by Joseph Byrne
Place Act. A minor parliamentary reform measure introduced in 1793 (33 Geo. III, c. 41) under pressure from the ‘patriot’ party which brought Ireland into line with Britain. The act compelled members to resign their commons’ seats and seek re-election upon taking a government post or upon receiving a government pension. It was not retrospective, however, and at the union there were 72 members of the Irish parliament holding government posts (placemen), all perfectly positioned to vote through the legislative union. It was under legislation of this type that William Vesey FitzGerald, on his appointment as president of the Board of Trade, was compelled to resign his seat in Co. Clare in 1828 and fight a by-election. His defeat by Daniel O’Connell was pivotal in the concession of Catholic emancipation in 1829.
Plan of Campaign. A continuation of the Land War by other means, this scheme was devised by John Dillon, William O’Brien and Timothy Harrington to compel landlords to lower rents through a process of collective bargaining with their tenants. It began in 1886 when a collapse in crop and livestock prices left many tenants unable to pay the rents judicially fixed under the 1881 Land Law Act. Tenants who had not benefitted from that act were in an even worse position and the number of evictions began to climb dramatically. Under the plan, landlords were requested to lower their rents voluntarily. Those who refused were to be offered a reduced rate by the united body of tenants. If the reduced rent was refused the money was paid into an estate fund which was used to protect and support any tenants who were evicted for supporting the campaign. Landgrabbers were to be deterred by the use of the boycott. Any shortfall was met by subvention from the National League which disbursed £250,000 by 1891. Landlords and government responded vigorously to the plan. Some landlords combined in an attempt to defeat the tenants’ demands. In 1887 Augustine Birrell, the chief secretary, introduced a coercion bill (Criminal Law and Procedure Act, 50 & 51 Vict., c. 20) which gave resident magistrates in proclaimed districts the powers of investigation and summary jurisdiction and authorised the lord lieutenant to suppress subversive groups. Both Dillon and O’Brien were jailed under this legislation. Between 1886 and 1890 the plan was initiated on 116 estates and although a majority were resolved peacefully or by agreement after some agitation, 18 estates remained unresolved by 1891. In all about 1,400 families were evicted and some remained displaced as late as 1893 when a special committee was established to consider their predicament. The Plan of Campaign effectively ended in 1890 with the jailing of O’Brien and Dillon and the citing of Parnell as co-respondent in the O’Shea divorce case. (Larkin, The Roman Catholic Church.)
plantation acre. Also known as the Irish acre, it was the land measure employed in Ireland during the plantations, equivalent to 7,840 square yards or 1.62 statute acres. See acre.
plea rolls. Essentially the journals of all the proceedings in the courts, the plea rolls contained records of decrees, legal suits, actions and inquisitions, enrolments of judicial appointees, enrolments of charters, patents and deeds, legal suits and actions, actions of dower, writs of right of advowsons, assizes of novel disseisin and mort d’ancestor, prosecutions for trespasses in the royal forests and a whole range of miscellaneous material associated with the business of jurisprudence. In 1861 there were 593 rolls in existence dating from 1220 to the reign of Charles I but with the few exceptions all were destroyed in the Four Courts in 1922. A manuscript repertory of 12 volumes of extracts from the plea rolls had been prepared by the Irish Record Commission before its demise and these can be found in the National Archives. The third volume of the O’Renehan MSS in Maynooth College Library also contains abstracts from the plea rolls. See Philomena Connolly, Medieval record sources, pp. 25–6, for all surviving rolls.
plenarty, exception of. The claim advanced by the defence in a hearing of darrien presentment that there was no vacancy in the benefice to which the plaintiff claimed the right of presentation, that there was an incumbent and therefore no reason for the assize. (Osbrough, Studies, pp. 101–2.)
ploughbote, ploughboot. A tenant’s right without payment to procure wood from the manorial woods for the purpose of making ploughs.
ploughland. The amount of land that would provide employment to one plough with a full team of oxen or horses for a year. Although its precise extent varied throughout the country it was normally considered to contain about 120 acres of arable land. Thus it was equivalent to a carucate or villate.
pluries, writ of. A writ issued after two earlier writs had proved ineffectual. See outlawry.
