Byrne's Dictionary of Irish Local History

by Joseph Byrne

  In the early 1830s leadership on the issue was provided by the Catholic clergy, urban and middle-class repealers, Daniel O’Connell and wealthy Catholic graziers who had been caught for the first time by the extension of tithe to pasturage. In 1832 less than half the tithe was collected. In June of that year the Attorney-General’s Act (2 & 3 Will. IV, c. 41) empowered the attorney-general to pay some of the 1831 arrears and to collect the rest by force. Stanley’s composition act (2 William IV, c. 119) later in the year attempted to mitigate the worst aspects of tithe by making the assessment an official rather than a private arrangement, by slightly reducing the level of tithe, by exempting the poorest tenants from direct liability and by allowing a 15% rebate to landlords and better-off tenants who took responsibility for collecting it. However, less than one-third of tithe due between 1831 and 1833 was paid and government expeditions to collect the arrears cost more than was recovered. The violence continued. Under the Church Million Act (3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 100, 1833), the government assumed responsibility for the payment of all arrears for the years 1831–3 – subject to a scaling down of the amount owed – and no further attempt was made to pursue defaulters. By this time the Catholic church had begun to disassociate itself from tithe agitation and violence declined from 1835. In that year the Lichfield House Compact shifted the focus away from tithe to the principle of applying the supposed surplus to be generated by a new tithe reform act to extra-ecclesiastical purposes such as the education of the poor. O’Connell undertook not to press for the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, the repeal of the union or parliamentary reform in return for a reduction in tithe, municipal reform and the appointment of Catholics and liberal Protestants to public office and the judiciary in Ireland. In 1838 (1 & 2 Vict., c. 109) tithe and tithe composition was abolished and replaced with a rentcharge set at 75% of the nominal value of the tithe. Tithe was subsumed into rents and collected by landlords who received a bonus of up to 25% for assuming that responsibility. Thus the tithe war ended in a reduction in the level of tithe, the exemption of poorer tenants, the assumption by the treasury of responsibility for the payment of the bulk of arrears accumulated over eight years and with landlords replacing the proctors as collectors of tithe. Tithe was not abolished when the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1869 – it remained payable to the state although later legislation permitted owners and occupiers of tithable land to compound for it. See tithe agistment, tithe applotment, tithe-farmer, tithe fish. (O’Donoghue, ‘Causes’; Idem, ‘Opposition’.)

  tithe agistment. The tithe on pasturage for dry and barren cattle was regularly collected in Ulster but not in the rest of the country. With the increase in pasturage in the eighteenth century this tithe became a potentially valuable source of income to the Church of Ireland. A test case before king’s bench in 1707 resulted in an adjudication in favour of the clergy, a judgement that was upheld in 1722 by the exchequer. Inevitably this aroused the ire of landlords. In 1736 parliament rejected the claims of the clergy and threatened a committee of inquiry into the pastoral duties of bishops and clergymen. Fearful of what such a committee might uncover the clergy backed down thereby liberating the rich graziers while the poorer classes continued to bear a disproportionate burden. Tithe agistment was abolished by 40 Geo. III c. 23 (1800) and land set to pasture eventually came within the compass of tithe after the passage of the Tithe Composition Act of 1823 (4 Geo. IV, c. 99). See tithe.

  tithe applotment. Tithe applotment was the process by which the value of tithe was calculated. The Tithe Composition Act (1823) allowed for the payment of tithe in cash rather than in kind and a nationwide valuation was conducted to calculate how much was due from each landholder. The valuation was carried out between 1823 and 1838 when tithe was replaced by a rentcharge. The original records of the early nineteenth-century tithe aplotments are available for inspection in the National Archives and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Sadly, the applotment books were not compiled to a uniform schedule. Some record townland names, occupiers’ names, the amount of land held and the amount payable. Others also include the landlord’s name and an assessment of the productive capacity of the land. Thus regional comparisons are not easy. In the absence of contemporaneous census returns the applotment books provide compensatory genealogical data and when used in conjunction with the post-Famine Griffith’s Valuation reveal much about changing landholding patterns. (Simington, ‘The tithe’, pp. 295–98.)

