The winners make the laws.

Ireland.

CONSTITUTION

I. The Crown in Ireland.

II. Irish Parliament until Reign of James I.

III. Number of Members at various Periods.

IV. Restrictions on the Authority of Parliament - (a) Territorial; (b) from, Privy Council; (c) from Competing Authority of English Parliament.

V. Independence of the Irish Parliament.

VI. Points of Difference between the English and Irish Constitutions and Assimilations.

(a) Statute Law of Ireland.

(b) Meeting of Parliament.

(c) Duration of Parliament.

(d) Oaths.

(e) Placemen and Pensioners.

(f) Mutiny Act.

(g) Money Bills.

(h) Appropriation of Supplies and Civil List.

(i) Independence of Judges.

(j) Habeas Corpus.

(k) Treason.

(l) Religious Liberty.

(m) The Franchise

VII. The Position of the Irish Parliament between 1782 and 1800.

VIII. Union

Alphabetical List of Special Heads of Law.

I. The Crown in Ireland. - The authority or the Crown in Ireland dates from the invasion of Henry II. (1172-73). Ireland ranked only as a lordship or dominion until the 33rd year of Henry VIII., when the lordship of Ireland was erected into a kingdom, and the King of England became ipso facto King of Ireland (33 Hen. VIII. Ir. c. 1). The kingdoms were distinct, but the Crown of Ireland was inseparably annexed to the Crown of England. The various statutes altering the succession to the Crown in England were not re-enacted in Ireland, and the Irish Act of Recognition (4 Will. & Mary, c.

1. acknowledged that the Irish Crown follows the limitations settled by the English Parliament - “Whoever is king de facto in England is king de jure in Ireland,” said O’Connell. This statement of the law is scarcely an exaggeration.

II. Irish Parliament until Reign of James I. -The common law was introduced into Ireland early in the reign of John. Courts of justice were then erected, and judges appointed in conformity with the law of England. Some writers (Blackstone amongst others) say that the common law was received by the Irish chieftains at the Council of Lismore in the winter of 1172-73. The assertion is based on the authority of Matthew Paris - “Rex apud Lismore Concilium congregavit, ubi leges Angliae sunt gratanter receptae.”

It is very doubtful, however, whether any Council met in the reign of Henry II. Charters were granted by the early kings, and the Irish Magna Charta in the first year of Henry III. The earliest extant record of an Irish Council is in the fifth year of John’s reign (1204). The Councils probably resembled the English Councils, and met for similar purposes.

The principal of elective representation was introduced in the year 1295, and from that period the legislative assemblies of Ireland may be described as Parliaments. To the Parliament of that year (Wogan’s Parliament) representatives were summoned from 12 counties.

In 1311 and afterwards citizens and burgesses attended. In some Parliaments we find representatives of liberties, i.e. places in which the great vassals exercised Palatine jurisdiction, and of certain ecclesiastical jurisdictions known as crosses (crocae). In the reign of Henry VIII. (33 Hen. VIII) chieftains of the Irish race attended, but they apparently had no voice in the proceedings, and were summoned rather as “assentors” to such laws as might be passed, than as representatives. In this Parliament the Statute 33 Hen. VIII. Ir. c. 1, relating to the Crown, *supra, *was passed.

In the reign of Elizabeth representatives from the provinces of Ulster and Connaught were for the first time summoned. The Parliament of James I. which met in 1613 was the first assembly representative of the whole kingdom without distinction of creed or lass. The resemblance between the English and Irish Parliaments was complete in point of form and constitution. The division into two houses had taken place probably about the same time as in England. The House of Peers was composed of lords spiritual and temporal; the House of Commons of knights, citizens, and burgesses. James. I. summoned Convocation for the first time.

Convocation, however, was not summoned regularly in subsequent reigns, and did not meet after 1711. The Irish clergy, adopting a similar arrangement to that agreed by Archbishop Selden in 1664 on behalf of the English clergy, had ceased to tax themselves.

III. Numbers of Memberrs at various Periods. - Before the Reformation, when the abbots and priors were summoned, the lords spiritual outnumbered the lords temporal. In the reign of Elizabeth the number of temporal peers was 32, and of bishops 22. In 1681 the number of temporal peers had increased to 119, in 1790 to 188, and in 1800 to 232.

In later times many temporal peers were absentees having no connection with Ireland, and voting by proxy. The number of counties originally established in the reign of John was 12, Henry VIII. added one, Mary two, Elizabeth 17 - making up the existing number, 32. In Ireland counties, like boroughs, could be created by prerogative without resorting to Act of Parliament.

According to Davis the number of members of the House of Commons in the time of Henry VIII. could not have exceeded 100. In Perrot’s Parliament (1585) the members of the House of Commons numbered 126. In 1613 James I. summoned 232 members, including representatives from 40 newly-created boroughs. “What if I had created 400 instead of 40,” said the king; “the more the merrier, the fewer the better cheer.” Boroughs were created by all the Stuarts, and some as late as 1692. In this year the number of members of the House of Commons was 300, and so continued while the Irish Parliament was a separate legislature.

IV. *Restrictions on Authority of Irish Parliament. - (a) Territorial. *-The legislative authority of the Irish Parliament was in the earlier periods restricted to the district occupied by the English settlers (“the Pale”), some outlying portions of the country known as “the Shire ground,” and to the possessions of such of the Irish chieftains as had accepted “the custom of Englishry.”

It is noteworthy that the term “Pale” does not occur in any State paper before 1515, when it was defined as including a portion of the eastern seaboard extending from Dundalk to Dalkey. While thus practically restricted, the statutes were in terms generally inclusive of the whole kingdom. In some statutes, however, a broad line of separation was drawn between the Englishmen on the one hand and the natives and the degenerate English on the other.

The earliest of these Acts is the Statute of Kilkenny (1367), the latest the 28th Hen. VIII. c. 5. Their object was to prevent all commerce with the Irish and the adoption of Irish customs. Intermarriage, fostering, and gossipred with the Irish were visited with the penalties of high treason. The English were also forbidden to wear long hair, shave the upper lip, wear clothes dyed with saffron, attend Irish fairs, or adopt Irish customs.

The Parliament of James I. repealed this penal code, and, not satisfied with the mere repeal, declared that the whole of the king’s subjects had been taken into His Majesty’s gracious protection, and that there was no better way of securing peace than by allowing all the king’s subjects to commerce and match together. Thenceforth the legislative authority of Parliament extended to all the subjects of the kingdom. *

(6) From Privy Council*. - The* *territorial restriction disappeared, but there remained two other checks on the authority of Parliament - one partly internal, due to the control of the Privy Councils; the other external, arising from the competing authority of the English Parliament. What may be called the internal check was imposed by one of the statutes passed at Drogheda in 1495, commonly known as Poyning’s Law. It was enacted that no Parliament should be held in Ireland until the causes and considerations and all such Acts as ought to be passed were certified to the king, and the king’s licence to the holding of Parliament obtained; and only such Acts as were affirmed by the king could be introduced. By the 3 & 4 Phil. & Mary, Ir. c. 4 (an Act to explain Poyning’s Law), permission was given to certify Acts to the king during the sitting of Parliament.

In the 17th century a practice arose of recommending heads of Bills - these differing from statutes in the form, “We pray that it may be enacted,” instead of “Be it enacted.” Conferences between the two Houses were consequently rather frequent, in order to secure a joint recommendation. Lord Mountmorres states the procedure before 1782 “Propositions for laws, or heads of Bills as they are called, originated indifferently in either House. After two readings and a commital they were sent by the Council *(i.e. *the Irish Privy Council) to England, and were submitted usually by the English Privy Council to the Attorney - and Solicitor-General, and from thence they were returned to the Council of Ireland, from whence they were sent to the Commons, if they originated there (if not, to the Lords); and after three readings they were sent up to the Lords, where they went through the same stages, and then the Lord Lieutenant gave the Royal assent in the manner which is observed in Great Britain.

In all these stages in England and Ireland any bill was liable to be rejected, amended, or altered; but when they had passed the Great Seal of England no alteration could he made by the Irish Parliament.” Thus the Parliament was controlled by the Irish Privy Council, and the Privy Council (in fact, the Attorney-General) in England.

(c) From English Parliament. - What may be called the external check arose from a claim put forward that the jurisdiction of the Irish Parliament was not exclusive, but that the English Parliament had a concurrent, if not a paramount, right to legislate for Ireland. The claim may have had its origin in the fact that in the times of the Edwards, representatives from Ireland were summoned to the English Parliament. In the reign of Henry IV., in the 29 Hen. VI., and in the Duke of York’s Parliament, 1549, the Irish Parliament passed declarations that statutes to be binding in Ireland must be allowed by the Irish Parliament.

On the other hand, several statutes were passed in England naming Ireland, the most important of which is the Staple Act (2 Hen. VI. c. 4), by which merchandise of the staple was forbidden to be sent to any port abroad except Calais, where the king’s staple was, on pain of forfeiture of the goods. The question came before the English Courts in *Pilkington’s *case (Year Book, 26 Hen. VI. f. 8) and in the *Merchants of Waterford’s *case (Y. B. Rich. III. f. 12; Y. B. 1 Hen. VII. f. 2). In the former case the judges said that a subsidy granted in England would not bind Ireland, because the Irish did not receive commandment by writ to come to the English Parliament.

The *Merchants of Waterford’s *case arose upon the Staple Act. The merchants had consigned staple articles to Sluys. The ship put into Calais, and the treasurer of Calais claimed to forfeit the goods. The judges first held that the Irish were not bound by the English statutes, “because the land of Ireland has a Parliament and all other laws of its own, and did not send representatives to the English Parliament.” When the matter came on a second time, the judges held that statutes made in England did bind the people of Ireland. In *Calvin’s *case, Lord Coke asserted that English statutes were binding on Ireland partly on the ground of conquest, partly on the authority of the *Merchants’ *case.

In the reign of Charles I. the exclusive authority of the Irish Parliament was reasserted, and one of the articles of impeachment against Strafford was that he had treated Ireland as a conquered country.

During the Commonwealth no Parliament was held in Ireland, but in 1654 under the Instrument of Government 30 members from Ireland attended the English Parliament.

The Restoration brought back the Irish Parliament, but it was unable or unwilling, owing to various causes which are matter of history, to resist the claim of legislative authority made by its more powerful neighbour. In this reign, in the reign of William III., and in the reign of Anne, several statutes were passed in England expressly binding Ireland *(e.g. *the Navigation Acts, the Tobacco Acts, the Act nullifying the Acts of James the Second’s Irish Parliament, and the Woollen Acts). The interference with trade aroused great indignation in Ireland, and called forth the most celebrated of the treatises that the controversy produced - Molyneux’ Case of Ireland Stated (1698). So far from receding from its position, the British Parliament continued to legislate for Ireland, and at length passed a statute – the well-known 6 Geo. 1. c. 5 – declaring Ireland to be a subordinate kingdom, and that the Parliament of Great Britain had full power to make laws to bind the people of Ireland. This statute made the clams of the English Parliament no better than it was, but the Irish Parliament passed no counter declaration.

From 1660 until the end of the reign of George II. - a period of a hundred years - Irish legislation was confined to internal matters exclusively. In all matters of foreign trade the Parliament of England, and afterwards of Great Britain, claimed to legislate for Ireland. If an Irish bill was opposed to the policy of the Ministry it could be disposed of very easily: under Poyning’s Law the Attorney-General threw it aside.

