Barony (Ireland)
In
Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Subsequent adjustments of county boundaries mean that some baronies now straddle two counties.[3]
The final catalogue of baronies numbered 331, with an average area of 255 km2 (98 sq mi; 63,000 acres); therefore, each county was divided, on average, into 10 or 11 baronies.
Creation
The island of Ireland was "shired" into counties in two distinct periods: the east and south during the
- a "honour or large manor
- a "parliamentary barony" was a rank of the peerage of Ireland, giving the right to sit in the Parliament of Ireland
- an "administrative barony" or taxation purposes[4]
Over the centuries, these senses diverged, and many administrative baronies were not associated with feudal or noble titles.
Most cantreds corresponded to the túath ('country') or trícha cét ('thirty hundred [men]') of a Gaelic chief. However, sometimes baronies combined small territories, or split a large one, or were created without regard for the earlier boundaries.[4] In the Norman period most Gaelic chiefs were killed, expelled, or subordinated by the new Norman lord; in the Tudor period, many Gaelic and Hibernicized lords retained their land by pledging allegiance to the Crown under surrender and regrant.
Sir John Perrot's commissioners reported 184 "cantreds, otherwise called hundreds or baronies" in 1589;[6] William Petty reported 252 baronies in 1672.[7]
Baronies were sometimes subdivided, and occasionally combined. The parts of a subdivided barony were called half-baronies, but had the same legal standing. Some subdivisions came about when new counties were formed, and the new boundary split a pre-existing barony. In three cases, there are adjacent half-baronies in neighbouring counties with the same name: Rathdown (
At the
Peculiar districts
Many towns had a specific royal charter granting them borough status similar to English law. These were originally independent of the baronies, which were rural divisions of the "county at large". By the time of Beaufort's 1792 Memoir of Ireland, this was true of fewer towns. Beaufort distinguishes between baronies and "peculiar districts"; the latter encompassing counties corporate and liberties in the environs of some of the older or larger towns and cities.
Liberties
The liberties listed by Beaufort separately from baronies are those of
Counties corporate
There were eight counties corporate: the "County of the City" of each of Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Kilkenny, and Waterford, and the "County of the Town" of each of Carrickfergus, Drogheda and Galway.[21][22] These were excluded from the enclosing "county-at-large" and exercised at a single level the functions which elsewhere were split between county and barony level.[22] Thus, they had "baronial presentment sessions" although they were not strictly speaking baronies.[23][24] Each such city or town also had a municipal corporation which had parallel authority with the grand jury; however, each county corporate except Carrickfergus included rural "liberties" outside the municipal boundary. The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 abolished the corporations of Carrickfergus and Galway, while the Counties and Boroughs (Ireland) Act 1840, passed simultaneously, transferred the liberties of the other six counties corporate to the adjoining county-at-large. The transferred area was sometimes assigned to one or more existing county baronies, but sometimes made a barony in its own right. The reduced-size counties corporate continued till the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, at which point each of those of Kilkenny and the three towns was merged with a neighbouring county to form a new administrative county, while the other four counties of cities each became a county borough. Both before and after 1898, where a statute presupposed that a county was divided into baronies, judges sometimes construed it by assuming that each county corporate constituted a single barony.[23][25]
Historical functions
The various
Acts of 1787 and 1792 allowed the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to appoint a constable for each barony, and the county grand jury to appoint up to 16 sub-constables. These powers were seldom used and the constables had few powers; they were usually older men nicknamed "old Barnys", with the archetypal "old Barny McKeown".[29] They were superseded by the Royal Irish Constabulary.[29]
The
Several parallel local administrative divisions were formed in the nineteenth century, which were not based on the barony.
For each two-seat
The 1898 Act replaced the county assizes with an elected county council; at a lower level, the county was divided into urban and rural districts, each with an elected council. These councils had power to levy rates and build public works, and the baronial presentment sessions were abolished.
Modern existence
While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for many administrative purposes. Their official status is illustrated by Placenames Orders made since 2003, where official Irish names of baronies are listed under "Administrative units".[36]
Baronies continue to be used in
Barony boundaries have remained essentially unchanged since 1898. An exception occurs when land is
The Local Government (Ireland) Act also caused a number of county boundaries to be modified, with the result that a number of baronies now cross county boundaries. This can cause confusion to genealogy researchers, who may be unable to find an area referred to as being in a particular county in 19th century sources in the modern county. Most markedly, the entire territory of the small barony of Kilculliheen was moved from County Waterford to County Kilkenny. Likewise in 1976, when suburbs of Drogheda were transferred from County Meath to County Louth, barony boundaries were not adjusted.[39]
The marginal relevance of baronies means many people have no idea which barony they live in.
List of baronies
The final catalogue of baronies numbered 331. A figure of 273 is also quoted, by combining those divided into half-baronies, as by east–west, north–south, or upper/middle/lower divisions. Every point in Ireland is in precisely one of the listed divisions. However, the municipal area of the four cities with barony status in 1898 has extended since then into the surrounding baronies. Prior to 1898, the baronies around Dublin City were shrunk according as they ceded land to the expanding city; but there is now land which is both within the current city boundaries and within one of the pre-1898 county baronies. Notably, the Barony of Dublin, created in 1842, is almost entirely within the city, although still separate from the Barony of Dublin City.
