Glangevlin was the last place in County Cavan to be confiscated by the English. In 1856 a large proportion of the land was in possession of William Richard Annesley who was the fourth earl of Annesley from 1838-1874. He was succeeded by his brother Hugh who became the fifth earl of Annesley until his death at the principal residence of the family at Castlewellan Co. Down. In Glan the family was represented by a bailiff who lived in the Glan Lodge in Legnaderk. Perhaps the best known of these was Thomas Whiteside who was bailiff in the 1880's and who has been immortalised in ballad.

The Annesleys held the greatest proportion but there were several smaller landlords - Leonard Dobbin let the lands of Esvaugh, Bursan, Mully Lower, Tullynacross and part of Altshallon, Altnasheen and Legglass. The remainder of Altshallon, Altnasheen and Legglass together with Arvagh, Carrick West, Knockgorm, Moneenabrone, Mullaghlea Glen, Mully Upper and part of Curraghglass was let by representatives of Alex Hussard. William Blashford was the lessor of Bealbally Upper, Corracleigh and Curratavy and Sir John Crofton those of Tonanilt and Tullycrofton while a Rev. Taylor let Tullymonister. As tenants on these lands the people had to pay a high rent which they could not meet and which often meant eviction. When an eviction was about to take place the church bell was rung and it had the reputation of being heard in the surrounding parishes. People then came from those parishes to help and oppose the evictions.

Many stories relate how those people had a house erected for a family the next day following their eviction. An act passed in 1870 by the English gave the tenants the right to buy land by advancing one-third of the purchase price. People could not meet this requirement so a very active branch of the Land League under the chairmanship of the parish priest was set up in Glan. The League demanded the workable system of land purchase for tenants. Under the Ashbourne Act 1885 such a scheme was in­troduced but the Landlords in Glan refused to sell so the Land League continued its agitation.

The middle 1880's were years of particular hardship in Glan and many people fell into arrears with their rent. The "Anglo-Celt" of March 6th 1886 reported that six evictions had taken place on February 25th and six more the following day. On this occasion the sheriff and bailiffs were protected by a large force of constabulary under the command of Captain McTiernan. The reports went on to say "Crowds gathered and violent scenes might have occurred were it not for the interference of Fr. James Coyle curate and the exer­tions of Captain McTiernan.

In November 1886 a deputation on behalf of the tenantary of Lord Annesley met his sub agent Mr. Vance at the rent office in Cavan. The deputation requested an abatement of 30 per cent in the rents due at the time and stated that the potato crop, the main support of their families, had yielded a very bad return. Lord Annesley refused so the tenants adopted the "Plan a Campaign". The Glan branch held a meeting under the chairmanship of Rev. Trainor P.P., in December passing a motion "that we pledge ourselves to redouble our energies with the rest of Ireland and by every legitimate means in our power to abolish every shred of tyrannical landlordism". The year 1887 was one of hard­ship for the tenants - no seed potatoes, more evictions and from then on until the end of the 1880's the tenants suffered many hard­ships with heavy rainfall resulting in blight and bad harvests.


Frost in early June and blight in July resulting in complete failure of the potato crop.

November 1890

The Glan branch of the Land League held another meeting with Fr. Corr, P.P., in the chair and passed a motion reporting the failure of the potato crop, other crops and turf.

This crop failure and demand for high rents increased agitation and in December 1891 the Earl of Annesley offered his lands in Glan for sale. The other landowners followed his example and by 1907 all the land was bought except Tonanilt and Tullycrofton. Hugh Crofton negotiated the sale of these in 1930.

The Irish Land Commission set up a fund by which people could borrow money to purchase land. Many people in Glan availed of this provision so much that it was only in 1960 that several loans were repaid.