Pococke, Richard (1704–1765). An English clergyman who served successively as vicar-general of Waterford and Lismore, archdeacon of Dublin and bishop of Ossory, Elphin and Meath. A compulsive traveller and travel-writer, Pococke published accounts of his tours of Egypt and the Middle East (1743–5) and his accounts of Scotland and England appeared in 1887 and 1888. Between 1747 and 1758 he toured extensively in Ireland, largely in remote areas that had attracted little attention from earlier commentators, but a full edition of his Irish tours only appeared in 1995. Pococke’s interests were antiquarian and scientific and on his travels in he carried topographical and other reference works with him to compare his observations with those of earlier commentators. Observations on archaeology, botany, geology, ecclesiastical history and architecture, economic life and agriculture all figure prominently in his writing. Although keen to advance Protestantism in Ireland – he was an enthusiastic supporter of the charter schools – Pococke eschewed the moralistic criticisms of native Irish culture and beliefs of earlier visitors in favour of a descriptive, restrained style. (McVeagh, Richard Pococke.)
pointed style. The pointed or Early English style was the first stage in the evolution of the Gothic architecture in the middle ages. It derived from the introduction of the pointed arch in the eleventh century. In addition to pointed arches, the style is characterised by plain ribbed vaults, windows without tracery and tall piers with shafts grouped together. See decorated style, perpendicular style, both of which represent developments of the pointed style.
police. Following an outbreak of agrarian unrest in 1813, Robert Peel, the chief secretary, introduced the Peace Preservation Act (54 Geo. III, c. 131, 1814) which created a uniformed, temporary peace preservation force under the direction of a police magistrate to restore order in disturbed areas. In 1822 work began on a new police bill to establish a permanent standing force of constables and sub-constables for each county under the supervision of provincial inspectors-general. Magistrates in the counties were authorised to appoint constables and sub-constables but not the higher ranks. This force also operated under a magistrate (Geo. IV, c. 103, 1822). By 1825 Ireland had a professional police force of 4,500 men who were recruited and maintained locally but equipped from central government stores. From 1830 the government nominated the chief Dublin police magistrate and the bulk of police magistrates throughout the country. The inspectors-general, however, were appointees of the lord lieutenant and were required to establish uniform discipline and conduct within the force. They were also empowered to move men out of their respective counties as needs dictated. In 1836 Drummond, the chief secretary, amalgamated the peace preservation force with the county police to establish a single, armed and centralised police force, the Irish Constabulary, for the entire country with the exception of the cities of Dublin, Belfast and Derry which had their own police forces. Initially the new force comprised 8,400 men rising to 14,000 by the 1880s. In 1867 it was renamed the Royal Irish Constabulary for its role in suppressing the Fenians. By this time the duties of constables ranged from contentious matters, such as dealing with agrarian violence or assisting with evictions, to the mundane tasks of collecting agricultural statistics, operating as census enumerators and enforcing fishing, food and drugs regulations. From a local historian’s perspective the flood of reports dispatched from the localities to the central administration offers a treasure trove of localised detail although caution must always be exercised in employing them. These were the report
s of an arm of government that was not naturally well-disposed towards local grievances. The National Archives holds a large collection of records of crime and local disturbances dating from the 1790s. These can be found amongst the Rebellion papers (1790–1807), State of the Country papers (1790– 1831), the Outrage papers (1832–1852), the Chief Secretary’s Office papers (from 1852), the Fenian papers (1857–1883), the Irish Land League and National League papers (1878–1890), Special Crime Branch papers (1887–1917) and Intelligence (1895–1917. See baronial police force, Bulkies, constable, Dublin Metropolitan Police, revenue police, watch and ward. (Herlihy, The Royal Irish Constabulary; O’Sullivan, The Irish constabularies; Palmer, Police.)