In the British Parliament English and Scotch interests were looked after; Ireland, having no representatives, was treated as a foreign rival in trade. Statutes were passed which destroyed the manufactures and trade of Ireland; Irish ships could not enter a colonial port; colonial ships could not enter an Irish port, Irish cattle could not be imported into England, and Irish wool could be exported to no country but England.

The internal legislation of the Irish Parliament led to discontent. It was inevitable that such measures should end in agitation. The events which led to the establishment of partial commercial independence in 1780 and of legislative independence in 1782 are part of the history of Ireland.

V. *Independence of the Irish Parliament. *- The independence of the Irish Parliament in 1782 was effected by three statutes. The British Parliament repealed the 6 Geo. I. c. 5. *supra *(22 Geo. III. c. 53), and in order to remove the doubts set up by the repeal of statute, passed, in the following year, the Renunciation Act (23 Geo. III. c. 28), declaring the right of the people of Ireland to be bound only by Acts of the Irish Parliament. These Acts only removed the restriction arising from the external check - the interference by Great Britain.

The measure of independence was incomplete so long as the Irish Parliament was subject to the control of the Privy Councils. Poyning’s Law was therefore modified - not repealed as is sometimes stated - by the Irish Parliament. The 21 & 22 Geo. III. Ir. c. 47 enacted that the Lord Lieutenant should certify to the king only such bills as both Houses of Parliament in Ireland should certify to be enacted under the Great Seal of Ireland without alteration; that such of the same as be returned under the Great Seal of Great Britain without alteration, and none other, should pass in the Parliament of Ireland; and that no bill should be certified as a cause for summoning Parliament. As before, no Parliament could meet without king’s licence.

VI. Points of Difference in Constitutions and Assimilations. Before proceeding to** **treat of the position of the Irish Parliament as an independent legislature, it will be convenient to consider how far the law and practice of the constitutions of the two countries differed, and to what extent the more important constitutional statutes applied to Ireland. *

(a) Statute Law of Ireland - By one of the provisions of Poyning’s Law (10 Hen. VII.* **c. 22) all the then existing statute law of England was extended to Ireland, and by several statutes passed between that date (1495) and 1782 further assimilations were made.

In 1782 by the 21 & 22 Geo. III. c. 48 (Ir.), known as Yelverton’s Act, the provisions of a considerable portion of the statute law of England were extended to Ireland. Other Acts of the Irish Parliament between 1782 and 1800 adopted important English statutes. Public Acts of the Imperial Parliament of course bind Ireland unless expressly excluded (as to effect of the Act of Union in extending to Ireland pre-Union English statutes, see Davies v. *Lynch, *1868,1. R. 4 C. L. 570). Several important constitutional statutes passed between 1495 and 1800 were never extended to Ireland; others after long intervals and with considerable modifications.

(b) *Meeting of Parliament. *- The English statutes of Edw. II. and Edw. III., enacting that Parliaments should be held yearly, or more frequently if need be, extended to Ireland by Poyning’s Law, but were disregarded in practice. From 1585 to 1613, from 1615 to 1634, from 1648 to 1661, and from 1666 to 1602 there was no Parliament in Ireland (the Acts passed by the Parliament of James II. were annulled as illegal). From 1692 to 1782 Parliament met every second year; annual sessions were held from 1782 until the passing of the Act of Union. *

(c) Duration of Parliament*. - Parliament, when summoned, continued to sit during the king’s reign unless dissolved. The Parliament of George II. lasted throughout the reign-a period of 33 years. The extension of the Septennial Act to Ireland was frequently agitated, but it was not until 1768 that any restriction was placed on the duration of Parliament. In that year the Octennial Act was passed. On account of the biennial sessions, and also owing to fears that inconvenience would arise from General Elections going on in both countries at the same time, an eight years’ limit was thought by the Ministry to be more convenient. *

(d) Oaths.* - *The *Irish Act of Supremacy (2 Eliz. c. 1, s.7) prescribed that the Oath of Supremacy was to be taken by certain persons. Neither peers nor members of the House of Commons were included. In the Parliament of James I., 1613, there were 101 recusants. In 1661 the House of Commons passed a resolution that the Oath of Supremacy was to be taken by its members. The English Act 3 Will. & Mary, c. 2, imposed new oaths and declarations on members of the Irish Parliament, This statute was not re-enacted in Ireland, but was acted upon by both Houses. Thenceforth Roman Catholics were permanently excluded from the Irish Parliament. *

(e) Placement. *- It was not until 1793 that pensioners and placement were excluded from sitting in the House of Commons. In that year the 33 Geo. III. Ir c. 41 **disqualified the holders of offices under the Crown or Lord Lieutenant created after that date. The Statute 41 Geo. III. c. 42 excludes persons disqualified under the Irish Place Bill from sitting in the Imperial Parliament, and extends the disqualification to holders of other Irish offices. Before 1793 a seat was vacated by death, or by the member being made a peer or judge, or taking Holy Orders. After 1793 the Escheatorships of Munster or Ulster were granted by the Lord Lieutenant to members desirous of resigning their seats. These offices corresponded to the Chiltern Hundreds in England, and were used until 1820. They were abolished in 1838. *

(f) Mutiny Act*. - There was no Mutiny Act in Ireland before 1779. The army was governed partly by prerogative and partly on the assumption that the English Mutiny Act applied in Ireland whether there was an express clause in the statute so extending it or not. In the agitation that arose against English legislation for Ireland it became almost impossible to enforce the provisions of the Mutiny Act. The heads of an Annual Mutiny Bill were returned in 1779 with the limitation as to time struck out. In this form it was passed as a Permanent Mutiny Act. The Act gave great offence in Ireland, and to the Opposition in England. The power given to the Crown to maintain a permanent armed force within the realm was denounced as fraught with danger to the constitution. The Permanent Mutiny Act was repealed in 1782, and Annual Mutiny Acts passed until the Union. *

(g) Money Bills.* - The House of Commons did not acquire control over money bills until 1782. Before that date it was customary that of the bills certified by the Privy Council as one of the causes for summoning Parliament, one at least should be a Bill of Supply. The House of Commons rejected Bills of Supply originated by the Privy Council in the first Parliament after the Revolution, and in the Parliament which met after the passing of the Octennial Act. From 1782 to 1800 the Irish House of Commons possessed the same powers with respect to money bills as the English House of Commons. *

(h) Appropriation and Civil List.* - The principle of appropriation of supplies was not adopted by the Irish Parliament until 1793. At the same time the hereditary revenues were surrendered and a Civil List established. Provision was also made for the gradual reduction of the number of pensions (33 Geo. III. Ir. c. 34). *

(i) Tenure of Judges.* - The provisions of the Act of Settlement and of 1 Geo. III. securing the independence of the judges were adopted by the Irish Parliament in 1782. Judges are to hold office during good conduct, notwithstanding the demise of the king (21 & 22 Geo. III. Ir. c. 50). *

(j) Habeas Corpus.* - The Habeas Corpus Act was extended to Ireland in 1781. The Irish Habeas Corpus Act (21 & 22 Geo. III. c. 11) differs in some particulars from the English Act, and the Lord Lieutenant in Council may suspend the Act in the event of invasion or rebellion. *

(k) Treason.* - The Treasons Acts of Will. III. (7 Will. III. c. 3) and of Anne (7 Anne, c. 21) were introduced into Ireland piecemeal. In 1760 it was enacted that the prisoner must be furnished with a copy of the indictment, and might be defended by counsel (5 Geo. III. Ir. c. 21). The remaining provisions of the Statute of William were extended to Ireland in 1821 (1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 24) and the Statute of Anne in 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 26) (see R. v. M’Cafferty, 1867, I. R. 1. C. L. 363). For provision as to trials in Court of Lord High Steward, see Peerage, infra. *

(l) Religions Liberty.* - Notwithstanding the fact that the Irish Parliament was composed of Protestants, the Penal Laws against Roman Catholics were considerably relaxed before the Union. In 1778 Roman Catholics were permitted to enjoy the property they then held, and to acquire long terms of years. In 1782 they were permitted to acquire freehold interests. In 1792 and 1793 the learned professions, the magistracy, and the army were thrown open to them. *

(m) The Franchise.* - Under the 8 Hen. VI. (1430) the voters in counties were the 40 shiling freeh&ders. Roman Catholics possessing the necessary qualification could vote for members until the Elections Act of the first year of George the Second (1 Geo. II. C. 9). The elective franchise was restored to Roman Catholics in 1793. The boroughs were generally close or nomination boroughs. “Two-thirds of the representatives in this House,” said Grattan, speaking in 1793, “are returned by less than a hundred persons.” These nomination boroughs were openly sold, leased, settled, and disposed of like other landed property. Each borough returned two members. £7,500 compensation was paid’ for each seat in the 84 boroughs suppressed at the passing of the Act of Union: this was about the market value. In the free boroughs - the number is variously estimated - the franchise belonged to the freemen and burgesses.

VII.* Irish Parliament, 1782-1800.* - The independence of the Irish Parliament was merely a legislative independence. After 1782, as before, Parliament had no control over the Executive, which was vested in the Lord Lieutenant and his Chief Secretary. The latter was generally some English member for whom a seat in the Irish House of Commons was obtained. They were at no time regarded as responsible to the Irish Parliament. It is true that on the impeachment of Strafford representatives from Ireland were summoned as “humble assistants”; but the proceeding was anomalous.

The Lord Lieutenant and his Secretary were nominees of the English Cabinet. The ministers in Ireland were selected by them from the party in power in the Lower House. But the Lord Lieutenant and Chief Secretary were appointed and recalled without reference to the balance of parties, and without consulting Irish opinion. An adverse vote in Ireland did not affect them. Lord Castlereagh was practically beaten on the introduction of the proposals for Union; but no one expected the Government to resign.

Some years earlier a severe vote of censure was passed upon Lord Buckingham; he retained his office of Lord Lieutenant. There was no fear that an angry House of Commons would give vent to its wrath in the form of an impeachment. “In Ireland there was no axe.” Not that the procedure was unknown to the constitution, but escape from the jurisdiction brought safety. The Viceroys were frequently changed, and they had no other connection with Ireland than such as arose from their tenure of office. “You have in this country,” said Grattan, “the misfortune of a double administration, a double importunity – a fluctuating Government and a fugacious responsibility.

The Crown of Ireland was distinct from, although inseparably annexed to, the Crown of England. But the king in all foreign matters would naturally act as King of England and not King of Ireland. The views of England and Ireland might differ on the expediency of a war, the advisability of a peace, or the wisdom of a commercial treaty. In a division of opinion the wishes of the more powerful country – of “the predominant partner” – would naturally have more weight.

The king, as King of Great Britain, acted on the advice of a responsible Cabinet; as King of Ireland on the advice of the Lord Lieutenant and his Secretary, appointed in the manner shown. The exercise of the prerogative would of course bind Ireland, and a war might have been forced upon her detrimental to her interests, and with a people with whom she desired to be on friendly terms.

The Irish Parliament was not, however, bound to raise men or money to carry on such a war. No provision was made in the Constitution of 1782-1800 guarding against such a deadlock, or for reconciling differences in the case of a conflict of opinion.

