The Whiteboys were a secret Irish agrarian organisation in 18th-century Ireland who used violent tactics to defend tenant farmer land rights for subsistence farming. Their name derives from the white smocks that members wore in their nightly raids. Because they leveled the fences at night, they were usually called "Levellers" by the authorities, and by themselves as "Queen Sive Oultagh's children", "fairies", or as followers of "Johanna Meskill" or "Sheila Meskill", all symbolic figures supposed to lead the movement. They sought to address rack-rents, tithe collection, excessive priests' dues, evictions and other oppressive acts. As a result, they targeted landlords and tithe collectors. Over time, Whiteboyism became a general term for rural violence connected to secret societies. Because of this generalization, the historical record for the Whiteboys as a specific organisation is unclear. There were three major outbreaks of Whiteboyism: 1761–64; 1770–76; and 1784–86.
