Boycott, Charles Cunningham (1832–1897)

English ex-serviceman and land agent in County Mayo, Ireland, 1873–86. He strongly opposed the demands for agrarian reform by the Irish Land League, 1879–81, with the result that the peasants refused to work for him; hence the word boycott, meaning to isolate an individual, organization, or country, socially or commercially.

In response to his ostracism Boycott hired 50 Protestant Orangemen for the autumn harvest of 1880, but 1,000 troops were needed to protect them at a cost of £10,000 to the government. In 1886 he left Ireland permanently.