APH
FIRST
REPORT
OF
THE COMMISSIONERS
APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO
THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS
IN
IRELAND
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of his Majesty.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
FOR HIS MAJESTYS STATIONERY OFFICE.
____________
1835
BOROUGH OF ATHENRY.
Editor: Gerry Burke
*Asterisked words Editor’s explanation of Medieval terms
LIMITS
1.THE Limits of the Borough of Athenry comprise the town and a surrounding agricultural district, of considerable extent, called “The Liberties,” reaching on the west towards the village of Oranmore, about three and a half Irish miles, and in other directions about one. The boundaries are not accurately defined. A map described, in the Reports of the Commissioners of Public Records in Ireland, (vol i. p. 502,) as a map of the liberties of Athenry, is extant amongst the Down Survey maps in the surveyor general’s office, Dublin ; but on examination of this map it was found to contain only a certain portion of the liberties, together with the town, surveyed for the purpose of a grant from the Government of the period (1657.) The following note is affixed thereto : “Note. That the lands unto which this hath reference is thus bounded, viz. : on the north, by the lands of Carnone, Cahirmacrenoge, Carrowtubber, Cloonebulleagh, and Kilcornan; on the east, by the lands of Glones alias Glewes, Bruskagh and Raghcurgan ; on the south, by the lands of Moade, Polenahane, Monahege, Ballinmeda; and on the west, by the lands of Aghram.” But the townlands of Carnane, Cahir-mac-Crenoge, Carrowtubber, Cloonebulleagh, Glewes, and Ballinameda, so mentioned as bounding the lands surveyed, are all stated on the same map to be “of the parish liberties and half-barony of Athenry.”
CHARTERS
2.This borough is very ancient, and was for some time after the first settlement of the English in Ireland a place of considerable consequence.
Murage Grant Edward II
There was a Murage Grant made to the “bailiffs and honest men of Athenry,” in 4 Edward II., (14th October 1310) from Murage Grant, the language of which it would appear that the borough had been previously incorporated. It probably exists by prescription. Writs of the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 18th years of Richard II. are extant., showing that it then returned Members to Parliament.
Fiant of Queen Elizabeth
There is a Fiant* for a Charter of Queen Elizabeth, in the rolls office, without date, but reciting her letters from Greenwich, of the 20th May, in the sixteenth year of her reign, (1574,) by which she grants to the portreeve (or provost) and burgesses of Athenry, the power of choosing a provost at the time and in manner hereinafter mentioned; of appointing a common clerk, and “ all officers as Trim used of holding a Hundred Court once a fortnight for all pleas, real as well as personal, save and except rape, arson, forestalling, and treasure trove, as in Trim, and another court from day to day, for all pleas and actions of debt, as Trim used and had ; to have a gaol ; to have an assize of bread* and all other victuals, and all profits thereon ; to have the return of all writs, with a non-intromittent clause as to all other the Queens’ officers and servants, except in default of the provost. Express power was given to punish all affrays* and bloodshedding, and all regraters*, by fine or imprisonment in the borough gaol. The provost or his deputy with other discreet men, to be chosen for that purpose, were empowered to raise talliages and subsidies for the uses of the corporation. Exemption from arrest, except for debts, &c. contracted within the town; freedom from pontage,* murage, and other the like customs and impositions, for all their goods throughout the kingdom, “ as Trim used,” and exemption from serving on juries out of the liberties, or from being indicted out of the town, were conferred on the provost and burgesses. A Court of Conscience with jurisdiction as far as 6d., power to hold Fairs, and a *Court of Pie Poudre, were also given. The provost was enabled to call four or more of his fellow burgesses to assist his judgment, in case of difficulty. He was created a justice of the peace within the bounds and liberties and “ cross of the same.” He was empowered to summon, array, and assess all persons within and without the liberties and cross of the same, in defence of the town and for the preservation of the peace, according to the statutes of Wilton, Kilkenny, and Dublin, and all former privileges and immunities were thereby further confirmed. By another Fiant, bearing date 8th July, in the same year, also in the rolls office, the Queen granted to the portreeve and burgesses the site and precincts of the monastery of St Dominick’s Abbey of Athenry, commonly called “The Preaching Friars,” with other lands and premises in the county of Galway. And in 1578, by a further grant to the portreeve, burgesses, and commons of Athenry, the rectories of Mountermoroghe, Killmakryan, and divers other rectories and tithes in the county of Galway, the abbey of Mayo, in the county Mayo, and the Grange of O’Fallon, in the county of Roscommon, were conferred upon them.
*Fiant – A ‘fiant’ was a warrant by the deputy or council to the Irish Chancery to prepare letters-patent – published written orders to convey a right, an office, title to property or a pardon. The Fiants are statements of command. The term comes from the first word of the customary opening protocol in these documents: Fiant litterae patentes (‘Let letters patents be made’).
*Hundred Court-Hundred, unit of English local government and taxation, intermediate between village and shire (county). The hundred had a court in which private disputes and criminal matters were settled.
* An assize of bread-The immediate object of an Assize was to fix the size of a loaf of bread. All infractions by bakers were severely punished.
*affray-Public order offence consisting of the fighting of one or more persons in a public place.
*regrater-A retailer; specifically, one who buys provisions and sells them, especially in the same market or fair.
*talliages-Tallage or talliage (from the French tailler, i.e. a part cut out of the whole) may have signified at first any tax, but became in England and France a land use or land tenure tax.
*pontage – a toll levied for the building or repair of bridges.
*Courts of Pie Poudre were occasional courts which were set up during times of market to deal expeditiously with disputes that arose in the market ranging from thefts to disputes between merchants. Decisions had to be made within a day and a half of an accusation and the necessity for such courts arose from the fact that markets attracted visitors from outside the locality.
Letters of King Charles II
In the troubles of the subsequent periods these possessions and privileges would seem to have become forfeited; for King Charles II., by his Letters under privy seal, bearing date the 26th June, thirteenth year of his reign, (1662,) and enrolled in the rolls office, (14 Car. II. p. 3. m.22.) reciting the petition “of the ancient inhabitants, natives, and freemen of the old corporation of Athenry and that they had been ’’constant in their adherence to the Lord Marquis of Clanricard’s directions, being governor, by commission of his royal father, of the county of Galway ” and further reciting ’’that a great part of the said town chiefly belonged to the Lord Baron Athenry, for whose restitution he had provided;” orders, “ that the said baron, inhabitants, and freemen, excepting such as had been disloyal and disobedient to his government, should be forthwith restored and established in the possession of the said town and corporation, together with all and every their rights, interests, and estates, and all their freedoms, privileges, and immunities therein and thereunto belonging; and the barons of the Court of Exchequer were required thereby “to cause all sums of money and other matters’ remaining in charge upon the said premises, or any part thereof in that court, by reason of any acting of the usurped power, to be vacated and put out of charge; and persons deriving from the “late usurped power” were required to permit the petitioners to possess and enjoy the said premises without interruption.
Charter of James II
A Charter was granted to Athenry by James II., in the fourth year of his reign, reciting a seizure into the king’s hands, in the Court, of Exchequer, of the former corporate franchises; but this does not appear to have been accepted or acted upon. It is enrolled. (Rot. Pat 4 Jac. II. p. 1. m. 52.)
No charter is found on record as having actually issued on the Fiant of Queen Elizabeth before mentioned ; but the Fiant is looked upon as of equal authority, and is that under which the officers still profess to act, although several of its most important provisions have fallen into total disuse. None of the originals of the foregoing grants nor any copies of them are in the possession of the corporation.
Books of Proceedings
There was but one book of proceedings of the corporation produced to me. It contains a few irregular entries of modern date, and an abstract of the Fiant of Elizabeth.
Title
3.The Title of the corporation is, “ The Portreeve, Burgesses, and Freemen of the Corporation of the Town and Liberties of Athenry,” and the corporate body consists of a portreeve or provost, burgesses, and freemen.
Classes
The number of the burgesses or freemen is not defined by charter or usage.
Officers
4. The Fiant of Elizabeth empowers the provost or portreeve and burgesses to appoint a “ common clerk,” and all “ such other necessary servants as Trim used ;” but the only officers now known, besides the portreeve, are,
A Serjeant at Mace,
Craner,
Poundkeeper,
Two Appraisers, and
*A Bellman
*It was the job of the crier or bellman to inform the townspeople of the latest news, proclamations, bylaws and any other important information, as at this time most people were illiterate.
Portreeve, how elected
5. By the Fiant of Elizabeth it is provided that the provost should be chosen on the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross (14th September) by the provost or his deputy for the time being, and the major part of the burgesses. He was required to be “one of the burgesses then resident,” and to be sworn at the time of his election, or if absent, as soon as he should return, or his deputy, in case of his absence, before the feast of St. Michael, so as to begin the execution of his office on that day. An election of portreeve now takes place by the portreeve and burgesses on the 14th September, in each year. The portreeve elected is one of three burgesses put in nomination on the preceding day, by the same body ; he is not now sworn in till the 29th September, when he enters upon office, and continues for a year. The present portreeve has been re-elected every year since 1817.
Deputy
The portreeve has a power to appoint a Deputy, in his Absence, from amongst the burgesses, “ for whom he should be answerable’’ and the present portreeve had been deputy to his predecessor, who had in like manner been re-elected for a number of years. He has never appointed a deputy. In fact., the election is merely formal ; the portreeve being in reality nominated by Theophilus Blakeney, Esq. of Abbert, a gentleman residing in the neighbourhood, and described by the portreeve, in his evidence, as the “owner of the borough and of the corporation property in the town.”
Functions and Emoluments
6.Several of the various Functions given to the portreeve have fallen into disuse, but he still acts as a justice of the peace, and clerk of the market within the borough limits, and presides, as sole judge, in the Borough Court ; his Emoluments arise from certain, court fees amounting probably to about £30 a-year ; from the receipt of the tolls of the town which are about £40, and the rent, of certain plots of land, at present producing £3 10s late Irish currency ; he has, besides, the use of the Tholsel Court as a residence, which is valued at £15 per annum. The whole income of the office may be thus estimated at about £90. As portreeve, he has, under Mr. Blakeney, the patron of the borough, the appointment to all the corporate offices. The provost and burgesses of Athenry are, by the fiant of Elizabeth, free of all murage, pavage, pontage, and all other the like customs and impositions, for all their goods throughout the kingdom as Trim used; and in the charter of Henry VIII. to the corporation of Galway, there is a special saving to the provost and burgesses of Athenry of their accustomed franchises and privileges in the town and port of Galway. Exemption from toll was recently claimed by the present portreeve at Galway, under this authority, but the claim was not admitted.
Burgesses, Number of; how elected
7. The Fiant does not determine the mode of Election of the Burgesses or their number. They are in form nominated on one day, elected the next, and sworn on the 29th September. They hold their office for life. Except the nominal part they take in the election of the portreeve and fellow burgesses, at the annual meetings in September, they have no functions, and enjoy no privileges or emoluments whatsoever, save exemption from the tolls of the town. There are supposed to be, 20 burgesses now living, five only of whom, including the portreeve, are resident ; of these five, three were elected or rather nominated by portreeve within the last two years, a certain number of burgesses being necessary, as stated by the portreeve, to constitute a corporate meeting. The three persons so nominated by him were his son and two cousins. The usual number attending is three or four, with the portreeve.
Union Compensation
8. The portreeve and burgesses had the return of two Members to the Irish Parliament, for the loss of which privilege £15,000, Compensation money, were paid at the Union to the trustees of the marriage settlement of Theophiius Blakeney Esq., the patron of the borough.
Freemen
9. No Freemen have been admitted of late, and there are but three now living. There is no recognised title to freedom ; none of the present freemen have ever attended any corporate meeting, though said to be entitled to do so. The only privilege freemen enjoy is that of being free of tolls in the town.
Minor Officers, how elected
10. The serjeant at mace, craner, poundkeeper, appraisers, and bellman are all appointed annually, by the portreeve. The same individuals are always reappointed and resworn every year at Michaelmas.
Serjeant at Mace, his duty
11. The Duty of the Serjeant at Mace is to serve the process and execute the decrees of the Borough Court, for the performance of which he receives a fee, varying without any fixed rule from 8d. to 2s. 6d., according to the amount of the debt, the distance at which the process is to be served, and the trouble he may be put to. Some years ago these fees amounted to about £30 a-year, they do not now exceed £5; when goods are brought to sale under a decree, which is a rare occurrence, the serjeant at mace acts as auctioneer, for which he receives a fee of 2s. The serjeant at mace also summons juries when required. Complaints were made of the dilatoriness of this officer in executing the decrees of the court; but, on investigation of the cases, any delay appeared rather to arise from a lenient feeling towards the debtor, than from a corrupt motive in the officer. The want of any fixed rule in the amount of fees to be paid to him, may lead to oppression.
Craner
12. The duties of the Craner or weighmaster, besides those which the name of the office indicates, are to assist, the portreeve in the examination of weights and measures in the town. His emoluments, which arise from cranage fees, are about £6 a-year. These fees consist in part, of a charge on weighing potatoes, notwithstanding the prohibition of the 25 Geo. II.c15. s. 12.
Poundkeeper
13.The Poundkeeper has no salary; his fees are those prescribed by the Pound-keeper’s Act, 6 Geo. IV. c. 43.
Borough Court
14. By the provisions of the. Fiant of Elizabeth, the corporation is empowered to hold a “ Hundred Court before the provost or his deputy from fortnight to fortnight, and another court from day to day, from hour to hour, and from time to time, and to hold a Court of Pleas as Trim used to do.” A court called a Town Court or the Portreeve’s Court is now held as often as there is any business to be done, which is latterly very seldom. It is held generally on Monday, not in any fixed court-house or place, but in different parts of the town. The portreeve presides; he is not a professional person, nor is it required by the charters that he should be so. It is a court for all pleas, real and personal, to an unlimited amount. The mode of proceeding is: after demand and refusal of the debt, the creditor serves a copy of his account, setting forth the particulars of his demand, on the portreeve, and makes an affidavit of the debt, and that the party has goods within the jurisdiction, whereupon an attachment is issued by the portreeve against the debtor’s goods ; this writ is executed by the serjeant at mace. Cattle seized are brought to the borough pound, other effects to the tholsel house, unless the debtor give security either to pay the debt or appear at the trial. The security is given to the portreeve, who thereupon considers himself responsible to the party for the amount of the debt. If the debt is disputed, a jury of 12 of the inhabitants of the town is summoned by the serjeant at mace and sworn, and the trial proceeds in the ordinary way. The jurors are generally the same individuals. There are no formal pleadings; in four days after the trial the plaintiff, if successful, is entitled to a decree, and, unless in case of an adjournment, the whole suit, from the issuing of the attachment to the levying of the execution, does not occupy more than ten days.
Costs
There are no regular court fees. The portreeve stated his rule to be, to require from 1s. to 5s., varying in proportion to the amount of the debt, as a fee on issuing the “action,’’ and 1s. in the pound from the defendant on the decree ; 5s. is payable to the portreeve by the defendant for a dismiss.
Abuses
15. There does not seem, however, to be any uniform practice as to the amount of these fees. One instance occurred recently, where on a decree for £37 10s. the portreeve required but 10s. while on another for £2 19s. 7d. he actually received 15s. for the decree, besides 2s.6d. paid for the action, or attachment, in the first instance. Great and well founded complaints are made of these exactions, for such they are, as well as of a discretionary power claimed by the portreeve, of issuing or altogether withholding the writs at his pleasure. A recent case occurred in which this discretion seems to have been exercised in an extraordinary manner. An application had been made to the portreeve by a tradesman of the town for an “ action,” to recover a sum of £37 from a neighbouring, gentleman. When the application was first made, the portreeve (between whom and the debtor there existed a previous intimacy) was assured by the latter that no such money was due, and that he had a receipt from the claimant for the amount; upon. which the portreeve, without further inquiry, peremptorily refused the writ, although the usual fee (of 5s.) was tendered to him for it. The claimant stated, that being from poverty unable to proceed in the superior courts he lost the debt. Strange as this statement must appear, the portreeve not only admitted its truth, but justified himself on these grounds : that it was to prevent litigation ; that the debtor had threatened to sue out a *certiorari to remove the action, which would have put him (the portreeve) to the trouble and expense of employing professional aid, to enable him to make a proper return ; and that he did not think it fit to arrest the goods of a gentleman who had a receipt to produce ; admitting, however, that he did not see the alleged receipt. The mode of administering justice in this court, is a subject of general dissatisfaction to the town and liberties, and indeed cannot be too strongly censured.
*Certeorari-When a party loses in a court of law, often the party is allowed to appeal the decision to a higher court.
Removal of Causes
Causes are sometimes removed by certiorari to the superior courts; only three of these writs have been issued in the last 16 years. There are now no attorneys regularly practising in the court; formerly there were. They were sworn and admitted practitioners of the Corporation Court. The number of actions issued from the 1st January 1832 to the 21st September 1833, was about 20, of which 14 went to trial. The sums for which those proceedings were instituted varied from £1 to £37, but by far the greater part under £10. The assistant barrister for the county Galway sits for the district in which Athenry is situated, at Loughrea, Gort, and Eyre Court. Loughrea is about 12, Gort 18, and Eyre Court 30 statute miles from Athenry; notwithstanding the necessary inconvenience to the suitors of attending at these distances, causes are brought to the Assistant Barrister’s Court from the borough limits; a circumstance which, of itself proves the dissatisfaction of the inhabitants with the Borough Court.
Criminal Jurisdiction
16. There is no Criminal Jurisdiction now exercised by the corporation, except so far as the portreeve acts in his character of justice of the peace.
Petty Sessions
17. Petty Sessions are held in the town every Friday, which are attended generallv by three of the county Magistrates, one of whom stated, that, as a county magistrate, he had no right to act. within the borough, and never did. The portreeve does not attend these sessions. Petty assaults, malicious trespasses, and claims for servants’ and labourers’ wages are disposed of. The number of criminal cases disposed of at petty sessions, from the 21st September 1832 to 20th September183 was 448 And of civil proceedings 604
Total – 1052
Police
18.There is no local Police, unless the serjeant at mace can be so considered. A few of the county constabulary are stationed in the town. The streets are repaired by county presentment. The town is not lighted.
Gaol
19. The Fiant of Elizabeth enables the corporation to have a Gaol, and empowers the portreeve to appoint a gaoler. It is said there was a gaol formerly in the town, but there is none at present. The want of some place of temporary confinement is complained of by the county magistrates, who, in case of a committal late in the evening, are, in consequence, either obliged to detain the prisoner in the police barrack for the night, or transmit him to the county gaol at Galway, a distance of 14 miles.
FAIRS AND MARKETS
20. There are three Fairs in the year; that held in July is considerable; and there is a weekly Market.
The following grants of fairs and markets to be held in this borough, appear on record :
| Date of Grant | Enrolment | Grantee | Fairs and Markets |
| 8th July 1574 | Fiant, 16 Elizabeth | Corporation. | Market on St. John’s Day |
| 13th April 1629 | Rot. Pat. 5 Charles I.p.l.m.3.d | Sir Will. Parsons,
Bart |
Market on Saturday, and Fair 18th October and day following. |
PROPERTY
21 . The Property of the corporation, which appears by the ancient grants before referred to, to have been once so extensive, now consists of merely,
The tholsel house, said to be worth about £15 per annum ;
Two plots of ground, now producing a rent of £3 10s. late Irish currency ;
The tolls of the town, worth about £40;
And the borough pound.
The whole of the above, except the pound, were demised to the present portreeve, by Mr. Blakeney, at 1s. a year for the term of his (the portreeve’s) life, and seven years. This lease was not produced to me.
It is calculated that the plots of ground, if out of lease, would, by putting the cottages on them in repair, produce about £50 per annum.
It was stated on the authority of a deceased portreeve, that a strip of ground 18 feet, all round the ancient walls of the town, was corporate property.
The large possessions of this corporation conferred by Queen Elizabeth have long been alienated. The site of St. Dominick’s Abbey is now part of the estate of a neighbouring magistrate of the county.
The entire present income of the corporation is appropriated to the use of the portreeve.
The only instrument appearing to be registered as an act of the corporation, is a lease of a house within the borough, bearing date 1st May 1738, from the portreeve and burgesses of the borough of Athenry, to Robert Persse, for a term of 199 years, at an annual rent of 2s. 6d.
Tolls
22. The Tolls, which are collected on market as well as fair days, and which form so considerable a portion of the corporate property, are claimed by usage and charter; they are much complained of by the inhabitants, both for their amount, the mode of their collection, and the appropriation of them. A schedule of these tolls is herewith sent, as furnished by the portreeve; by which it appears that many of the charges are very objectionable, and that the improper, if not illegal practice, of administering oaths to persons liable to toll, is expressly made part of the system of collection. It is alleged that the collection of reasonable tolls would not be objected to, if applied to any public purpose. They are now stated to be an injury to the town; and the markets of the neighbouring villages of Monivea and Gurteen, which are toll free, are represented as rising into importance at the expense of Athenry. It must also be observed, that the tolls occasionally give rise to disputes, which are adjudicated upon by the portreeve, who is himself the beneficial owner of them.
Patronage
23. There is no ecclesiastical Patronage now belonging to the corporation. The very extensive grants of advowsons and tithes contained in the patent of Queen Elizabeth, of 1578, if ever in possession of the corporation, must have been surrendered, or seized into the hands of the Crown, at a very remote period ; as they appear to have been the subject of different, grants from the Crown to private individuals in the seventeenth century*.
State and Prospects
24. The appearance of the town is said to be improving within the last few years. It has not increased in trade. Hopes of improvement in this respect, are, however, entertained by some, from a new line of road between Ballinasloe and Galway.
The number of houses paying from £10 to £20 per annum rent, are about 20.
The following Table is confined to the town, and exhibits its state and Population in 1831:
| Houses inhabited | 248 |
| Ditto building | 8 |
| Ditto uninhabited | 9 |
| Families | 269 |
| Persons | 1,319 |
| Employed in retail trade or handicraft | 156 |
| Professional and other educated men | 15 |
GENERAL REMARKS
25. It is difficult to say what advantage such a corporation as described in this Report, however reformed, could be to so small a community, nor does its continuance seem to be desired by the inhabitants, as far as municipal government is concerned. The present body is of no public utility, and decidedly unpopular. The corporate property, instead of being, as it now is, applied to the private use of an individual, might be advantageously employed in objects of local improvement, which would be further advanced by the total abolition of the tolls.
Document Sent
26. A copy of the Schedule of Tolls is sent with this Report.
JOHN R. CORBALLIS.
Inquiry held at Athenry, 21st September 1833.
* Erck’s Ecclesiastical Register, p. 228.
