Lord George Hill: the good, the bad and the sad – A Talk by Roy Greenslade

Roy’s talk, based on his book The Peer, the Priests and the Press (Beyond the Pale Books), also touches on Lord George’s link to the novelist Jane Austen. He married two of her nieces (although not at the same time), both of whom were buried in Donegal along with a third sister.
In his book Roy Greenslade describes the lengths Hill went to in his mission to ‘civilise’
tenants, including learning Irish and banning the distillation of alcohol. It was no mean feat for a member of the Protestant Ascendancy to overcome antagonism from 3,000 Catholic tenants to all the sweeping changes he was making. But then came one reform too many and tenants began to rebel. They were supported by a number of local priests and also a campaigning journalist, Denis Holland. Greenslade charts the subsequent unravelling of Hill’s reputation, which marked the beginning of the end of Irish landlordism itself.

What People say about the book ‘The Peer, the Priests and the Press’:

“A stunning, revelatory work of reportage as Roy Greenslade turns his expert editor’s eye to an epic 19th century battle between an infamous Donegal landlord and an unsung crusading reporter. Picking sides in that scrap is easy … until you read this book.” – Máirtin Ó Muilleoir, former Lord Mayor of Belfast

“In the time of the Great Famine, people of all political stripes hailed Lord George Hill as an exemplary landlord for his ‘improvements’ in north-west Donegal. Yet, within a decade, priests, a journalist and the people who were his tenants exploded Hill’s reputation with a series of extraordinary allegations ultimately investigated by a select committee in Westminster. Roy Greenslade tells the story of Hill with style.” – Breandán Mac Suibhne, author of ‘The End of Outrage:’ and Academic.

“Greenslade weighs up the good and the bad, telling the intriguing life story with verve and wry humour” – Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Irish Times