Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840

Last updated

Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 [1]
Act of Parliament
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (Variant 1, 2022).svg
Long title An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland.
Citation 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108
Territorial extent Ireland
Dates
Royal assent 10 August 1840
Commencement 25 October 1840
Repealed1972 and 2001
Other legislation
Repealed by
Status: Repealed

The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 108), An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 10 August 1840. It was one of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Acts 1840 to 1888. [2]

Contents

The Act followed similar lines to the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 which reformed municipal boroughs in England and Wales. Prior to the passing of the Act, there were 68 borough corporations in Ireland. However, many of them were ineffective, some were virtually defunct and none of them in any way representative of their populations. The Act dissolved all but 10 of the corporations.

Background

At the Acts of Union 1800, there had been 117 boroughs entitled to send MPs to the Irish House of Commons. From 1801, this number was reduced to 33 boroughs entitled to send MPs to the United Kingdom House of Commons.

Defunct corporations

Commissioners were reported to inquire into the state of municipal corporations in Ireland. They found that 99 had actually exercised any functions in the previous century.

In addition, there were 7 boroughs which were "at not very remote periods, Corporate Municipalities, acting, or at least constituted, under Royal Charters still on record".

BoroughCounty
Baltimore Cork
Clogher Tyrone
Dungarvan Waterford
Lismore Waterford
Mallow Cork
Newry Down
Tallagh Waterford

There were 5 boroughs, "the existence either of a corporation or of burgage tenure is noticed in ancient records, but no charter of incorporation [was] discovered".

BoroughCounty
Clonmines Wexford
Downpatrick Down
Ratoath Meath
Swords Dublin
Taghmon Wexford

There were 6 boroughs "though possessing charters empowering them to return Members of Parliament, never, as far as we have been able to trace, possessed the character of Municipal Corporations". [3]

BoroughCounty
Antrim Antrim
Doneraile Cork
Lisburn Antrim
Mullingar Westmeath
Randalstown Antrim
Rathcormac Cork

There were 30 corporations that had become extinct since the Union. [4]

BoroughCounty
Askeaton Limerick
Athboy Meath
Augher Tyrone
Ballinakill Queen's County
Ballyshannon Donegal
Banagher King's County
Bannow Wexford
Blessington Wicklow
Carrick-on-Shannon Leitrim
Carysfort Wicklow
Castlebar Mayo
Donegal Donegal
Dunleer Louth
Feathard Wexford
Fore Westmeath
Gowran Kilkenny
Granard Longford
Harristown Kildare
Jamestown Leitrim
Killybegs Donegal
Knocktopher Kilkenny
Lanesborough Longford
Limavady Londonderry
New Castle near Lyons Dublin
Old Leighlin Carlow
Philipstown King's County
Roscommon Roscommon
St Johnston Donegal
St Johnston Longford
Tulsk Roscommon

The reformed corporations

Borough boundary marker in Limerick, erected 1842 and citing this act. Borough of Limerick plaque.jpg
Borough boundary marker in Limerick, erected 1842 and citing this act.

The ten reformed corporations, which were named in Schedule A to the Act were to be styled as Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses, with the exception of Dublin where the title Right Honourable Lord Mayor was retained.[ citation needed ]

BoroughCounty
Belfast Antrim and Down
Clonmel Tipperary
Cork (County of the City) Cork
Drogheda (County of the Town) Louth and Meath
Dublin (County of the City) Dublin
Kilkenny (County of the City; merging the
former boroughs of Kilkenny and Irishtown)
Kilkenny
Limerick (County of the City) Limerick
Londonderry (City) Londonderry
Sligo Sligo
Waterford (County of the City) Waterford

Dissolved boroughs

Under section 13 of the Act, the remaining 58 borough corporations were dissolved on 25 October 1840. The extinguished boroughs were listed in schedules B and I of the Act. Boroughs in schedule B could petition for a grant of a charter restoring borough status, as could any town with a population of more than 3,000. Boroughs in Schedule I were already effectively extinct at the time of the passing of the Act, and so were not permitted to apply for such a charter.[ citation needed ]

Wexford's application for restoration of its charter was granted in 1846. Cashel also applied, [5] but without success.[ citation needed ]

Boroughs in Schedule B

BoroughCounty
Ardee Louth
Armagh (City) Armagh
Athlone Roscommon and Westmeath
Athy Kildare
Bandon or Bandon Bridge Cork
Boyle Roscommon
Callan Kilkenny
Carlow Carlow
Carrickfergus (County of the Town retained) Antrim
Cashel (City) Tipperary
Charleville Cork
Cloghnakilty Cork
Coleraine Londonderry
Dingle Kerry
Dundalk Louth
Dungannon Tyrone
Ennis Clare
Enniscorthy Wexford
Enniskillen Fermanagh
Fethard Wexford
Galway (County of the Town retained) Galway
Gorey Wexford
Kells Meath
Kinsale Cork
Longford Longford
Maryborough Queen's
Monaghan Monaghan
Naas Kildare
Navan Meath
New Ross Wexford
Portarlington Queen's and King's
Strabane Tyrone
Tralee Kerry
Trim Meath
Tuam Galway
Wexford Wexford
Wicklow Wicklow
Youghal Cork

Boroughs in Schedule I

BoroughCounty
Ardfert Kerry
Athenry Galway
Baltinglass Wicklow
Bangor Down
Belturbet Cavan
Carlingford Louth
Castlemartyr Cork
Cavan Cavan
Charlemont Armagh
Duleek Meath
Hillsborough Down
Inistioge Kilkenny
Kilbeggan Westmeath
Kildare Kildare
Killileagh Down
Kilmallock Limerick
Lifford Donegal
Midleton Cork
Newtownards Down
Thomastown Kilkenny