  tithe farmer, tithe proctor. The assessor and collector of tithe who paid the beneficial clergyman or tithe-owner a fixed sum and made a profit by maximising the amount collected. The tithe-farmer appeared in early summer to view the crops and estimate the likely yield. Just before harvest he returned to bargain with the grower. The practice of valuing crops by quantity in good years and by price in scarce years was particularly resented. Long-term failure to pay, and payment often lagged over a year behind, could result in a summons to appear before two magistrates who issued decrees in relation to the debt. For sums above £10 debtors could be summoned before the bishop’s court. Disputes between tithe-farmers and tithe-payers were referred to the owner of the tithe for his adjudication. The Tithe Composition Act (1823) legislated for the extinction of the tithe-farmer by allowing for the voluntary commutation of tithe to a fixed charge on the land.

  tithe fish. It was customary for tithe on fish to be paid one-half in the parish of origin of the fishermen and one-half where the fish were landed.

  tithing. In feudal times, a form of social control that made groups of 10–12 villagers responsible for the good behaviour of each other. The tithing was the unit of collective responsibility associated with the View of Frankpledge.

  titulado. Person of distinction or title, nobleman, gentleman. The term is used in the 1660 poll tax records to denote the leading proprietor(s) in a parish. The precise rank of each titulado is noted because the poll tax was levied according to a graduated scale. See Census of Ireland circa 1659.

  toft. A holding comprising a dwelling (plus outbuildings) and land. A tenement.

  togher. 1: A spatial unit of land measurement in Antrim, consisting of between two and three hundred acres 2: A wooden causeway.

  tolboll. The payment of a certain volume of beer to the lord by the brewer when brewing. In the course of a lawsuit in the sixteenth century St Thomas’ Abbey, Dublin, claimed to have received a grant from King John of the tolboll of a gallon and a half of the best and as much of the second brew of the taverns of Dublin. Henry II continued the grant provided the abbey maintained 60 paupers and scholars in food, drink and clothing. (Berry, ‘Proceedings’, pp. 169– 73.) See ale silver.

  Toleration Act (1719). The act (6 Geo. I, c. 9) which granted freedom of worship to dissenters. They retained their entitlement to vote and sit in parliament but were denied admission to local government and the magistracy. The act failed to satisfy Presbyterians because it did not revoke the sacramental test which barred them from taking office. See Test Act.

  toll (tholl) and team (theam). Rights associated with the soc or jurisdiction of a manor. Toll was the right to exact a toll, tribute or custom on the sale of goods or cattle on a manorial estate and the right to take profits. Team was a grant to a manorial lord which entitled him to have, restrain and judge bondsmen or villeins and to adjudicate the rightful possession of cattle. See sac and soc.

  toll thorough. A toll exacted by a corporate town in consideration of services performed in the maintenance of streets (pavage), bridges (pontage) and walls (murage).

  toll-road. Toll-roads were created on major arterial routes to ensure that the burden of road maintenance was not borne by those inhabitants living in the baronies through which they passed. See six-day labour. Parliament legislated for the first Irish turnpike or toll-road, the Dublin to Kilcullen route, in 1729 and continued to legislate for new and existing toll-roads into the nineteenth century. The roads were supervised by a turnpike trust and financed by private capital in the expectati
on that tolls would meet maintenance costs and return a profit on the venture. Initial capital was raised by the issuing of debentures which yielded between 5% and 6% per annum. The Irish toll-road system failed to generate sufficient income to fund proper maintenance, interest payments were frequently in arrears and local inhabitants resented the double-taxation of tolls and county cess. The nineteenth-century railway boom hastened its demise. Following a commission of inquiry the turnpike trusts were wound up in 1855 and 1856. The term ‘turnpike’ may derive from the barrier across the road which was turned or opened to allow passage to carts. (Broderick, An early toll-road.)

  tonnage (tunnage). A customs duty of so much per ton or (in the case of wine) per tun.

  top-entry house. A nineteenth-century single-storey, over-basement, suburban house.

  Topographia Hiberniae. The Topography of Ireland was written by Giraldus de Barri or Giraldus Cambrensis (Cambria) between 1185 and 1188 and contains an account of Ireland in the early years of the Norman invasion. The work is the result of a number of visits he made to the east and south-east of the country. Written in three parts, the book treats of topography and fauna, wonders and miracles, the history of Ireland and the nature of its inhabitants. It has been severely criticised for its inaccuracies, tall tales and credulity but it also provides a rare insight into twelfth century Ireland without which our understanding of the period would be greatly impoverished. See Expugnatio Hibernica. (Cambrensis, Topographia; Martin, ‘Gerald of Wales’, pp. 279–292.)

  Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, A. Samuel Lewis’ two-volume gazetteer of Ireland with accompanying atlas appeared in 1837. The aim of the dictionary was ‘to give, in a condensed form, a faithful and impartial description of each place’. Lewis compiled the material for his dictionary by drawing on official sources (census returns, parliamentary reports and inquiries, reports of the Board of Education and Ordnance Survey data) and by corresponding with ministers or resident gentleman in the localities. Correspondents also vouched for the proofs before the work was committed to print. Arranged by county, city, town and parish, entries typically include statistical data, brief histories, notes on topography, geology and flora, aspects of civil and ecclesiastical administration, details of economic activity and the names and residences of gentry. (Lewis, A topographical dictionary.)

  toponym. A descriptive placename derived from some topographical feature in the landscape, e.g. Tulach mór, a great mound.

  tort. A breach of legal duty for which a civil action may be taken. Thus reckless behaviour which imperils life or health or which provokes mental stress, defamation and the violation of privacy or property rights are all actionable under the law of torts. Negligence, the failure to perform a duty of care, is a central concept in torts. It is imperative, however, to establish that a duty of care was owed to the injured party and that an injury was indeed inflicted.

  tory. 1: In Ireland, a rapparee or rural bandit 2: The term was first used in political circles in 1679 by Whigs to disparage those who supported the accession to the throne of James, duke of York. Many Tories reluctantly accepted the new order which followed the ‘glorious revolution of 1688’ but remained essentially conservative. They opposed the Whig philosophy of a contract between the ruler and the ruled and, as staunch Anglicans in England and Ireland, resisted attempts to introduce measures of toleration for dissenters. Although they enjoyed a brief period in office in 1710–14, their unease about the revolution during the reigns of George I and George II led to their complete exclusion from power between 1714 and 1760. When William Pitt the younger was elected prime minister in 1783 the Tories became the party of government until the 1830s after which they began to style themselves Conservatives. In the early eighteenth century Irish Toryism was strongest among Anglican churchmen but it declined because of its association with Jacobitism and because the dominant Whigs proved to have little sympathy for Presbyterians.

  towerhouse. Medieval in origin, the towerhouse consisted of a small stone keep of three or four storeys. The living quarters were in the upper storeys. Towerhouses originally had a courtyard or barmkin attached. Some had a thatched hall adjoining the tower which served as the living quarters.

  Town Improvement Acts (1849, 1854). The 1849 act (12 & 13 Vict., c. 85) removed the few governmental functions such as lighting and fire-fighting that had been retained by the general vestry and vested them in Dublin corporation.. That of 1854 (17 & 18 Vict., c. 103) provided for the erection of town commissioners in towns with populations of 1,500 or more. By 1871 almost 80 towns had achieved a local administration under this act, bringing the number of municipal authorities in Ireland to over 110. See Municipal Corporations Reform Act.

  townland. The smallest and most enduring land division of the county (which it preceded), possibly deriving from quarters of the ancient ballybetaghs (or tates in the case of Monaghan). Larger townlands often comprise areas of poorer land and so the area of townlands may have been determined by its productive capacity. There are over 60,000 townlands in Ireland, ranging in size from Millbank in Co. Dublin at three roods one perch to Sheskin in Co. Mayo at 7,012 acres. Townland names are overwhelmingly of Gaelic origin but many, including those suffixed with ‘town’, are Anglo-Norman and a few are the eighteenth and nineteenth creations of local landlords. Some townland names disappeared due to amalgamation or division by the nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey which also created new townlands, straightened boundaries and transferred portions of one townland to another. Mapped for the first edition of the Ordnance Survey, the townland became the basic unit for the taking of the census (although townland populations have not been published since 1911) and for Griffith’s Valuation. (Crawford, ‘The study’, pp. 97–115; Ó Dálaigh, Cronin and Connell, Irish townlands, pp. 9–13.)