On three occasions – viz. On the Regency question, on the commercial proposition, and on the dispute with Portugal as to the admission of Irish goods on the same terms as English – serious differences were threatened. That there were not further collisions may be explained by the circumstances of the times.

In England there was no change of Ministry from 1783 until after the Act of Union, and Mr. Pitt on several occasions proved that he was desirous of conciliating Irish opinion.

In Ireland the two Houses were composed of the same class; in the House of Commons, the peers, owing to the possession of the nomination boroughs by the great families, had a commanding influence. It must also be remembered that the Irish Parliament was entirely Protestant. Such independent opposition as tended to exist was “managed by the undertakers” by methods not unknown in the sister Parliament in the last century: bribery and corruption.

VIII. Union. – With the political questions associated with the name of “Grattan’s Parliament” this article is not concerned. The events which led up to, and the policy which dictated, the Union are matter for political history. The Act of Union (39 & 40 Geo. III. c. 67 and 40 Geo. III. Ir. c. 38.) set up one United Kingdom and one Imperial Parliament. The laws and Courts of each kingdom remain as before, except as to House of Lord Appeals (see Peerage Infra). The succession of the Crown remains as already settled. The subjects of Great Britain and Ireland are to enjoy the same trading and other privileges. The Act established a fixed proportion for Great Britain and Ireland in contributing towards public expenditure (see Report of Royal Commission on Financial Relations, 1896). Ireland was to be represented in the Imperial Parliament by 100 (now 103) members. For provision as to peers, see Peerage, infra; see also Church, infra.

The Act of Union made no direct change in the Executive, which still vests in the Lord Lieutenant, assisted by the Privy Council of Ireland. From 1782 to 1800 Irish affairs formed a department of the Home Office, but with the growing importance of the Irish Office the connection has become purely formal. The office of King’’ Chief Governor under varying names -–Governor, Justiciary Lord Deputy, Lord Lieutenant – has existed since the time of Henry II. No action lies against the Lord Lieutenant in an Irish Court for an act done by him in his political capacity (Luby v. Wodehouse, 1865, 17 I. C. L. 618; Sullivan v. Spencer, 1872, I. R. 6 C. L. 173; Tandy v. Westmoreland, 1792, 27 St. Tri. 1246).

[The literature is extensive. Hallam, ch. Xviii.; Erskine May, Constitutional History; Froude, English in Ireland; Lord Mountmorres, History of the Irish Parliament; Monck-Mason, Antiquity and Constitution of the Irish Parliament; Molyneux, The Case of Ireland Stated; Bolton’s Tract and Mayart’s Tract printed in Harris’ Hibernica; Lecky, England in the 18th Century; Swift’s Works; Leland’s History; Ussher, Parliaments of Ireland; Davis, Law Tracts; Spenser’s View; Cox, Anglicana Hibernia; Ball’s Legislative Systems; Debates of the Irish Parliament; Lynch, Feudal Dignities]

Alphabetical List of Special Head of Law

Banks. - The earliest statute of the Irish Parliament in which “bankers” are mentioned is the 8th of Anne, c. 11: the Act putting promissory notes on the same rooting as bills of exchange. The preamble of the 8 Geo. I. c. 14 shows that the trade of the kingdom was carried on mainly by means of bankers’ notes, and in order to secure payment of the same the Act gives a remedy against the real estate of hankers on their simple contracts, and requires all their conveyances to be registered. The 33 Geo. II. c. 14 (Ir.), commonly called the “Bankers Act,” and still unrepealed, introduced more stringent regulations as to registration of conveyances by bankers, and provided for the winding-up of the assets in case of insolvency. By 11 & 12 Geo. III. c. 8 (Ir.) - the first statute extending the bankruptcy code to Ireland - bankers were made liable to the bankruptcy laws (as to these Acts, see *Davies *V. Kennedy, 1868, I. R. 3 Eq. 31; and 668, ibid. 1 Eq. 425).

In 1781 the Bank of Ireland was established by 21 Geo. III. c. 16 (Ir.), on the same lines as the Bank of England. A similar monopoly was given to the Bank of Ireland. The Act prohibited the establishment in any part of Ireland of joint-stock banks of issue of more than six persons. In 1821 (1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 72) this prohibition was relaxed. Joint-stock banks of issue were permitted if the shareholders did not reside within 50 miles of Dublin. As 50 miles Irish are nearly equivalent to sixty-five English, the relaxation closely followed that established in favour of joint-stock banks in England. In 1825 (6 Geo. IV. c. 42) persons resident in any part of the United Kingdom might be shareholders in such banks. This statute enabled banking copartnerships of more than six persons to sue and be sued in the name of a public officer. In 1830 (1 Will. IV. c. 32) joint-stock banks of issue were permitted to have agents in Dublin to pay their notes. In 1845 the Bank of Ireland abandoned its monopoly (the more readily because so much of the banking business was in the hands of private banks, *i.e. *of not more than six persons), and joint-stock banks of issue may carry on business in Dublin or any other part of Ireland.

The Bank Charter Act, 7 & 8 Vict. c. 32, s. 10, prohibited any bank from issuing notes, except such banks as were issuing notes on the 6th May 1844. This section applies to the United Kingdom, so that Irish non-issuing banks on that date come within the scope of its provisions. The Irish Bank Act 8 & 9 Vict. c. 37 imposes on banks of issue in Ireland practically the same restrictions as exist in England, i.e. beyond the certified limit of issue as determined in the manner prescribed by the Act, the bank must have in hand gold or silver to meet the excess, and returns must be made weekly.

The 7 & 8 Vict. c. 113, an Act to regulate joint-stock banks, was extended to Ireland by 9 & 10 Vict. c. 75, and the subsequent legislation up to and including the Companies Acts included Ireland. The short result is that there exist in Ireland three classes of banks -

I. The Bank of Ireland, which corresponds to the Bank of England. It has several special privileges as being the authorised bankers of certain public moneys, and all payments, transfers, etc., of consols and India stock are entrusted to it.

II. Joint-stock banks, all of which are now registered as limited companies under the Companies Acts. Six of the nine banks are banks of issue.

III. Private banks, *i.e. *banks consisting of not more than ten partners, and regulated by the ordinary law of copartnership and the earlier statutes.

Bank notes may not be issued in Ireland for fractional parts or one pound (8 & 9 Vict. c. 37, s.15). Bank notes (including Bank of England notes) arc not legal tender in Ireland except that Bank of Ireland notes are legal tender in payment of revenue (1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 72, s. 5). The negotiation in England of Irish notes under £5 is prohibited (9 Geo. IV. c. 56).

[See BANKERS BANK or ENGLAND; Gilbart’s History of Banking. The position of Irish and Scotch banks in England is fully discussed in Report of Committee on Banks of Issue, 1875. See *Cork Archaeological Journal, *1894 and 1895, for an interesting series of articles on Irish private bankers.] *

Bankruptcy. - See *BANKRUPTCY; the Bankruptcy (Ireland) Acts, 1857 and 1872, and Kisbey’s *Bankruptcy.

Charities*. - Charities in Ireland, in the legal acceptation of the term, comprise such charitable uses as are specified in the English Statute 43 Eliz. c. 4, or in the Irish Statute 10 Car. I. sess. 3, c. 1, or such other charitable uses as have been held to be analogous. The 43 Eliz. c. 4 being subsequent to Poyning’s Law, did not extend to Ireland. The 10 Car. I. is intituled “An Act for the Maintenance and Execution of Pious Uses.” There are differences in the uses enumerated, and at one time it was doubted whether the 10 Car I. had the effect of extending the English statute to Ireland, but it was subsequently determined that the Irish statute was intended to be “an almost exact pattern of the Statute of Elizabeth” (see *The Incorporated Society *v. *Richards, *1841, 1 Dr. & War. 258; 4 I. E. R. 177). “For the purpose of the present case we may deem a charitable purpose in Ireland to be identical with that which (excluding any difference arising from the law of superstitious uses) would be a charitable purpose in England under the 43 Eliz. C. 4” (per Palles, C.B., A.-G. v. *Delaney, *1876, I. R. 10 C. L. 125). The difference arising from the law of superstitious uses in England and Ireland exists in the case of bequests for masses for the souls of the dead. So long ago as 1823 *(The Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests *v. *Walsh, *7 I.E.R,. 34) it was decided that such a bequest for the repose of the soul of the testator was not void.

Such bequests for the celebration of private masses have been deemed pious but not charitable, and may therefore be void as creating a perpetuity *(Dillon *v. *Reilly, *1876, I. R. 10 Eq. 152; *Robb *v. *Dorrian, *1877, I. R. 11 c. L. 292); nor are they exempt from the payment of legacy duty *(A.-G. *v. *Delaney, supra). Secus *if the bequest is to be applied for masses to be celebrated publicly (see *A.-G. V. Hall, *1896, 2 I. R. 291, infra).

The 43 Eliz. c. 4 has been repealed and re-enacted by 51 & 52 Vict. c. 42, and the 10 Car. I. sess. 3, c. 1, has been repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act (Ireland), 1878.

The English Mortmain Acts prior to 1495 were extended to Ireland by 10 Hen. VII. c. 22 (Poyning’s Law). In Ireland, as in England, no corporation can hold land except under the provisions of an Act of Parliament or by licence from the Crown. The English Statute 7 & 8 Will. III. c. 37, declaratory of the Crown’s right to grant such licence, was re-enacted in Ireland (32 Geo. III. c. 31 (Ir.)). The English Mortmain Act (9 Geo. II. c. 36) did not extend to Ireland, and dispositions in mortmain in Ireland are now governed by the 16th section of the Statute 7 & 8 Vict. c. 97. “No donation, devise, or bequest for pious or charitable uses in Ireland shall be valid to create or convey any estate in lands, tenements, or hereditaments for such uses, unless the deed, will, or other instrument containing the same be duly executed three calendar months at least before the death of the person executing the same; and unless every such deed or instrument not being a will shall be duly registered in the Registry of Deeds Office within three mouths.” The statute does not avoid gifts of money secured by charges on land, even though the legal estate in the mortgage passes under the will to the trustees *(Stewart V. Barton, *1872, I. R. 6 Eq. 215; *Muirland *v. *Perry, *1879, 3 L. R. I. 135). A devise in trust to sell for a charitable use is void *(Donnellan *v. *O’Neill, *I. R. 5 Eq. 531). Pious as well as charitable uses are within the section *(Boyle *v. *Boyle, *1877, I. R. 11 Eq. 433). The 5 & 6 Vict. c. 82, s. 38, exempts from the payment of legacy duty any legacy in support of airy charity in Ireland or for any purpose merely charitable. It must appear by the will itself that the charitable purpose is restricted to Ireland *(A.-U. *v. *Hope, *1868, I. R. 2 C. L. 368; *Kenny *v. *A.-G., *1883, 11 L. R. I. 253). Legacies for private masses are not exempt from legacy duty *(A.-U. *v. *Delaney, *1875, I. R. 10 C. L. 104). If the masses are to be celebrated publicly they are a charitable bequest and within the exemption *(A.-G. *v. *Hall, *1896, 2 I. R. 291).

The Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests in Ireland have been constituted and their powers defined by the Statutes 7 & 8 Vict. c. 97, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 54, and 34 & 35 Vict. c. 102. The Commissioners are a corporate body; they may sue for charitable funds withheld or misapplied, either in the superior Courts or, in cases of smaller sums, by civil bill. Where the funds do not exceed £300 they may apply them *cy-pres, *or, in any case, they may apply for the approval of the Court. Trust funds may be transferred into the name of the Commissioners, and they are empowered to give advice and direction in matters affecting charities to trustees. They may authorise a change of investments, and may compel charity trustees to complete their number. They may also sanction leases and authorise improvements of trust property. (See further the statutes cited and *Archbold *v. *Commissioners of Charitable Donations, *1849, 2 H. L. 440.) The executors or administrators of any will containing any charitable devise or bequest must, within three months after obtaining administration, publish a notice of such charitable devise or bequest once in the *Dublin Gazette *and three times in some local paper.

The 52 Geo. III. c. 101 (Romilly’s Act) provides a summary remedy by petition in eases of charities. The petition must receive the flat of the Attorney-General.

See as to leases to ecclesiastical persons, 18 & 19 Vict. c. 39, and 38 & 39 Vict. c.42.

As to vesting gifts in the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests in trust for Roman Catholic ministers in Ireland, see 7 & 8 Vict. c. 97, ss.15-17.

[Hamilton on *Charities in Ireland.]

Companies. - See *COMPANY. The Winding-Up Act, 1890, and Mortgage Debenture Acts do not apply to Ireland. *

Church. - The *fifth article of the Act of Union enacted that there should be one united Church of England and Ireland, and that the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the United Church should remain in full force for ever. This also was to be deemed a fundamental article of the Act. The Irish Church Act, 1869, dissolved the union between the Churches. The Church of Ireland ceased to be an established Church, all ecclesiastical Courts were abolished, and all coercive jurisdiction of any ecclesiastical person taken away, and the ecclesiastical law of Ireland, except as to matrimonial causes and matters, ceased to exist as law. All ecclesiastical corporations, sole or aggregate, were dissolved, and all rights of patronage taken away. The Irish bishops ceased to be appointed by the Crown, and lost their seats as spiritual lords.

The laws prohibiting the holding of Church synods were repealed, and power was given to the clergy and laity to hold meetings for regulation of Church matters and to appoint a body to represent the Church in its corporate capacity, and to hold property for Church purposes; and power was given to the Crown to incorporate such body. The Representative Church Body has been accordingly incorporated by Royal Charter, dated 15th October 1870.

On the passing of the Act the whole property of the Irish Church was vested in the Church Temporalities Commissioners. The Commissioners were a corporate body, and had power to determine all questions arising under the Act. Out of the funds vested in them they were to make compensation for vested interests as prescribed by the Act. Churches, schoolhouses, burial grounds, ecclesiastical residences, and other Church property have been vested by order of the Commissioners in the Representative Church Body (see 47 Vict. c. 10 as to churches of private foundation). The surplus Church funds were to be held by the Commissioners for such purposes as Parliament might hereafter determine. Grants have been made out of the surplus Church funds in favour of intermediate education, national education, etc. By 44 & 45 Vict. c. 71, the Irish Land Commission are the successors and stand in the place of the Commissioners of Church Temporalities.

The ecclesiastical law, and doctrines, rites, rules, discipline, and ordinances of the Church are to be deemed binding on members of the Church as if they had mutually contracted to observe them, subject to such modification as may be prescribed by the constitutions of the Church of Ireland. The Church of Ireland is in the position of a voluntary religions society whose rules and doctrines are binding on the members but cannot be enforced in the temporal Courts unless some right of property is involved *(Long V. Bishop of Capetown, *1863, 1 Moo. P. C., N. S. 411; *Bishop of Natal *v. *Gladstone, *1867, L. R. 3 Eq. 1; *Forbes V. Eden, *1867, 1 Sc. App. 568).

The Roman Catholic Church exists as a voluntary religious association. The penalties enacted in the 28th section of the Roman Catholic Relief Act, 1829, against Jesuits and members of monastic orders are never enforced, but bequests to such bodies are void *(Sims *v. *Quinlan, *1864, 16 I. Ch. R. 191; 17 I. Ch. R. 43; *Walsh *v. *Walsh, *1869, I. R. 4 Eq. 396). As to the position of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and as to the legality of Papal ordinances, see *O’Keefe *v. *Cardinal Cullen, *1873, 7 I. C. L. 319.

By the Irish Presbyterian Church Act, 1871, trustees have been incorporated to hold land, notwithstanding the Mortmain Acts, and other property in trust for the Presbyterian Church.

The Statute 34 & 35 Vict. c. 40 enables the Primitive Wesleyan Society of Ireland to appoint trustees in whom real and personal property of the society may be vested for promoting the interests of the society. The Act embodies the doctrines of the society. The discipline, but not the doctrines, of the society may be altered. Therein, probably, it differs from the position of the Church of Ireland under the Irish Church Act.

[Warren’s Law of the Irish Church; The Constitutions of the Church of Ireland; Ball’s History of the Church of Ireland; Reid’s History of Presbyterian Church in Ireland.] *

Constabulary and Police*. – The 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 13. Established the constabulary. The Inspector-General has the powers or a justice or the peace throughout every county in Ireland. Statutory powers are given to him to make regulations for the government of the force. The constabulary may act in any part of Ireland, and additional constabulary may be ordered into any district on the certificate of justices, or when a district is proclaimed, or on the memorial of a town council or town commissioners, or for the prevention of illicit distillation. The expenses of the constabulary are payable out of the Consolidated Fund unless when additional men are required in any place, in which case a moiety of the expense may be charged on the county, city, or town (8 & 9 Vict. c. 46; 9 & 10 Vict. c. 97, s. 3; 17 & 18 Vict. c. 89; 17 & 18 Vict. c. 103, s. 59). The constabulary must attend on justices at petty sessions and Quarter Sessions and execute their warrants. The usual statutory protection is given in executing warrants (6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 36, s. 50). A number of duties are imposed on the constabulary by various Acts of Parliament, e.g. under the Contagious Diseases Animals Act, the Weights and Measures Acts, the Parliamentary Elections Acts. The position of the constabulary as a part of the power of the county, whose assistance the sheriff has the right to require in execution of writs, and their relation to the executive, is fully discussed in *A.-G. *V. *Kissane, *1893, 32 L. R. I. 220; see also *Judgements under Criminal Law Amendment (Ireland) Act, *1887, p.29; and *The Constabulary Code. Miller *v. *Knox, *1838, 4 Bing. N. C. 574, may be consulted as to position of constables under earlier Acts. See also Reid’s Constable’s Manual.

The Dublin metropolitan police district is not within the constabulary limits. The Dublin police district is fixed by statute and Orders in Council. The head of the force is the commissioner of police, and the members are governed by special Acts (see 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 29, and c. 25; 2 & 3 Vict. c. 78; 11 & 12 Vict. c. 113); and special powers are conferred upon them by various statutes (see statutes relating to Dublin police district, and in particular 5 & 6 Vict. c. 24).

As to special constables in Ireland, see the Special Constables (Ireland) Act, 1832; 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 108. As to watchmen and police in towns and boroughs, see 9 Geo. Iv. c. 82, ss. 47 and 48, and the Town Police Clauses Act, 1845, ss. 1-20. *

Debtors. - See *DEBTORS ACT: the Irish Act is 35 & 36 Vict. 57; Kisbey’s *Bankruptcy.

Courts. - *The Supreme Court of Judicature (Ireland) Act, 1877, established one Supreme Court of Judicature, consisting of all the Superior Courts of law and equity, and the Courts of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery, and of some Courts which did not rank as superior Courts, but had by statute been made principal Courts of record. The latter are: the Court of probate, constituted a Court of record by 20 & 21 Vict. c. 79; the Court for matrimonial causes, created a Court of record by 33 & 34 Vict. c. 110; the Landed Estates Court, the successor of the Court of the Commissioners for the Sale of Encumbered Estates in Ireland, created a Court of record by 12 & 13 Vict. c. 77; and the High Court of Admiralty, created a Court of record by 30 & 3l Vict c. 114. The Court of Bankruptcy was not originally included in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is divided, as in England, into the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice. In the Court of Appeal is vested the jurisdiction of the Court of Exchequer Chamber, the greater part of the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal in Chancery, and also in writs of error. The High Court of Justice originally consisted of five Divisions: Chancery, Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, Probate and Matrimonial. By the Judicature Act, 1887, the Common Pleas Division was amalgamated with the Queen’s Bench; and by the Judicature Act, 1897, the Exchequer was amalgamated with the Queen’s Bench Division. By the same Act the Probate, Matrimonial, Admiralty, and Bankruptcy are also administered as part of the Queen’s Bench Division.

The Chancery Division consists of the Lord Chancellor (who retains his original jurisdiction in certain matters, principally lunacy and minor matters), the Master of the Rolls, the Vice-Chancellor, and the Land Judge. The matters assigned exclusively to the different Divisions practically follow the English Acts, and the rules of practice have been as far as possible assimilated. The practice in Bankruptcy and in the Land Judges is peculiar to Ireland.

The Court of Appeal consists of certain *ex-officio *judges, two ordinary judges, the Lords Justices of Appeal, and additional judges who have held certain offices and consent to act. The Lord Chancellor is the President of the Court of Appeal.

The jurisdiction in criminal matters of the Court for Crown Cases Reserved (11 & 12 Vict. c. 78) is vested in the judges of the High Court or any five of them, of whom the Chief Justice must be one. No appeal lies on any criminal cause or matter save for error of law apparent upon the record. As to what is a “criminal cause or matter,” see A.-G. v. *Kissane, *1893, 32 L. R. I. 220.

The Court of the Land Commission was erected in 1881. It is not a superior Court, but the judge ranks as a judge of the High Court of Justice. This Court has jurisdiction only in matters arising under the Land Acts. Appeals, in certain cases, lie to the Court of Appeal.

From the decision of the Court of Appeal a further appeal lies to the House of Lords with certain exceptions, *e.g. *Land Commission appeals.

The Civil Bill jurisdiction in Ireland (corresponding to the plaint in the English County Courts) is of great antiquity. A reference was made to the Grand Committee of the Irish House of Commons in 1614 to consider the subject of Civil Bills; and one of the articles of impeachment against Strafford was that he had exercised in the Court of Requests a similar jurisdiction by Civil or English Bills,” in derogation of the course of the common law.

Strafford defended himself on the ground that “the natives” were accustomed to the procedure, and that none suffered but the lawyers. The Civil Bill jurisdiction was originally assumed by the going judge of assize, and was established by the Statute 2 Geo. I. c. 11 (Ir.). In 1796 (36 Geo. III. c. 25) the hearing of Civil Bills was transferred from the judges to the “assistant barristers” (now County Court judges). The 56th Geo. III. c. 88, and 6 & 7 Vict. c. 75, further extended the jurisdiction. The principal Acts it present giving jurisdiction are the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 57; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 99; 10 & 41 Vict. c. 56 ; and 43 & 44 Vict. c. 39. The County Court judge under these Acts has jurisdiction in matters of contract and tort (with some exemptions) up to £50, in ejectments for overholding and for non-payment of rent up to £100, in ejectments on the title where the lands do not exceed £30 in annual value under the General Valuation Acts, in most equity matters and in probate matters up to £500, and in lunacy matters up to £700. In equity matters an appeal lies to the Chancery Division (40 & 41 Viet. c. 56, s. 43), and from the common law side an appeal lies to the judge of assize. the County Court Appeals Act, 1889, gives the right to appeal in equity matters to the judge of assize in addition to the existing right to appeal to the Chancery Division.

