History talk on the 1760’s Oakboy Protests in Ulster

The Society will welcome back Sebastian Graham, who will give a presentation on ‘The 1760’s Oakboy Protests in Ulster’.

In the early 1760s, due to dissatisfaction at paying high rents, tithe, small dues and helping landlords build pointless bridges on their estates, Presbyterians and Catholics combined to form the Hearts of Oak or Oakboy movement. What started off as a small scale protest led to large meetings aimed at threatening the gentry and clergy to sign oaths and reduce their tithes or labour.

Mainly concentrated in Armagh and Tyrone, the movement fizzled out in the summer of 1763 as troops moved in.

The talk will look at the events of the Oakboy rising in Ulster and explain the local issues and politics at the time.

It begins at 8pm at the Old School in the Rock. The Society would like to thank Mid Ulster District Council for grant funding.