  Townland Index. The General alphabetical index to the townlands and towns, parishes and baronies of Ireland, or Townland Index, was published in three editions (1851, 1871, 1901) as a townland location finder. Entries provide the relevant Ordnance Survey map reference, the name of the civil parish, barony, county and poor law union (from 1901 the district electoral division and number) for each townland.

  towne. A Gaelic unit of spatial measurement employed in Offaly, Carlow and Antrim, equivalent to 20 great acres.

  townreed. A township.

  tracery. Embroidered architectural work in Gothic windows.

  transept. The ‘arms’ of a cruciform church.

  transplantation. Following the suppression of the Confederate Rebellion in 1652, Catholic landowners were ordered into Connacht to make way for adventurers who had contributed financially to the quelling of the revolt and for soldiers who had served in the war, all of whom were to be recompensed with grants of forfeited land. In addition to those transplanted from the other provinces, landowners in Connacht suffered transplantation to locations elsewhere in the province to accommodate the newcomers. (Simington, The transplantation.)

  traverse. In a legal action, to deny the plaintiff’s claim.

  treasurer. 1: The senior official in the court of exchequer 2: A member of a cathedral chapter and fourth in rank behind the dean, precentor and chancellor, the treasurer was responsible for the cathedral plate and valuables. He performed parish duties as well.

  treasure trove. It was the prerogative entitlement of the crown to receive treasure that had been deliberately concealed, the owner of which was unknown. The rule of ‘finders keepers’ applied if the treasure had been casually lost or deliberately parted with for the crown entitlement lay in the concealment and not the abandonment thereof. It was the function of the coroner to determine the fate of treasure trove which he performed by conducting an inquest.

  trencher. A flat piece of wood or metal or a slice of bread that was used as a plate.

  trews (trowes, trouse). Tight-fitting, ankle to hip hose worn by the native Irish.

  tricha-cét. (Ir., three thousand) Originally an ancient Gaelic spatial unit with military associations, roughly
an area of 3,000 fighting men that was further subdivided into units of 100. Later, in theory at least, it came to refer to a land division of 30 ballybetaghs, each ballybetagh comprising 12 ploughlands of 120 arable acres each. (Hogan, ‘The tricha-cét’, pp. 148–235).

  triforium. In a church, the wall above the aisle arches but below the clerestory.

  Trinity. A court session beginning in June and lasting until 31 July. See sittings.

  tripartite deed. An indenture drawn up between three parties, each of whom receives a copy of the deed.

  trivet. A triangular frame on which an oven-pot rested.

  troper. A book of tropes (phrases, sentences, verse and cadences) which were introduced as embellishments before or after the Introit and hymns during the celebration of the mass.

  trover. An action at common law invoked for the recovery of the market value of property wrongfully taken plus compensation for the loss of use, interest and legal expenses. See replevin.

  truck. The payment of wages in kind or the part-payment of wages in cash plus kind. Although forbidden by statute from as early as 1715 the truck system persisted into the nineteenth century. The Truck Acts of 1831 and 1887 forbade the payment of wages, either wholly or in part, by goods rather than money.

  truss. A timber blade used in couples to support a roof. See cruck truss.

  Trustees Sale. Under the English Act of Resumption (11 & 12 Will. III, c. 2, 1700) parliament disallowed the bulk of William III’s grants of forfeited Jacobite estates and vested them in trustees who were to sell them and apply the proceeds to meet officers’ arrears, transport, clothing and other miscellaneous debts arising from the Williamite War. The trustees met with little success when they tried to obtain additional convictions for outlawry against unconvicted Jacobites and the amount of available forfeited land shrank when Protestants who had purchased from grantees such as Albemarle, Athlone and Romney were allowed retain their lands on favourable terms. They established a court of claims to hear the claims of any person with an interest in an estate forfeited before 13 February 1689 (the accession date of William and Mary). The auctioning of vested land began in October 1702 but an economic downturn due to restrictions on the export of wool, fears that excessive quit-rents might apply to purchased lots, disinterest on the part of English buyers and anxieties about a Stuart restoration conspired to deter buyers and more than half the land remained unsold. The trustees were eventually compelled to sell on favourable terms to the Hollow Blades company which failed to prosper and the company later divested itself of its property portfolio to (largely) Irish purchasers. The trustees sale failed to realise even half of the £1.5million which had been dangled before the English house of commons as a lure to agree to the resumption. (Simms, The Williamite confiscation, pp. 121–157.)