No Rent Manifesto

The No Rent Manifesto was a document issued in Ireland on 18 October 1881, by imprisoned leaders of the Irish National Land League calling for a campaign of passive resistance by the entire population of small tenant farmers, by withholding rents to obtain large rent abatements under the second 1881 Irish Land Act. The intention being to "put the Act to the test" and prove its inadequacy to provide for the core demands of the tenants – the 'three Fs' of fair rent, fixity of tenure and free sale – as well as providing sufficient funds for occupier purchase.

Following the Irish Famine Irish politics lacked direction. Only with the formation of the Home Rule Party in 1870 under its founder Isaac Butt did a Nationalist movement begin to form, albeit with a vague policy of self-government for Ireland. While it won support from the majority of nationalists it lacked the dynamism needed to gain widespread support. Most Irish people, particularly tenant farmers, were more concerned with everyday needs. In the second half of the 1870s crop failures caused serious hardships. Wages fell and evictions were on the increase. Tenants began to demand rent abatements. This marked the beginning of the Land War in 1879 which lasted until 1882.

The short comings of the Home Rule Party brought a young ascendancy landlord, and MP for Meath, Charles Stewart Parnell into the foreground, who was all too aware of its shortcomings. In contrast to Butt, he was of a more militant nature. In the House of Commons he was considered a radical 'obstructionalist'.
Following discussions with the Fenians John Devoy and Michael Davitt in June 1879, he launched the New Departure to fuse land agitation with the Home Rule movement. This was followed in October 1879 by the foundation of the Irish Nationalist Land League at a meeting in County Mayo where Parnell was elected president of the League. Andrew Kettle, Michael Davitt, and Thomas Brennan were appointed as honorary secretaries. The Land League united the different strands of land agitation and tenant rights movements under a single organisation. The government had introduced the first ineffective Land Act in 1870, followed by the equally lacking Acts of 1880 and 1881. Parnell, although close to advanced nationalists and land reform, carefully retained his constitutional credentials in London.

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