His deep Irish roots (Grace's family had been established in Ireland for hundreds of years [7]), his Roman Catholicism, and the fact that he lived on his estate among his tenants distinguished Grace from many of the landed class of the time, who were often Anglo-Irish or English Protestant “absentees” who resided in Dublin or London.
Although Grace has been described as sharing the attitudes of the landlord class concerning the rights of property,[8] he frequently identified with the causes of the native Irish when their interests diverged from those of the gentry.
That the opinion of the great majority of landed proprietors, as well in number as in property, is decidedly hostile to this appointment and that it is in direct opposition to the middle classes of society in this county, and the entire body of the people.”[10] Grace was an outspoken champion of legislation to guarantee “Tenant Right”, which aimed at bettering the condition of tenants “by giving them a legal security in the lands they live in”.
[11] His particular ties to the tenantry on his estate are reflected in his funding of a new National School for Mantua in 1869,[12] and his willingness to allow his house to serve as a chapel before the building of the local church in 1870.
[15] At the time of his death, Grace was described as “not only a kind-hearted and singularly generous landlord (one of the last acts of his honored life was to grant leases to all his tenants, who applied for them) but a most zealous practical supporter of every undertaking intended to promote religion, charity, and education amongst the people.”[16] His funeral cortège included 100 vehicles and 2000 people on foot.