Local Bankruptcy Courts have been established in Belfast and Cork (51 & 52 Vict. c. 44).

The Court of Quarter Sessions is one of the oldest Courts in Ireland. It is presided over by the County Court judge, sitting in his capacity of chairman of the county. The jurisdiction is not restricted by statute to the same extent as in England, but serious crimes are in practice sent to the assizes. This Court has also jurisdiction in licensing cases, appeals from petty sessions, and rating appeals.

The Manor Courts were abolished in 1859, and jurisdiction given to justices in cases of small debts.

For the summary jurisdiction of justices, see 14 & 15 Vict. cc. 92 and 93. As to resident magistrates, see 6 & 7 Wilt IV. c. 13; 10 & 11 Vict. c. 100; 16 & 17 Vict. c. 60.

Courts of Conscience are still held in some boroughs. One Court Leet claims to exist.

[Wylie’s *Judicature Acts *(Ireland); Carleton’s *County Courts *(Ireland); Osborne’s *Jurisdiction and Practice of County Courts in Equity; *Molloy’s *Justice of the Peace; *Sargent’s Licensing Laws.] *

Inquisitions. - See *Exemplificiations; Lunacy. *

Judgments. - The *great difference between English and Irish judgments consists in their effect as charges upon land. The Judgment Mortgage (Ireland) Act, 1850, abolished the writ of elegit and all the the existing modes of execution against lands (except the writ of *fi. fa.) *as regards all judgments entered up after the 15th July 1850, on as regards judgments previously entered up as against lands purchased after that date (see *Keay’s Estate, *1869, I. R. 3 Eq. 659). The older modes of execution are now of little importance and may be shortly dealt with. The Irish Statute of Frauds (7 Will. III. c. 12, s. 7) extended the writ of elegit to equitable interests in one-half the debtor’s lands, and Pigot’s Act (3 & 4 Vict. c. 105, corresponding to 1 & 2 Vict. c. 110, in England) further extended it to the whole of the lands, and to equitable interests in chattels real. Judgments were more commonly enforced against lands by the appointment of a receiver, either by a plenary suit in Chancery or, after 5 & 6 Will. Iv. c. 55 (the Sheriff’s Act), on a summary petition. Pigot’s Act extended this remedy. See further, as to receivers, *In re M’Cullagh’s Estate, *1883, 11 L. R. 1. 398. The Statute 3 Geo. II. c. 7 (Ir.) provided for docketing judgments, and 9 Geo. IV. c. 55 for redocketing. The 7 & 8 Vict. c. 90 introduced the registration of judgments, and the 13 & 14 Vict. c. 29 re-registration every five years in the Registry of Judgments Office. Crown bonds, recognisances, inquisitions, judgments at the suit of the Crown, and *lis pendens *must be similarly re-registered every five years (34 & 35 Vict. c. 72). As to the effect of the Re-docketing and Registration Acts, see *M’Carthy *v. *Fermoy, *1891, 27 L. R.

1. 275; *In re Roche’s Estate, *1890, 25 L. R. 1. 271; *In re Loughman’s Estate, ibid. *515. The nature of judgments under Pigot’s Act is fully considered in *Shea *v. *Moore, *[1894] 1 I. R. 158. As to judgments for sums not exceeding £150 entered up between 1st August 1849 and 15th July 1850, see 12 & 13 Vict. c. 95. Such judgments are not charges on land.

The Statute 13 & 14 Vict. c. 29 (the Judgment Mortgage (Ireland) Act, 1850), introduced the class of securities known as “judgment mortgages.” The 6th section enacts that when the judgment creditor, on any judgment entered up after the 15th July 1850, shall know or believe that the judgment debtor is possessed of, or has any disposing power over, lands of any tenure, the judgment creditor may make, and file in the Court in which the judgment has been entered up, an affidavit stating (1) the title of the cause;

(2) the name and the usual or last known place of abode, and the title, trade, or profession, of the plaintiff and of the defendant; (3) the amount of the debt, damages, and costs; (4) the nature of the judgment debtor’s interest in the lands; (5) the county and barony or town and parish in which the lands are situate. The creditor on filing an office copy of this affidavit in the Registry of Deeds Office, effects a judgment mortgage under the Act. The judgment debtor’s beneficial interest in the lands is transferred to the judgment creditor, as if a mortgage had been duly made and registered at the time of registering the affidavit. The form of affidavit in use after the passing of the Act was defective. The 21 & 22 Vict. c. 115 provided that a supplemental affidavit might be filed before 1st July 1859, with a proviso that an omission to state the fact of seisin or possession or the description of the lands was incurable.

Creditor” includes corporate bodies and any number of persons jointly interested. “Judgment” includes any decree or order, and orders in lunacy or bankruptcy. The decisions on the necessary averments under sec. 6 have been very numerous. The name of the cause is the name appearing in the body of the judgment *(Wolseley *v. *Worthington, *1863, 14 I. Ch. R. 369). After the passing of the Act the requirements as to the statement of the usual or last known place of abode were construed very strictly *(M’Dowell *v. *Wheatley, *1858, 7 I. C. L. 562). In *Thorpe *v. *Browne, *1867 (L. R. 2 H. L. 220), it was held that a statement which leaves no doubt as to the identity of the person is sufficient. See also *Slator *v. *Slator, *1866 (16 I. Ch. R. 488), *Davies *v. *Kennedy, *1868 (1. Ir. 3 Eq. 31, 668), *Spadiccini V. Treacey, *1888 (21 L. R. I. 553), *In re Edgworth’s Estate, *1860 (11 I. Ch. R. 294).

The earlier decisions as to the statement of the amount of the debt, damages, and costs are scarcely reconcilable with the later. The result of the cases may be summed up as follows: When the judgment gives a precise sum as for damages and costs respectively, such sums must be stated accurately in the affidavit. When the judgment gives a sum for damages, and for costs which are to be afterwards ascertained, the affidavit must carefully distinguish, in inserting these costs, between the amount the judgment is intended to secure and the amount actually awarded. If the costs have not been taxed, and the plaintiff wishes to register before taxation, the affidavit must contain an averment expressly waiving the costs (In re *Fitzgerald’s Estate, *1860, 11 I. Ch. R. 278; *In re Edgworth’s Estate, ibid. *293; *In re Hood’s Estate, *1865, 17 I. Ch. 230; *In re Lawler’s Estate, *1867, I. R. 1 Eq. 268; *In re Field’s Estate, *1877, I. R. 11 Eq. 456).

The interests sought to be affected may be either legal or equitable, freehold or chattel, or even a tenancy-at-will *(Devlin V. Kelly’, *1886, 20 I. L. T. R. 76). A judgment may be registered as a mortgage against a debtor’s interest as a judgment mortgagee *(Rossboro’ *v. *MacNeill, *1889, 23 L. R. I. 409). But only actual as distinguished from contingent interests can be the subject-matter of a judgment mortgage *(Rae’s Estate, *1877, 1. R. 11. I. 174).

“Disposing power ” in the Act means power in the strict legal sense, and does not include the power of a tenant in tail to bar *(Fletcher *v. *Steele, *1844, 6 I. Eq. 376), nor the right of a married woman to dispose of her separate estate *(Digby *v. *Irvine, *1844, 6 I. Eq. 149).

The county and barony must be stated distinctly, i.e. where they lie in more than one, *distinguendo. *As to what will be a sufficient statement the following cases may be consulted: *In re Morrow’s Estate, *1802, 14 I. Ch. R. 44; *In re Earl of Limerick, *1862, 7 I. Jur. N. S. 65; *M’Ilroy *v. *Edgar, *1881, 7 L. R. 1.521; *Church’s Estate, *1877, 1 L. R. 1.255; *Munster Bank *v. *Maher, 1885, 16 L. R. I. 165; Delacherois v. **Heron, *1887, 21 I. L. T. R. 271; *In re O’Connor’s Estate, *[1894] 1 I. R. 408.

By 27 & 28 Vict. C. 99, s. 24, the decree of a County Court for an amount exceeding £20 may be removed into a Superior Court and registered as a judgment mortgage.

A judgment mortgagee is within Locke King’s Acts *(Nesbitt *v. *Lawder, *1886, 17 L. R. 1. 53), and he may also marshal *(In re Lynch, *1867, 1 I. R. Eq. 396).

A judgment mortgagee has the usual remedies or a mortgagee. He may bring an action for rent due by tenants after notice to pay rent to him, he may institute a suit in Chancery for sale, petition for a receiver, petition for sale in the Land Judges, or bring an ejectment on the title. The remedies may be pursued in the Civil Bill Court when the amount does not exceed £500 and the lands do not exceed £30 in annual value. A judgment mortgage has no priority in bankruptcy unless registered three months before the petition in bankruptcy is filed (Bankruptcy Act, 1857, s. 331). But where there was first an equitable mortgage by deposit, and afterwards a judgment in respect of the debt was registered as a mortgage, and a petition was filed within three months, it was held that, though the judgment mortgage was levelled, the mortgagee was entitled to rely on his prior equitable mortgage *(Elliott’s Estate, *1873, I. R. 8 Eq. 565).

The judgment mortgage is not in some ways a desirable security. If a judgment be registered against a term of years, the creditor may become liable on the covenants as an assignee of the legal interest, and is without the protection afforded by a mortgage by sub-demise.

By the Judgment Mortgage Act, 1850, s. 8, voluntary conveyances made after judgment entered up are void as against the creditor. The Irish Statute of Fraudulent Conveyances, 10 Car. I. sess. 2, c. 3, corresponding to the English Statute 27 Eliz. c. 4, contains the words “charges” and “incumbrances” in sec. 1, and these words have been held to include judgments *(O’Donovan *v *Rogers, *7 I. Ch. R. 1). The 10th section of the same statute, which is similar to the 13th Eliz. c. 5, in England, expressly includes judgments “devised to hinder creditors.”

The operation of the writ of *fi.fa. *is not affected by the Judgment Mortgage Act. The sheriff may sell under this writ legal but not equitable interests in terms of years.

A memorandum of satisfaction may be entered, the effect of which is to re-vest in the debtor the legal or other estate affected by the registration (Judgment Mortgage, s. 9, as explained by 21 & 22 Vict. c. 115, s. 5).

The Bankruptcy Act, 1857, s. 336, avoids, as against the assignees in bankruptcy, judgments not registered within 21 days in the Registry of Judgments Office. Judgments in Ireland are registered both in the Registry of Judgments and also in the Registry of Deeds or of Title, where lands are intended to be affected.

After the passing of the Act it was held in several cases that a judgment mortgage had the same priority as a registered mortgage under seal. The House of Lords *(Eyre *v. *M’Dowell, *1861, 9 H. L. 619) decided that the effect of the Act is to give the judgment creditor a specific charge over the beneficial interest of the debtor in the lands comprised in the affidavit, instead of, as before the Act, a hanging charge over the whole of the debtor’s lands, and that the judgment mortgagee takes takes subject to prior equitable charges although unregistered.

