his early twenties he became a major figure in the I.R.B. (The Fenians). Convicted of gun running he served a long sentence on hard labour which had a severe impact on his health. On his release he heard of a strategy of social and economic ostracisation against landlords and their agents being prepared in county Mayo, his home county. Davitt saw the possibilities of this strategy and decided to become the leader of the land league.

Davitt realised he had the possibility, in his hands, of breaking the hated landlord system but to succeed he needed the collaboration of two divergent groups, the constitutional nationalists and the physical force men of the I.R.B. Davitt outlined a plan of action that allowed both sides to participate without either side disavowing their stated principles. The I.R.B. could remain relevant after the debacle of the failed rising of 1867 and the Irish Parliamentary Party could aspire to Home Rule. In bringing together the divergent strands and weaving them into a unitary strategy, Davitt changed the history of his country. He then went on to Poland, Russia, South Africa, India and Australia, becoming a great international ambassador for Reform.  The drama will also touch on Michael Davitt’s personal life, his relationship with his Mother and we will meet his sister Mary and his wife Mary Yore.