Hearts of Oak

The Hearts of Oak, also known as Oakboys and Greenboys, was a protest movement of farmers and weavers that arose in County Armagh, Ireland in 1761. Their grievances were the paying of the ever-increasing county cess, tithes, and small dues. The Hearts of Oak name came from the wearing of a piece of oak in their hats. By the end of the protests the movement had spread to the neighbouring counties of Cavan, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Monaghan, and Tyrone. Origins and grievances The Hearts of Oak movement started in 1761 in County Armagh, Ireland's then most populous county. The first ground of complaint was that every man was forced to give six days' work in the year and six days' work of a horse, for making or repairing roads, which the gentry often turned to their own use, while they themselves contributed nothing. Their chief grievance appears to have been the turnpike toll gates, which they went about demolishing. In 1763 the county cess (tax) was increased to help pay for the improvements in the country's transport network which was needed due to the rapid expansion of the linen industry in Ulster. Another grievance to which the Oakboys were vehement about was the paying of the tithe to the Church of Ireland, which the state church was entitled to collect from the local population regardless of religion. Along with this was the paying of "small dues", where Catholics and Presbyterians had to pay the Church of Ireland a fee for marriages, baptisms and funerals, whether or not it occurred in their church. Activity There are accounts, quite possibly exaggerated, claiming some Hearts of Oak gatherings consisted of as many as 10,000 people. One account claimed that there is no town in County Armagh that could not raise four or five hundred. Whilst many members were volunteers, the Hearts of Oak frequently intimidated many others to join their ranks, though this appears to have been a community sanction. Others were attracted by the carnival-like nature of their gatherings, with companies of Oakboys displaying standards and playing drums, horns, bagpipes, and fiddles.