See also
- Barony (country subdivision)
- List of Irish local government areas 1898–1921
- Townland
References
- Focal. Retrieved 8 December 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Mac Cotter 2005, pp.327–330
- HMSO. pp. 966–978.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nicholls 1996
- ^ Burns, John (24 July 2005). "Experts attack sale of "bogus" Barony of Clare for €90,000". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ History of the political connection between England and Ireland p.121,fn by William Barron, 1780
- ^ Petty, The Political Anatomy of Ireland, Chapter VI[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Grand Jury (Ireland) Act, 1836". Irish Statute Book. pp. 175: Baronies, &c. may be divided, or may be united. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ County Fermanagh Baronies Act, 1837 1 Vict. c.82
- ^ lewis, Samuel (1837). "Limerick". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland.
- JSTOR 25502743.
- ISBN 0-946327-14-9.
- ^ "c.84 §§51–53". Valuation of Lands (Ireland) Act 1836. Public General Statutes. Vol. 6 & 7 William IV. G. W. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen. 1836. pp. 742–3. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ^ Beaufort 1792 p.94
- ^ Beaufort 1792 p.52
- ^ Beaufort 1792 p.86
- ^ Beaufort 1792 p.25
- ^ Beaufort 1792 p.49
- ^ a b Richard Nun, ed. (1801). "40 Geo iii c.80: An Act to explain and amend an Act passed in the Thirty-fifth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, entitled An Act for regulating the Election of Members to serve in Parliament, and for repealing the several Acts therein mentioned, and to explain and amend an Act passed in the Thirty-Seventh Year of said Reign, entitled An Act for the further Regulation of the Election of Members to serve in Parliament.". From the Thirty-ninth Year of George III. A. D. 1799, to the Fortieth Year of George III. A. D. 1800, inclusive. Statutes passed in the Parliaments held in Ireland ...: from the third year of Edward the second, A.D. 1310 to the fortieth year of George III A.D. 1800, inclusive. Vol. 12. George Grierson. pp. 300–303.
- ^ Parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland, Vol.III pp.23–4
- ^ Clarkson et al, Notes on Baronies of Ireland
- ^ a b Hancock 1876
- ^ a b "Cases in the Queen's Bench: In re Miller and Dowell. In re Meade". Irish Law Reports. 2. Dublin: Hodges and Smith: 307. 1840.
There are other acts which have been held not to extend to the county of the city of Dublin on account of this word "barony" occurring in them
- ^ County Works (Ireland) Act 1846 [9 & 10 Vict. c. 2] s.23
- JSTOR 44606341– via HeinOnline.
- ISBN 9785876338280. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- ^ Prendergast 1868, pp. 79–80
- ^ Prendergast 1868, pp. 208–210
- ^ a b Curtis, Robert H. (1871). "1: Position of matters previous to the formation of the Constabulary". The History of the Royal Irish Constabulary (2nd ed.). Dublin: McGlashan & Gill. pp. 2–3.
- ISBN 0-906980-06-2.
- 59 Geo. 3. c. 84
- 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 116
- ^ a b c Hancock 1876, pp.186–91
- ^ Hancock 1876, p.177
- ^ Hancock 1876, pp.173–4
- ^ Irish Statute Book, Statutory Instruments: 2003 Nos 520, 521, 522, 523, 525; 2004 No 872; 2005 No 847
- ^ "S.I. No. 349/2009 – Land Registration Rules 2009". Irish Statute Book. Government of Ireland. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "S.I. No. 333/1994 – Maritime Boundaries (County of Wicklow) Order, 1994". Irish Statute Book. Government of Ireland. 25 October 1994. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ "Local Government Provisional Order Confirmation Act, 1976". Irish Statute Book. Government of Ireland. 20 December 1976. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
Bibliography
- Beaufort, Daniel Augustus (1792). Memoir of a map of Ireland. London: W. Faden, J. Debrett, and James Edwards. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
- Clarkson, L.A.; L. Kennedy; E.M. Crawford; M.W. Dowling (12 November 1997). "Notes on Baronies of Ireland 1821–1891" (PDF). Database of Irish Historical Statistics : Religion, 1861–1911. UK Data Archive. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- Hancock, W. Neilson (1876). "Local Government and Taxation in Ireland". In J. W. Probyn (ed.). Local government and taxation. Cobden Club Essays. Cassel, Fetter & Galpin. pp. 173–231. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- MacCotter, Paul (2005). "Functions of the cantred in medieval Ireland". Peritia. 19. Brepols: 308–332. ISSN 0332-1592.
- Nicholls, Kenneth (Autumn 1996). "Media Taken in by Bogus Baronies". History Ireland. 4 (3). Wordwell Ltd: 7–8. JSTOR 27724359.
- Petty, William (1851). Thomas Aiskew Larcom (ed.). History of the Cromwellian survey of Ireland, A.D. 1655-6: commonly called "The down survey". Dublin: Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society.
- Prendergast, John Patrick (1868). The Cromwellian settlement of Ireland. New York City: P. M. Haverty.
- Price, Liam (1954). "Ráith Oinn". Éigse: A Journal of Irish Studies. 7: 182–190.
- The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland adapted to the new Poor-Law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical arrangements ... as existing in 1844–45. Dublin: A. Fullarton & Co. 1846. Vol. I: A–C, Vol. II: D–M, Vol. III: N–Z
External links
- Itineraries for Irish Topographical Botany includes large JPGs of the county maps from Robert Lloyd Praeger's copy of Philips' Handy Atlas of the Counties of Ireland (c.1880) with baronies clearly differentiated by colour and border.
- Barony Map of Ireland by Dennis Walsh (archived)
- Alphabetical List of Baronies in Northern Ireland Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
- 2011 Census Boundaries, including shapefiles for baronies; from the Central Statistics Office, Ireland