[Madden’s *Registration; *Mr. Monahan’s Statement of the Law of Judgments in Ireland, appeuded to *English and Irish Chancery Report, *1866.] *

Land Purchase. – *The Land Commission may make advances to tenants to purchase their holdings. The advances are now made by the issue of Guaranteed Land Stock equal in nominal value to the amount of the advance, and bearing interest at 2H per cent. A landlord who is merely a limited owner may sell under the Acts. The tenant may be a present or future tenant, a leaseholder, the holder of a fee-farm grant, or even the tenant of a holding excluded under sec. 58 of the Land Act, 1881; he must be in occupation. The Land Commission may advance the whole of the purchase-money; but if the advance exceeds three-quarters of the price agreed upon, a guarantee deposit must be provided. Most usually the landlord agrees that the guarantee deposit shall be retained by the Land Commission out of the purchase-money. The retention of the guarantee deposit may be dispensed with if the Land Commission think the security for the repayment of the advance is sufficient. The guarantee deposit is retained by the Land Commission till one-fifth of the principal has been repaid. It is then paid to the vendor or person entitled. Interest is paid in the meantime on the deposit at the rate of two and a half per cent. The advance is repaid to the Laud Commission by an annuity charged on the lands. This annuity discharges both principal and interest, and has priority to all estates and encumbrances except quit rent, head rent, tithes, and drainage improvement charges. While the holding is subject to the annuity, the Land Commission has the powers of a mortgagee, and may also sell the holding if the tenant sub-lets, sub-divides, or becomes bankrupt. The guarantee deposit may, in the ultimate resort, be applied to make good any loss sustained by the purchaser’s failure to pay the instalments. Formerly the sale might have been carried out by conveyancing or vesting order; since 1891, always by vesting order, unless otherwise ordered. A conveyance required the consent of, and must have been executed by, all incumbrancers’, and the purchaser obtained only such title as the grantor in the conveyance had. The vesting order operates independently of the consent of all chargeants, and, like a Land Judge’s conveyance, vests the lands in the purchaser discharged from incumbrances, which are transferred to the purchase-money. Existing rights in the nature of easements continue to affect the lands, unless otherwise expressed in the vesting order. By the Land Act, 1896, the fiat of the Land Commission may take the place of a vesting order. The vesting order or other conveyance must be registered under the Local Registration of Title Act, 1891, and the land continues liable to compulsory registration so long as the annuity is payable to the Land Commission. The purchaser’s interest is deemed to be a graft upon his previous interest. The estate is not converted into realty. The Land Commission has the powers of the Land Judge to portion or redeem rents and charges, and also to extinguish all superior interrests.

The Land Commission may purchase an estate for purpose of re-sale to the tenants if satisfied that four-fifths in number and value of the holdings will be purchased by the tenants. The Commission may also make advances to tenants who wish to purchase their holdings when an estate is being sold by the Land Judge (Land Act, 1885, s.4). Where the Land Judge has made an absolute order for sale of an agricultural or pastoral estate which is insolvent, or over which a receiver has been appointed, there must be a first offer to sell their holdings to the occupying tenants under the Land Purchase Acts (Land Act, 1896, s. 40; Owen’s Estate, [1897] 1 I. R. 186).

The history of land purchase in Ireland commences with the Bright Clauses of the Land Act, 1870. The Board of Works was empowered to advance money to tenants desirous of purchasing their holdings. The Land Act, 1881, constituted the Land Commission with large powers, partly judicial, partly of an administrative character. Under this Act the limit of an advance was three-fourths of the purchase-money. The Land Act, 1885 (commonly called the Ashbourne Act), was the first really successful measure. The whole purchase-money might be advanced if provision were made for the lodgment or retention of a guarantee deposit, and the sale might be carried out by a vesting order. Amending statutes have been passed 1887, 1888, 1891, and 1896; the Land Purchase Code comprises 10 Acts or parts of Acts. The object of the 40th section of the Land Act, 1896, *supra, *is to relieve the block in the Land Judge’s Court. The Land Judge’s conveyance gives an indefeasible title; and in a Court possessed of such large powers the proceedings are necessarily elaborate, and the notices which must be served in order to preserve the rights of adjoining owners, tenants, etc., are costly. When a petition is presented for the sale of an incumbered estate, a receiver is appointed, and expensive preparations are made for a sale which no one expects to take place. The auction is adjourned *sine die *for want of bidders, and the Land Judge’s Court is burdened with the management of the estate, through the receiver. Instead of being a Court for the sale of incumbered estates, it has become a department for collecting rents. In the present state of the land market in Ireland, the tenants are the only persons likely to purchase. The 40th section is intended to make the offer of sale to them compulsory.

[Cherry and Wakely’s *Land Acts; *Barton and Cherry’s *Land Act, *1896; MacCarthy’s *Land Purchase Cases; *Greer’s Land Cases.] *

Land Tenure and Estates. - The *English tenures were gradually extended to the districts outside the English Pale by the inclusion of portions of the land subject to the custom of “Irishry” under the name of “Shire land.” Where there was a sheriff and county or “Shire ground,” the king’s writ ran and the common law could be executed (Davies, 104). No statute was needed, as the Crown claimed in Ireland the prerogative of creating counties. In three of the provinces the extension of the English system of’ tenures was gradual. Sometimes, however, the “custom of Englishry” was extended to clans, and the Statute 12 Eliz. c. 4 empowered the Crown to receive surrenders of lands from “the pretended lords, gentlemen, and freeholders of the Irishrie, and the men of degenerate English name,” in order that such lands might be re-granted, to hold under the common law. The introduction of the English system into the province of Ulster was principally owing to the plantation grants to private settlers and companies in the reign of James I.

The “case of gavelkind,” 1606 (Davies’ (R. 134) *Case of Gavelkind and Tanistry), *put an end to the descent of lands by what has been called the “Irish custom of gavelkind,” viz. the division, on the death of a tenant, of the lands of the sept among the heads of families, without distinction between legitimate and illegitimate issue. In the reign of James I. it came to be regarded as finally settled that all lands are held of the Crown, and the assimilation of the laws of England and Ireland as regards tenures and estates may be said to date from that period. The old customs to some extent still survived, and in the West of Ireland there still exists the holding in Rundale: a division of the arable lands annually, the pasture being held in common. In Ireland the Crown claimed the right to create manors notwithstanding the Statute Quia Emptores; but doubts having been raised as to the validity of these grants, they were confirmed by statute *(Delacherois *v. *Delacherois, *1865, 11 H. L. 62; see also *Co. Litt. *98 *b; *2 *Inst. *501). Manor Courts and manorial rights are of frequent occurrence in the Irish statutes. Quit rents and Crown rents are still of importance, especially in the administration of the Lands Purchase Acts, and the Crown’s right to recover such rents is not barred by the 48 Geo. III. c. 47, or the Nullum Tempus (Ireland) Act, 39 & 40 Vict. c. 47 *(Maxwell’s Estate, *1891, 28 L. R. I. 356). The Irish Statute of Tenures (14 Ch. II. c. 19) followed the English Act (12 Ch. II. c. 24); knight’s tenure was converted into socage, with similar savings in favour of copyhold, the honorary services of grand serjeanty and frankalmoign. There is, however, no copyhold in Ireland, no estate held by honorary services of grand serjeanty, and the last traces of frankalmoign disappeared with the disestablishment of the Church. Gavelkind existed for a time by virtue of the Statute 2nd Anne, c. 6 (Ir.) (for the prevention of the growth of Popery), whereby the lands of Papists were gavelled.

The legislation as to estates tail closely followed the English Acts, and the Irish Act for the abolition of fines and recoveries (4 & 5 Will. IV. c. 92) differs from the English statute (3 & 4 Will. IV.) only in minor particulars.

Estates *pur autre vie *are very common in Ireland. At one time leases, for lives, renewable for ever, “extended over one-seventh of the country.” The estate is merely a descendible freehold, and not an estate of inheritance; dower and curtesy do not attach. On the dropping of the last life it becomes at law a tenancy at will, which the payment of rent will convert into a yearly tenancy. The tenant could in equity enforce the right to renewal: a right recognised by the Tenantry Act (19 & 20 Geo. III. c. 30 (Ir.)). Such tenants were impeachable for waste. The inconveniences of this form of tenure led to the passing of the Renewable Leasehold Conversion Act, 1850 (12 & 13 Vict. c. 105), which “provides for the transfer of the fee from the landlord to the tenant; but qualifies and controls the operation of the statutory grant so as to preserve, as far as possible, to the landlord the legal incidents annexed to his former estate” (per Blackburne, C., *Gore *V. *O’Grady, *1867, I. R. 1 Eq. 8). Any tenant holding for lives or years determinable on lives or years absolute, with a covenant for perpetual renewal, may compel the landlord to execute a fee-farm grant. The fee-farm rent is the rent reserved in the original lease and not the renewal, increased according to a scale fixed in the Act based on the fines payable for renewal. The rent is recoverable by the usual remedies as between landlord and tenant. A fee-farm grant executed to a tenant in possession of a renewable leasehold quasi in tail will bar the entail (see further, 7 Will. III. c. 12 (Ir.); *Morris *v. *Morris, *1872, I. R. 7 C. L. 295; *Batteste *v. *Maunsel, *1876, 1. R. 10 Eq. 314; *Allen *V. *Allen, *1842, 2 Dr. & War. 307). A covenant in the lease against alienation will not be inserted in the fee-farm grant, as being repugnant to an estate in fee-simple. When the lease is converted after marriage, the fee acquired does not become subject to dower or curtesy (s. 9). But when lands already converted into a fee-farm grant are purchased, they are subject to dower or curtesy although the conversion took place after the date of the marriage of the deceased *(Robins *v. *M’Donnell, *1879, 3 L. R. I. 391). A sub-lessee in perpetuity may obtain a subfee-farm grant under the Act.

Fee-farm grants at common law were not uncommon in Ireland. The rent reserved could only operate as a rent-charge, there being no tenure. Such grants, if made after the 1st January 1861, may set up the relation of landlord and tenant, if such be the intention of the parties. The distinction between common law fee-farm grants, fee-farm grants made in pursuance of the Renewable Leasehold Conversion Act, 1850, and fee-farm grants made since 1st January 1861, not under the provisions of the statute last cited, is of great importance (see landlord and Tenant; Kelly v.* *Rattey, infra.).

Leases were frequently made for lives determinable on years, or for years determinable on lives. The “Shelburne Lease” was a lease of the latter class; for ninety-nine years determinable on three lives, with a covenant for perpetual renewal. It was devised in favour of Roman Catholics, who were prohibited by the penal laws from taking freehold interests.

A tenancy at will cannot be created in an agricultural or pastoral holding. The Land Act, 1870, provides (s. 69) that such tenancies created after the passing of the Act shall be determined by the usual notice to quit. A tenancy for a year certain in such holdings is deemed to be a tenancy from year to year (Land Act, 1881, s. 15).

Conacre - a mode of dealing with lands peculiar to Ireland-is frequently mentioned in the statutes. It is not a letting of the lands, but a mere licence to take a crop off the lands. There are two varieties of conacre: one where the owner permits the land to be tilled, the other where before doing so he prepares and manures the land at his own expense. In either case he retains dominion over both the land and the crop. The crop planted by the conacre holder cannot be removed until it is paid for *(Booth *v. *MacManus, 1861, 12 I. C. L. R. 435; Dease v. **O’Reilly, *1845, 8 I. L. R. 52).