Town commissioners

Many of the extinguished boroughs had an additional form of local government in place, in the form of commissioners appointed under the Lighting of Towns (Ireland) Act 1828. Where such a body existed, it was deemed to be the successor to the corporation. Section 16 of the Act provided that any borough dissolved with property worth more than £100, and which did not have commissioners under the 1828 Act, should have a board of municipal commissioners established. In most cases, the commissioners appointed under the terms of the 1840 Act eventually adopted the terms of the 1828 Act or its replacement, the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854. By 1876, only Carrickfergus was still governed by commissioners appointed under the 1840 Act. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough</span> Administrative division in some English-speaking countries

A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal borough</span> Former type of British and Irish local government

A municipal borough was a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1836 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in Scotland from 1833 to 1975 with the reform of royal burghs and creation of police burghs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galway City Council</span> Local authority for Galway City, Ireland

Galway City Council is the local authority in the city of Galway, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 18 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of mayor. The city administration is headed by a Chief Executive, Patricia Philbin. The council meets at City Hall, College Road, Galway.

A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Wales, and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Municipal Corporations Act 1835</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Municipal Corporations Act 1835, sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legislation was part of the reform programme of the Whigs and followed the Reform Act 1832, which had abolished most of the rotten boroughs for parliamentary purposes.

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owned corporations.

Unreformed boroughs were those corporate towns in England and Wales which had not been reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. A handful of these obtained new charters under the 1835 Act. A royal commission was established in 1876 to inquire into these boroughs, and legislation passed in 1883 finally forced the reform or dissolution of these corporations by 1886.

Town commissioners were elected local government bodies that existed in urban areas in Ireland from the 19th century until 2002. Larger towns with commissioners were converted to urban districts by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with the smaller commissions continuing to exist beyond partition in 1922. The idea was a standardisation of the improvement commissioners established in an ad-hoc manner for particular towns in Britain and Ireland in the eighteenth century. The last town commissioners in Northern Ireland were abolished in 1962. In the Republic of Ireland, the remaining commissions became town councils in 2002, and abolished in 2014.

Clonmel was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one MP from 1801 to 1885. It was represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.

Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, similarly chartered communities were known as royal burghs, although the status is no longer granted.

The Belfast Borough Police was the police force for Belfast from 1800 to 1865, when it was abolished and replaced by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). Its members, nicknamed the Bulkies, had authority within the Belfast Police District.

The Royal Commission on the Corporation of the City of London was a royal commission, established in 1853, which considered the local government arrangements of the City of London and the surrounding metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short Titles Act 1896</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Short Titles Act 1896 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Short Titles Act 1892.

In Ireland, the term city has somewhat differing meanings in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrickfergus (barony)</span> Place in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Carrickfergus is a barony in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is bounded on the south-east by Belfast Lough, and otherwise surrounded by the barony of Belfast Lower. It is coextensive with the civil parish of Carrickfergus or St Nicholas and corresponds to the former county of the town of Carrickfergus, a county corporate encompassing Carrickfergus town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macreddin</span> Hamlet in County Wicklow, Ireland

Macreddin, is a hamlet in County Wicklow, in the southern foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, 4 km north of Aughrim on the back road to Greenan. The historical borough is in the townland of Macreddin West in the civil parish of Ballykine, barony of Ballinacor South. It also gives its name to the adjacent townland of Macreddin East.

Municipal Corporations Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation relating to municipal corporations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galway (barony)</span>

Galway is a barony in Ireland, comprising Galway city and surrounding parts of County Galway. The barony is coterminous with the former County of the Town of Galway, a county corporate created by the town's 1610 charter and abolished by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berwick-on-Tweed Act 1836</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Berwick-on-Tweed Act 1836 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed to remedy some defects of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. It was also referred to as the Municipal Boundaries Bill and the Municipal Corporation (Boundaries) Act 1836.

References

Sources

Primary
Hansard debates on Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Bills, 1835–1840
SessionCommonsLordsOther house's amendments
(1st &) 2nd rCtee3rd r2nd rCtee (& Rpt)3rd rL in CC in L2nd L in C
18351st r:  Jul 31
2nd r: Aug  10 12
Aug 13 Aug 17
1836 Feb 29 Mar  7   8   14   18   21   22   23 Mar 28 Apr 18 Apr 26, May  9   16 May 18 May 19, Jun  10   13 Jun  17   27 Jun 30
18371st r: Feb  7   8
2nd r:  Feb 17
Feb  20   21   22, Mar 20 Apr  10   11 Apr  13   25 May 5 Jun 9
1837–381st r: Dec  5   11
2nd r:  Feb 2
May 29, Jun  1   11   15   18 Jun 25 Jul 9 Jul 12 Jul 27 Aug 2 Aug 4 Aug 9
18391st r:  Feb 14
2nd r: Mar  1   8   22
Jun 28 Jul 4 Jul 15 Jul 22 Jul 25 Aug 5 Aug 12
1840 Feb 14 Feb  24   28, Mar 3 Mar 9 Mar 23, May 4 May  14   15, Jun  12   19   29, Jul 6
Rpt: Jul 10
Jul  20   31 Aug 3 Aug  5   6 Aug 7
Secondary

Citations

  1. The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
  2. The Short Titles Act 1896, section 2(1) and Schedule 2
  3. 1835 Report, p. 6
  4. 1835 Report, p. 8
  5. Return of Towns in Ireland from which Petitions have been presented for Charters of Incorporation. Sessional papers. Vol. HC 45 335. 22 May 1845. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  6. Select Committee on Local government and taxation of towns (Ireland) (11 July 1876). Report and proceedings. Command papers. Vol. C.352. p. 3 §15. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2014.