Conacre

Conacre (a corruption of corn-acre), in Ireland, is a system of letting land, formerly in small patches or strips, and usually for tillage (growth of corn or potatoes).

During the 19th century, conacre land was normally let on an eleven-month system - considered to be of sufficient length to sow and harvest a crop but without creating a relationship between landlord and tenant. Holding the land under conacre granted no legal rights to the land with rent being paid in cash, labour or a combination of both. Most common in Munster and Connaught for a variety of crops while in Leinster and Ulster, conacre was used almost exclusively for a potato crop alone. In former times one third of agricultural land in Northern Ireland was let as Conacre. Some historians believe that it was one of the factors responsible for the Great Irish Famine.