Land League

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

An association of Irish extremists formed in Ireland in 1879 to agitate for the reduction, or abolition, of rent, introduction of peasant proprietorship, and the settlement of the land question generally.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “Land League” mean?

An association of Irish extremists formed in Ireland in 1879 to agitate for the reduction, or abolition, of rent, introduction of peasant proprietorship, and the settlement of the land question generally.

Is “Land League” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.