poll. 1: A spatial unit of measurement equivalent to 50 to 60 acres 2: A deed (such as a deed poll) involving a single party that was straight edged and not indented for the reason that no other individual required a copy for later authentification.
pollard. To cut a tree back to the trunk to encourage vigorous growth. Pollarding provided an annual crop of flexible rods for basket-weaving and thatching. It was carried out at a height to protect shoots from grazing animals. See coppice, scollop.
poll tax. Literally a head tax, the poll tax was imposed on every adult over the age of 15 by the 1660 poll tax ordinance. See Census of 1659.
pontage. A maintenance tax levied on the users of a bridge.
Poor Inquiry. The Poor Inquiry was established by royal commission in 1833 to inquire into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland. It was the largest investigation ever conducted into poverty in these islands. Sub-commissioners were appointed to travel throughout the country gathering information about earnings, the nature of employment, cost of living, housing, clothing, food, medical care and local charity. Over 1,500 people were interviewed. The three reports of the inquiry (with appendices and supplements) contain detailed information on pre-Famine conditions in the localities which was submitted by clergymen, justices of the peace and medical officers in response to a set list of interrogatories. Richard Whately, Anglican archbishop of Dublin, was selected by the Whig administration as chairman in the hope that the report would be acceptable to Whig economic sensitivities but that hope was dashed with the publication between 1835 and 1837 of the commission’s findings. They make bleak reading. The commissioners estimated that over two million people required assistance for 30 weeks of each year and recommended massive state intervention to promote the economic development of the country, most notably in the areas of land reclamation, fishery development and large-scale emigration to the colonies. They rejected the notion that the English poor law system with its emphasis on the provision of relief within a workhouse would go any distance towards ameliorating the impoverishment they had encountered. The commissioners did, however, agree with the government that relief should be discretionary and not an entitlement. For its part, the government ignored the commission’s findings because, they claimed, the commission had exceeded its brief in looking into the causes rather than the symptoms of impoverishment. In any case prevailing economic thought in government circles did not favour massive state intervention. Irish poverty, according to this view, was a symptom of backwardness and could only be addressed by detaching the peasants from the soil and not by a liberal poor law system. Poor law was to be administered stringently to compel the peasants to give up their small-holdings, to encourage landlords to amalgamate small-holdings and invest in their estates, thereby transforming a country of small-holders, low productivity and absentee landlords into a modern capitalist economy. See Malthus. (Poor Inquiry.)
Poor Law. Poor law was the means by which the poor and destitute were to be relieved of distress. Extended to Ireland in 1838 (1 & 2 Vict., c. 56) and modelled on the English Poor Law Act of 1834, poor law was financed by local poor rates that were levied on occupiers of land valued at four pounds and over. The intention was to save money by doing away with outdoor relief and the provision of public works for the unemployed during periods of hardship. Administratively, the country was divided into poor law unions, each of which was supervised by a board of guardians under the overall direction of a poor law commission. Relief was discretionary and not a right and was to be offered only in the workhouse under the principle of less eligibility (that is, people would only elect to go there as a last resort). Conditions were to be kept so bleak that only the completely destitute would enter. It was utterly inadequate for Ireland where poverty was widespread in rural areas and where admission to a workhouse required families to surrender the holdings on which they depended for subsistence. The poor law system failed to meet the challenge presented by the Great Famine and government was compelled to provide outdoor relief again. In 1847, in an attempt to make responsibility for distress a local rather than a British charge, the Poor Law Commission was made autonomous of the Poor Law Board in England, the very weak and the disabled became entitled as of right to relief but tests of destitution were more rigorously enforced. Significantly, outdoor relief was provided for the first time under poor law. Local dispensaries and public health regulations came within the ambit of poor law after the famine and when the supervisory Poor Law Commission was abolished in 1872 its functions were absorbed by the Local Government Board. See Malthus, rate-in-aid, relieving officer, workhouse test. (O’Brien, ‘The establishment of poor-law unions’, pp. 97–120.)
