HOW THE IRISH CIVILIZED REAL ESTATE LAWS

In thinking about THE IRISH folk this St. Patrick's Day, it seemed like a good day to review a moment in civilization and Irish history that continues to affect the way we operate in real estate today...

In the late 1800's, Captain Charles C. Boycott, formerly a British soldier, became a real estate land agent for the Earl of Erne in County Mayo (Contaw Mhaigh Eo), located in the province of Connacht on the west coast of Ireland  As the story goes,

 "The earl was one of the absentee English landowners who owned most of the property in Ireland. The vast majority of the Irish were renters in their own country. In the fall of 1880, Home Rule advocate Charles Stewart Parnell chose Boycott to, well... boycott. Any absentee landlord who refused to lower rents so the native Irish people could actually afford them was targeted." *

This is when Boycott made a bad name for himself. Being a good and faithful servant to his absentee landlord, he refused to lower the rents, and even took it a step further and evicted all those Irish tenants! Now the Irish can be a feisty lot, and agreed among themselves (probably at a shebeen) to not ever rent from this property manager again. So while the Earl's properties were being boycotted, Mr. Boycott was rather quickly isolated from the community, without farmhands or servants. He was not given service in shops, so really was unable to even buy food and clothing. He even stopped getting mail delivered.

Thus the name BOYCOTT became well known, and gave rise, in 1890, to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which aimed to break up monopolies and prohibit unfair practices in business and trade. At that moment, I suppose a countrywide toast was made with Guiness, celebrating the new law that would prohibit any conspiracy against a person or persons, to restrict production or raise prices, promoting services of GOOD for all the countrymen, for all the land.

 

 

                                                           www.marahawks.com

*wikipedia

 

3 Comments on HOW THE IRISH CIVILIZED REAL ESTATE LAWS

Mara, that's a great story. I really like it when common terms or phrases are traced back to their origin so we understand what they really mean.

03/17/2008 11:04 AM by Steve Hoffacker - Real Estate Sales & Marketing Consulting and Strategies (Hoffacker Associates)

Thanks for stopping by, Steve. I like stories, too,  that help me remember things I need to know!

03/17/2008 09:19 PM by Mara Hawks, REALTOR®, HOMES FOR SALE in Auburn Alabama Real Estate - Lee County (FIRST REALTY)

Reminds me of a great book- How the Irish Saved Civilization.

04/10/2008 06:09 PM by Chuck Willman, Arizona Realtor®, ABR, TRC (Gentry Realty & Investments)

Leave a response…

Name:
Notify me of new comments:
Comment:
What does the graphic say?
 
Real Estate Agent: Mara Hawks, REALTOR®, HOMES FOR SALE in Auburn Alabama Real Estate - Lee County (FIRST REALTY)
Mara Hawks, REALTOR®, HOMES FOR SALE in Auburn Alabama Real Estate - Lee County
Auburn, AL
More about me…
FIRST REALTY

Office Phone: (334) 826-0111 Ext.: 150
Cell Phone: (334) 524-2220
Email Me

TIME TO BE HOME!


Links

Tags (Tag Cloud)

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog
ATOM 1.0 Feed for this blog

Find AL real estate agents and Auburn real estate here on ActiveRain.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
© 2007 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved