§ Mr. JOHN MURPHYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that Lord Ardilaun purchased the holdings of about 30 tenants on the Herbert estate, county Kerry, over the heads of those tenants, when the estate was being sold about ten years ago; and whether in the forthcoming Land Bill there will be any provision by which a sale to these tenants must take place, so as to put them in the same position as their neighbours who have purchased already?
§ Mr. BIRRELLIt is a matter of common knowledge that about 10 years ago Lord Ardilaun purchased the mansion and demesne of Muckross, comprising several thousand acres, which formed portion of the Herbert estate. The Land Commission understand that a few tenancies were comprised in the lands so purchased. Whether these tenancies would be excluded from the compulsory provisions of the Land Bill as forming part of a demesne is a legal question on which I cannot offer an opinion.