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Author Topic: Poison Lands  (Read 311 times)
kidja
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Poison Lands
« on: Sunday 13 July 08 12:47 UTC (UK) »
I have come across some notices in newspapers from December 1887 which are about poisoned land.

For example: Notice; the lands of Bellewstown, in my possession, are poisoned after this date............

or Poison: Notice: we the undersigned in the parish of Donore in the county of Meath hereby give notice that our lands are poisoned on and after this 15th December 1887:.............

For each of 3 days 15,16 and 17 th December there were a number of these notices inserted in the newspaper Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertisers (Dublin, Ireland).

Does anyone know what it was about?
Kidja
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bellew, neary co. meath, gleeson, shannon,shanahan, smythe co kildare, murphy, clarke, higgins, twyford, farrell co. wicklow
Kamilla
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Posts: 50


Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Re: Poison Lands
« Reply #1 on: Monday 14 July 08 00:19 UTC (UK) »
Kidja
Your query certainly had me thinking, and brought a couple of things to mind.

I think there is a poem called  'The poisoned lands of Meath'. as I recall my Grandfather reciting it often enough.

However in the 1800's (??1800-1850's) crop failure in Ireland was widespread (known as the Famine) and in some areas it was more concentrated and longer lasting. 
The disease was actually a fungus eventually identified as Phythophthora infestans.
Later on some people referred to areas which took longer to recover  as 'poisoned Land' especially when a bountyful harvest was  predicted based on successes elswhere in the country.

Other explainations could be associated with a deterent to poachers, or Fox hunting, or indeed rabbit hunting which was prevalent and which suffered from a number of episodes of the Myxomatosis disease.
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kidja
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Posts: 79
Re: Poison Lands
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 22 July 08 16:19 UTC (UK) »
Hi I have found out that the laying of poison on land was practiced extensively throughout Ireland : it still is illegally, but at a greatly reduced level. The objective was the protection of sheep from marauding foxes and dogs. Strychnine was laid in the carcase of dead rabbits to be picked up. (As a child my own pet dog died as a result of such poisoning). Sheep are herbivores and therefore would leave the dead rabbits alone. Incidentally, the practice virtually exterminated important birds of prey such as eagles and falcons. These are now being reintroduced but some are still killed but the poison. It was a requirement that land owners insert notices in local newspapers stating their intention to lay poison. They also had to erect notices stating "Lands Poisoned".

Mystery solved.

* Poisoned.jpg (77.52 KB, 493x388 - viewed 67 times.)
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bellew, neary co. meath, gleeson, shannon,shanahan, smythe co kildare, murphy, clarke, higgins, twyford, farrell co. wicklow
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