Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840

Law reforming town and city government in Ireland

United Kingdom legislation

Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840[a]Act of Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Long title| An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland.
Citation| 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108
Territorial extent | Ireland[b]
Dates
Royal assent| 10 August 1840
Commencement| 25 October 1840
Repealed| 1972 and 2001
Other legislation
Amended by|

* Juries Act (Ireland) 1871
* Statute Law Revision Act 1874 (No. 2)
* Statute Law Revision Act 1875

Repealed by|

* Local Government Act 2001
* Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972

Relates to| Municipal Corporations Act 1835

Status: Repealed

Text of statute as originally enacted

The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840[a] (3 & 4 Vict. c. 108) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Acts 1840 to 1888.[1]

The act followed similar lines to the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76) 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

Borough | County

|

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

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

Borough | County

|

Clonmines | Wexford
Downpatrick | Down
Ratoath | Meath
Swords | Dublin
Taghmon | Wexford

There were six 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".[2]

Borough | County

|

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

There were 30 corporations that had become extinct since the Union.[3]

Borough | County

|

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

[edit]

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]

Borough | County

|

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

[edit]

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,[4] but without success.[citation needed]

Boroughs in Schedule B

Borough | County

|

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

Borough | County

|

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

[edit]

Main article: 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 (9 Geo. 4. c. 82). 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 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 103). By 1876, only Carrickfergus was still governed by commissioners appointed under the 1840 act.[5]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b The citation of this act by this short title was authorised by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the Short Titles Act 1896. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
2. ^ Section 1.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ The Short Titles Act 1896, section 2(1) and Schedule 2
2. ^ 1835 Report, p. 6
3. ^ 1835 Report, p. 8
4. ^ 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.
5. ^ 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.

## Bibliography

[edit]

Primary

* "Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840". The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. XV Part II. Her Majesty's Printer's. 1840. pp. 599–669\. ISBN 9780331531558. Retrieved 31 July 2013. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
* Bills: 1835 HC; 1836 HC, HL, HC amend Lords; 1837 HC, recommit; 1837–8 HC, recommit, 2nd recommit, O'Connell amendments; 1838 HC, HL, HL and HC and HL; 1839 HC, commit, 2nd recommit, HL; 1840 HC recommit, HL.
* Municipal Corporations Commissioners (HC 1835 xxvii–xxviii and HC 1836 xxiv [23–29] ): Report, Supplement, Appendix: circuits reporting on towns Pt 1: S, Mid, W, SE, and pt NE, Pt 2: end NE and pt NW, Pt 3: end NW; Dublin Contents, pt 1 pp.1–116, pt 2 pp.117–2
* Municipal Boundaries Commissioners (HC 1837 xxix [301] 1) Report, Maps

Hansard debates on Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Bills, 1835–1840  Session | Commons | Lords | Other house's amendments

|
|
|

(1st &) 2nd r | Ctee | 3rd r | 2nd r | Ctee (& Rpt) | 3rd r | L in C | C in L | 2nd L in C
1835  | 1st 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
1837  | 1st r: Feb 7 8
2nd r: Feb 17 | Feb 20 21 22, Mar 20 | Apr 10 11 | Apr 13 25 | May 5 Jun 9
1837–38  | 1st 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
1839  | 1st 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

* Callanan, Mark; Keogan, Justin F., eds. (2003). Local Government in Ireland Inside Out. Dublin.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
* Roche, Desmond (1982). Local Government in Ireland. Dublin.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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