The modes of creating and transferring estates have practically followed those existing in England, and the English Conveyancing Acts were re-enacted by the Irish Parliament. The Statutes of Uses, of Inrolments, of Wills, of Fraudulent Conveyances, etc., were re-enacted by Strafford’s Parliament, 10 Chas. I., and the Irish Statute of Frauds reproduced the English Act with differences rather of arrangement than of substance. Some variations in the forms of conveyancing might be collected, *e.g. *the English Act of 1841, making the release as effectual as the lease and release, was anticipated by the 9 Geo. II. c. 5 *(Ir), *and in Ireland the livery of seisin

• the “conveyance by sod and twig ” - seized hold of the popular imagination owing to the comparatively frequent creation of freehold interests. The post-Union Real Property Statutes generally extend to Ireland. The practice of conveyancing has been essentially modified by the system of registration which has existed since 1708. See *Registration.

Landlord and Tenant. - The *law of landlord and tenant in Ireland was consolidated by the Act of 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. 154, commonly called Deasy’s Act). The relation of landlord and tenant is deemed to be founded on the express or implied contract of the parties and not upon tenure, nor is any reversion necessary to the existence of the relation. In this respect, however, the Act is not retrospective *(Chute *v. *Busteed, *1865, 16 I. C. L. R. 222). Any letting longer than from year to year must be by deed or note in writing. The statute declares and amends the substantive law of landlord and tenant, and regulates procedure in the different classes of ejectment, etc. Deasy’s Act is a general Act applying not only to agricultural holdings but also to lettings in towns.

The Act of 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 46) is the earliest of the Land Law Acts. It applies to agricultural or pastoral holdings with certain exceptions: mainly those reappearing in the Act of 1881, and which will be more conveniently dealt with under that statute. The Act had three principal objects - (1) to secure the tenant from arbitrary eviction by compelling the landlord to pay compensation for disturbance according to a fixed scale (now amended, Act of 1881, s. 6); (2) to secure to the tenant the benefit of his improvements; and (3) to legalise the usages known as the Ulster custom, and analogous usages existing in other parts of Ireland. The tenant might claim under the custom instead of under the “disturbance” and “improveents”, sections, if more beneficial to him. The essentials of the Ulster custom are the right to sell, to have the incoming tenant, if there be no reasonable objection to him, recognised by the landlord, and to have a sum of money paid for the interest and tenancy transferred. The Ulster custom varies in different localities, and practically it may be described as the usages shown to prevail on the estate (M’Elroy v*. **Brooke, *1885, 16 L. R. I. 46). The provisions of the Act as to improvements are complicated, and attained considerable importance in administering the Act of 1881. Sec. 8 (9) of the Latter Act enacted that, in fixing fair rents, no rent should be allowed in respect of improvements made by the tenant. The Courts held that the statutes being *in pari materia *the tenant’s claim for exemption from the payment of rent was merely correlative to a claim for compensation under the Act of 1870 *(Adams V. Dunseath, *1882, 10 L. It. R. 109). The Land Act, 1896, s. 1, largely alters the law in favour of the tenant, as regards his improvements, in respect of the fixing of fair rents.

The Land Act, 1881 (44 & 4,5 Vict. c. 49), adopted the principle of the “three F’s”,” viz. fair rent, fixity of tenure, and free sale. Like the Act of 1870, it applies to agricultural or pastoral holdings only, with the exceptions specified in sec. 58, as modified by the Land Act, 1896, s.5. In order to enjoy the full benefits of the Act the tenancy must be a present tenancy. Present tenancies are those existing at the date of the passing of the Act (22nd August 1881) or tenancies created between that date and the 1st January 1883, in holdings in which tenancies existed at the date of the passing of the Act. A tenancy created after the 22nd August 1881, where was no tenancy existing on that day, and a tenancy created after the 1st January 1883, whether a tenancy was previously existing or not, is a future tenancy. Every tenancy to which the Act applies is presumed to be a present tenancy (and see Land Act, 1896, s.3). The tenant must be in occupation working the farm with a view to profit. Middlemen are therefore excluded, as are also tenants who have sublet without the consent of the landlordord. The tenants of a middleman may, however, have a fair rent fixed as against him. If the interest of the middleman ceases or is determined by eviction, his tenants become tenants of the superior landlord on the terms (Land Act, 1881, s. 16; Land Act, 1896, s. 12). Further, if the rents payable by his tenants are reduced by the Courts below the amount payable by the middleman to the superior landlord, he may surrender (Land Act, 1887, s. 8). The prohibition of subletting was very stringent in the Act of 1881, but the penalties attaching to subletting without consent have been somewhat relaxed by the later statutes (Land Act 1887, s. 4; Land Act, 1896, s. 7).

Leases, when the Land Act of 1881 was passed, were assumed to be “out of the range of practical politics.” The 21st section enacted that existing leases were to remain in force as if the Act had not passed, with a proviso that with regard to such leases as should expire within 60 years after the passing of the Act the leaseholders, if *bona fide *in occupation, should be deemed to be tenants of a present ordinary tenancy. The Land Act, 1887, s. 1, enabled leaseholders where the unexpired residue of the term does not exceed 99 years, counting from the date of the passing of the Land Act of 1881, to apply to the Court to be deemed present tenants, and to have a fair rent fixed. The tenant must, however, be *bona fide *in occupation, and the lease must have been in existence on the 22nd August 1881 (see *Moylan *v. *Finch, *1891, 23 L. R. I. 332, 595; *Wright and Tittle’s Contract, *1892, 29 L. R. I. 111, as to such leases).

Under the Redemption of Rent Act, 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. C. 57), leaseholders whose leases do not expire within the period defined by the Land Act, 1887, and grantees of fee-farm grants, may apply to redeem their rents under the Land Purchase Acts. If the landlord does not consent, the lessee or grantee may be deemed to be a present tenant and have a fair rent fixed. The Courts held that rents could be redeemed under this Act only where the relation of landlord and tenant existed, *e.g. *grantees of common law fee-farm grants made before 1st January 1861 (Deasy’s Act) were excluded *(Kelly *v. *Rattey, *1893, 32 L. R. I. 445). The Land Act, 1896, s. 14, enables grantees of such fee-farm grants to redeem their rents.

The holdings specially excepted by the Land Act, 1881, s. 58 (as amended by the Land Act, 1896, s. 5), are –

(1)” Residential holdings,” *i.e. *where the main object of the letting was for a residence, and not with a view to profit in agriculture.

(2) Demesne lands: lands forming part of a landlord’s demesne and let under circumstances showing that the landlord intended to resume possession of them.

(3)* *Home farms, viz. lettings for the advantage of, and to be used in connection with, a residence and not for profit.

(4) Town parks, *i.e. *lettings near a town bearing an increased value as *accommodation *land, and occupied by a person living in the town. A town park may, however, be included in the Acts if it is let and used as an ordinary agricultural or pastoral farm, and if the fixing of a fair rent upon it will not interfere with the development of the town (Land Act, 1887, s. 9; Land Act, 1896, s. 6)

(5) Pasture farms of the rateable value of upwards of £100; and pasture farms of whatever value on which the tenant does not reside unless they are used immediately in connection with his holding.

(6) Conacre and grazing lettings, labourers’ holdings, lettings for temporary convenience so expressed in writing, small cottage allotments and glebe lands. Tenants of demesne lands, town parks, and pasture farms are not, however, debarred from claiming for improvements (Land Act, 1870, s.15).

Assuming the holding to be within the operation of the Acts, a judicial rent may be fixed in any of the following ways - (1) by agreement filed in Court; (2) by application to the Court; (3) by arbitration; (4) by demand of an increased rent acceded to by the tenant. The fixing or the judicial or fair rent creates a statutory term of 15 years during which the rent cannot be increased, and the tenant obtains in a certain degree fixity of tenure. He cannot be evicted save for breach of one of the six statutory conditions. These are that the tenant shall pay his rent, shall not commit persistent waste, sublet, become bankrupt, obstruct the landlord in the exercise of certain specified rights, or open a public-house without his landlord’s consent (Land Act, 1881, s. 5). If a tenant is evicted for breach of ono of the statutory conditions, he forfeits all claim to compensation for disturbance. He may, however, sell his interest, but the holding is penalised in the hands of the purchaser, as a fair rent cannot be fixed upon it. In effect it becomes a future tenancy.

The tenant may sell, but he must first give notice to his landlord, who has a right of pre-emption. If they cannot agree upon the price, the Court will fix it. If the landlord does not wish to exercise his right of preemption, the tenant may sell for the best price he can get. The landlord may object to the purchaser on reasonable grounds, and any claims of the landlord form a charge upon the purchase-money (Land Act, 1881, s.1).

A tenant, the aggregate of whose holdings amounts to £150 in annual value, may contract himself out of the Acts. Any tenant may exclude the operation of the Acts by the acceptance of a “judicial lease,” or by agreeing that his tenancy shall become a “fixed tenancy.” A “judicial lease” is a lease for a term of not less than 31 years on terms agreed upon and sanctioned by the Court. A fixed tenancy is subject to such terms as may be agreed upon. The rent, however, must be a fee-farm rent, subject to revaluation at certain periods not less than 15 years, and the tenant shall be liable to eviction only for breach of one of the statutory conditions.

[Cherry and Wakely’s *Irish Land Acts; *Barton and Cherry’s *Land Act, *1896; De Moleyn’s *Landowner’s Guide; *Greer’s *Land Cases; *MacDevitt’s *Land Cases; *Report of the Select Committee on Irish Land Acts, 1894, in particular the evidence of Lord Justice Fitzgibbon; Furlong’s Landlord and Tenant.] *

Peerage.* - *The *Irish peerage closely resembled the peerage of England and the procedure and orders of the Irish House of Lords prior to the Act of Union followed those observed in England. Peers in Ireland could, however, not only vote by proxy but also protest by proxy. Peers were tried before the House of Lords for treasons and felonies. Instances of such trials were that of Viscount Neterville in 1743, and that of Lord Santry near the same period. The latter was tried in the Court of the Lord High Steward. In 1773 the provisions of the Treasons Act (7 Will. III. c. 3) as to summoning all the peers to the Court of the Lord High Steward in cases of treason were extended to Ireland. In 1641 Bishop Bramhall, Sir Richard Bolton, and others were impeached by the Irish House of Commons before the Irish House of Lords. Appeals from the Irish Courts were also heard by the Irish House of Lords, but the English House of Lords also claimed jurisdiction to hear appeals from Ireland. On one occasion an appeal was carried to both Houses, and the judgments disagreed. The Irish judges declared that the decision of the House of Lords in Ireland must prevail (*Annesley *v. *Sherlock, *1719, MacQueen, App. v.; Lecky’s *England, *ii. 419). The statute 6 Geo. I. c. 5 was passed by the English Parliament declaring that the English House of Lords was the ultimate tribunal for Irish suits. This Act was repealed by 22 Geo. III c. 53, and, in order to remove the doubts set up by the repealing statute, the 23 Geo. III. c. 28 expressly declared that no appeal or writ of error from any Court in Ireland should for the future be brought into any Court in England. Thenceforth, till the Act of Union, the right of hearing appeals vested solely in the Irish House of Lords.

