The Peel Web

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Conacre

This is a term used to describe land rented for the taking of a single crop, most commonly potatoes. Conacre was taken by tradesmen and small farmers but most usually by agricultural labourers who invested all or most of their earnings in potato ground from which to feed their families. The practice illustrates the limited rôle of retail markets in pre-Famine rural Ireland. Conacre rents were a frequent cause of agrarian violent, as population pressure increased. Farmers were encouraged by price trends to move into livestock farming and no longer found conacre lettings a profitable means of providing crop rotation.