Poor Law Commission. A government-appointed body set up in 1847 (10 & 11 Vict., c. 90) to assume responsibility for the administration of poor law in Ireland, a function previously exercised by the English poor law commissioners. The poor law commission exercised a supervisory jurisdiction over local poor law boards. In 1872 (35 & 36 Vict., c. 69) it was merged with the Local Government Board which had been established a year earlier and which, in time, became one of the most important departments in the Irish administration. Both the Poor Law Commission and the Local Government Board comprised the chief-secretary, under-secretary, commissioners, regional inspectors and clerks. In addition to supervising poor law (including a veto over the appointment of and power to dismiss salaried poor law union officials and to summarily dismiss and replace elected boards of guardians), the Local Government Board was responsible for the dispensary system, for organising relief in distressed areas during famine, it arbitrated between rival local authorities and arranged for the transfer of power to the county and rural district councils created by the 1898 Local Government Act. After 1898 the board (which was stuffed with unionists and Protestants) was able to limit the freedom of action of the newly-created (largely nationalist and Catholic) councils because its approval was necessary for their acts. The Local Government Board supervised hospitals established under the 1908 Tuberculosis Prevention (Ireland) Act and the distress committees set up under the Unemployed Workmen’s Act (1905). Under the 1908 Old Age Pension Act it became the central pension authority.
poor law union. An administrative area in which ratepayers were assessed for the poor law rate, the poor law union was created by the extension to Ireland in 1838 (1 & 2 Vict., c. 56) of the English Poor Law Act of 1834. The area of each union was determined usually by taking the chief market town in an area and attaching to it, without regard to county or baronial boundaries, the surrounding land within a radius of about 10 miles. The only limit imposed was that no townland should be divided. Townlands were then grouped together in electoral divisions for the purpose of electing union officials known as guardians. The poor law union assumed responsibility for tasks previously mandated to the grand jury including the maintenance and support of dispensaries, fever hospitals and workhouses but not its judicial function. Each union was administered by a board of guardians, partly comprising ex-officio members such as magistrates and partly elected officials. In all a total of 163 poor law unions were eventually established, each with its own workhouse. (O’Brien, ‘The establishment of poor-law unions’, pp. 97–120.)
poor rate. A tax levied on every tenement to provide relief to the poor in each of the 130 (163
by 1848) poor law unions that had been established by the extension of poor law to Ireland in 1838 (1 & 2 Vict., c. 56). Under the 1851 Medical Charities Act poor rate revenue was also used to fund a nationwide dispensary network. The grand jury was nominated to carry out a valuation of all tenements within its jurisdiction for the purpose of assessing liability and the board of guardians in each union employed valuators to conduct the valuation and to record their findings. The imposition of the poor rate met with opposition in some areas, mainly in the west. In 1843–4 police or military intervention was required in 21 unions to enforce collection. To avoid a repetition, occupiers of property rated at less than £4 per annum were exempted (6 & 7 Vict., c. 92, 1843) and their portion of the rates was assigned to the landlord. This concession boomeranged on tenants during the Great Famine years. Declining rental payments from stricken tenants coupled with increasing poor law taxation stimulated landlords whose properties were heavily subdivided into units valued below £4 to clear their estates, consolidate and convert to pastoral farming. The poor rate valuation, itself, was also a source of friction. Many ratepayers claimed the valuators were unskilled in valuation and had undervalued the holdings of their cronies, the large landowners. This difficulty was overcome by the establishment in 1852 of Griffith’s Valuation, a single uniform system of land and tenement valuation. From 1898, with the passage of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, the responsibility for levying the rate devolved to the county council and in 1946 the poor rate was renamed the country rate. See rate-in-aid, ‘quarter acre clause’. (Kinealy, This great calamity.)