By the Act of Union Ireland was to be represented in the Imperial Parliament by four spiritual and 28 temporal peers. Irish non-representative peers may sit in the House of Commons for any constituency in Great Britain, but not in Ireland. While so serving, an Irish peer cannot be elected a representative peer, and loses his privilege of peerage. As often as three peerages become extinct one may be created. The number must always be kept up to 100 over and above such as become hereditary peers of the United Kingdom. The Irish peers enjoy all the privileges of peers as fully as the peers of Great Britain, except those depending on sitting in the House of Lords; and the lords of Parliament on the part of Ireland have the same privileges as those of Great Britain. The representative peers for Ireland (unlike the Scotch elective peers) sit for life. They are elected in the manner prescribed by the Act of Union, as amended by 20 & 21 Vict. c. 33, and 45 & 46 Vict. c. 26. The Lord Chancellor, on receiving a certificate from two temporal peers certifying the decease of a representative peer, directs a writ under the Great Seal to be issued to the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper then causes writs to be issued to every peer of Ireland. Notice must be published in the *London *and *Dublin Gazettes *of the issuing of such writs. Within thirty days of the teste of the writ, the votes must be returned to the Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper. The votes are in duplicate: one part is retained in the Crown Office in Ireland, and the other certified to the Clerk of Parliament. The peers, before voting, must take the oath of allegiance, and- a certificate must be annexed to the writ that the oath was duly taken. As to the persons before whom the oath may be taken, see the statutes cited, supra.

The Irish Church Act, 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42, s. 13), deprived the bishops of the right to sit in the House of Lords. The bishops sat according to a rotation fixed by the Irish Act of Union. *

Railways. *- See Tramway (Ireland) Acts, 1860-1891; for Light Railways, Ireland, 52 & 53 Vict. c.66. *

Registration. - There *are two systems of registration affecting land: one of assurances, the other of title. Registration of deeds and assurances, as distinguished from registration of title, is governed by the Statute 6 Anne, c. 2 (Ir.). This statute established one public office (the Registry of Deeds) for registering deeds, conveyances, and wills affecting land. Registration is voluntary; “at the election of the party or parties concerned.” Every conveyance, a memorial of which has been registered, shall be effectual according to the priority of time of registration, according to the right, title, and interest of the party conveying, against every other deed affecting the lands comprised in the memorial (s. 4). Every conveyance not registered of any lands comprised in a deed of which a memorial has been registered is deemed fraudulent and void against a deed so registered, and also against judgment creditors. The memorial, which must be on parchment, ought to contain the date of the conveyance, the names and additions of all parties and witnesses (in the body of the memorial), and the local description of the lands (s. 7). The county and barony, or town and parish, must be stated (2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 87, s.29; but see *Gardiner V. Blessinton, *1850, 1 I. Ch. R. 79, 85). In practice the memorial states the contents of the deed more fully, *e.g. *the consideration is set forth. There is some advantage in doing so, as the memorial may become secondary evidence. A variance between the deed and the memorial in particulars declared to be essential renders the registration invalid (and see *Butler *V. *Gilbert, *1890, 25 L. R. I.230).

When the memorial omits any additional charge contained in the deed the registration is invalid *(Macnamara *v. *Darcy, 1891, 27 L. R. I. 414). Clerical errors will not avoid the registration unless they are calculated to mislead (Slator v. S., ***1866, 16 I. Ch. R. 480). The result of the cases is that any variance which would mislead an innocent purchaser is fatal. The memorial in the case of deeds and conveyances must be under the hand and seal of some or one of the grantors or grantees, and attested by two witnesses, one of whom must be one of the witnesses to the execution of the deed. A deed cannot be registered unless one of the witnesses to the deed can be obtained as a witness to the memorial. The memorial of wills is prepared in a different manner, but wills are seldom registered, as the fifth section, making unregistered deeds and conveyances fraudulent, is silent as to wills. The witness to the execution of the memorial and of the deed - “the double witness” - must prove by affidavit the signing and sealing of the memorial, and the execution of the conveyance mentioned in the memorial. When the lands are situate in county Dublin, the affidavit must be, in other cases it may be, made before the registrar. When the lands are situate elsewhere in Ireland, the affidavit may be made before a commissioner. As to deeds affecting lands in Ireland executed in Great Britain, see 3 Geo. IV. c. 116; executed in the colonies or places out of Her Majesty’s dominions, see 16 & 17 Vict. c. 78; 30 & 31 Vict. c. 44. For form of memorials when more instruments than one are used for perfecting the conveyance, see 6 Anne, c. 2, 8.15. It is the execution by the grantor which ought to be attested. Registration of a mortgage upon an affidavit verifying execution by the mortgagee only is defective *(In re Hurley, *1894, 1 1. R. 488; *Stephen’s Estate, *1875, I. R. 10 Eq. 282; *Rennick *v. *Armstrong, *1819, 1 Hud. & B. 727).

The instruments capable of registration are deeds, conveyances, and wills affecting land in Ireland. Leases not exceeding 21 years, where possession goes with the lease, do not lose priority by non-registration (s. 14). In practice such leases are registered, as they may gain priority by registration *(Talbut *v. *Gulmartin, *1850, 3 I. Jur. 171). With this exception, all other conveyances affecting lands, whether voluntary or for value, legal or equitable, assignments of money charged on lands, and annuities payable out of rents, ought to be registered. Writings not under seal may be registered (*In re Hamilton, *1859, 9 I. Ch. 512). But there must be some dealing with land coming within the description “deed, will, or conveyance.” Assignments by operation of law cannot be registered, nor sheriff’s assignment under *fi. fa., *nor solicitor’s lien, nor equitable mortgage by deposit of title-deeds, without any memorandum *(In re Burke’s Estate, infra). *Chargin orders and vesting orders may be registered.

Registration is usually effected by the grantee, but any person having sufficient interest, *e.g. *an assignee, a partial assignee, or personal representative of grantee, may register *(Murphy *v. *Leader, *1841, 4 I. L. R. 139, 142; and 8 Geo. I. c. 15 (Ir.)). The assignee cannot gain priority by registering merely the assignment to himself, but may probably gain priority by registration of the conveyance to his assignor.

An unregistered deed is only avoided in favour of purchasers. It may be good as against the grantor or his assignees in bankruptcy, so far as it does not interfere with interests created by a registered instrument.

Registration does not give any additional validity to a deed, *e.g. *it did not, prior to the Voluntary Conveyances Act, 1893, give priority to a voluntary conveyance over an unregistered deed for value.

As to the duty of trustees to register, see *Macnamara *V. *Carey, *I. R. 1 Eq. 9).

Provision has been made for entering a memorandum of satisfaction of mortgages (8 Anne, c. 10, s. 3). *

Priorities under Registry Acts. - A *registered deed takes priority over a prior unregistered instrument affecting the same lands irrespective of their dates. The question of legal or equitable estate is immaterial; as is also the question whether the conveyances were made by the same grantor, provided there is no defect in the titlo of the grantor other than that arising from the existence of the prior unregistered instrument *(Warburton *V. *Ivie, 1824, Smi. & Bat. 134 K. B.; *1828, 1 Hud. & B. *Ex. Ch.; *1832, 2 Dow & C. 480; 6 Bli. N. S. 1 *H. L.). *Registration gives no priority where the title of the grantor in the registered conveyance is bad (U’O’Connor v. *Stephens, 1862, 13 I. C. L. 63). Registration gave, prior to 1893, no priority a voluntary conveyance, while volunteers only claimed under it (In re Flood, ***13 I. Ch. 312; *In re M’Donagh’s *Estale, 1879, 13 I. L. T. R. 170). Registered conveyances *inter se *rank strictly by date of registration. A party affected with actual notice cannot in equity rely on his statutory priority. An equitable mortgagee by deposit of title-deeds, accompanied by a memorandum, will be postponed if the memorandum is not registered *(Agra Bank *v. *Barry, 1874, L. R. 7 *H. L. 135). *Secus *if there be a bare deposit of title-deeds, inasmuch as there is 110 instrument capable of registration (*in re Burke’s Estate, *1881, 7 L. R. 1.57; 9 L. R. 1. 24). Registration gives priority, but does not amount to notice. Tacking has no application to registered instruments.

Registration of title was introduced in 1865. The Record of Title Office was established by 28 & 29 Vict. c. 88, under the control of the Landed Estates Court. Only Landed Estates Court Conveyances were recorded, and such conveyances were placed in the record as a matter of course, unless a requisition to the contrary was served. On the record of title appeared not only conveyances but also all devolutions by operation of law. A memorial specifying that the lands were “recorded” was registered in the Registry of Deeds) and thenceforth such lands were removed from the operation of the Registry Acts. A recorded owner, with the consent of all chargeants, might close the record, and the lands were then remitted to the Registry of Deeds. The Act did not prove a success, and the record of title was closed by the Local Registration of Title Act, 1891(54 & 55 Vict. c. 66). Where there is any dealing with recorded land after 1st January 1892, the record must be closed and the lands registered under the Act of 1891. “Dealing with land” includes vesting orders *(Carrige *v. *M’Donnell’s Contract, *1895, 1 I. R. 288, 296). The Local Registration of Title Act establishes a central registry and a local registry in each county. Two classes of owners may be registered - (1) full owners, i.e. in fee-simple; (2) limited owners, *i.e. *of settled land. In the latter case the names of trustees are also registered. Trusts affecting the owner are valid, and trustees, although not trustees for sale, may be registered as owners *(In re O’Doherty, 1894, 1 I. R. 59). Provision is made for a separate registry of leaseholds, and also for subsidiary registers, i.e. ***not of ownership but of rights affecting land. Registration is compulsory in the case of lands purchased under the Land Purchase Acts (see *in re Keogh, *1896, 1 I. R. 285) where money is due to the State; voluntary in all other cases. Lands registered under the Act are removed from the operation of the Registry of Deeds (with exceptions as to leaseholds) on filing a memorial in the Registry of Deeds. When registration is voluntary the owner may remit the lands to the Registry of Deeds on filing a memorial.

On first registration the owner may have his title investigated and start with a clear title to the fee. If he does not do so, and the doctrine of graft applies to his interest, a note is made to tile effect that the registration is subject to equities. Registered land must be transferred in the manner prescribed by the rules. An assignment by deed passes no interest till registration, but a devise operates before registration to pass the beneficial interest (Torish v.* **Smith and Orr, *1894, 2 I. R. 381; see also *Belfast and N C. Rwy. Co., *1895, 1 I. R. 297). Registered lands in the hands of a transferee for Valuable consideration are only affected by (1) burdens registered under the Act, (2) burdens which are without registration to affect registered land. The burdens which may be registered are enumerated in sec. 45. Those which, without registration, affect the land are specified in sec. 47. Charges on registered land can be created and transferred only in the manner prescribed. Till the transferee is registered no estate passes. Crown debts and lis pendens must be registered and re-registered every five years. No title by adverse possession can be acquired without order of the Court. All devolutions by operation of law must appear on the register. Where freehold lands have been compulsorily registered under the Laud Purchase Acts, the legal estate, on the death of the registered owner, devolves upon his personal representative like a chattel real, notwithstanding any testamentary disposition. The beneficial interest on intestacy devolves as personal estate, and such lands are not liable to dower or curtesy. An heir or devisee may, with the assent of the personal representatives, be registered as owner, subject to any charges due from the personal representatives. An insurance fund is established to indemnify innocent purchasers against mistakes in registration.

[Madden’s *Registration; *Kelly’s *Registration.]

Stock*. For guaranteed land stock, see *Land Purchase, pra; *for baronial guaranteed stock, see Tramways and Light Railways Acts, *supra, *and 43 & 44 Vict. c. 44.

General Contents. .