Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840
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The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 108), An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 10 August 1840.
The Act followed similar lines to the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 which reformed municipal boroughs in England and Wales. Prior to the passing of the Act, there were sixty-eight borough corporations in Ireland, many of them were ineffective, some virtually defunct and none of them in any way representative of their populations. The Act dissolved all but ten of the corporations.
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[edit] The Reformed Corporations
The ten reformed corporations, which were named in Schedule A to the Act were to be styled as Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses, with the exception of Dublin where the title Right Honourable Lord Mayor was retained.
| Number | Borough | County |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belfast | Antrim and Down |
| 2 | Clonmel | Tipperary |
| 3 | Cork (County of the City) | Cork |
| 4 | Drogheda (County of the Town) | Louth and Meath |
| 5 | Dublin (County of the City) | Dublin |
| 6 | Kilkenny (County of the City) | Kilkenny |
| 7 | Limerick (County of the City) | Limerick |
| 8 | Londonderry (City) | Londonderry |
| 9 | Sligo | Sligo |
| 10 | Waterford (County of the City) | Waterford |
[edit] Dissolved Boroughs
Under section 13 of the Act the remaining fifty-eight borough corporations were dissolved on 25 October 1840. The extinguished boroughs were listed in schedules B and I of the Act. Boroughs in schedule B could petition for a grant of a charter restoring borough status, as could any town with a population of more than 3,000. Boroughs in Schedule I were already effectively extinct at the time of the passing of the Act, and so were not permitted to apply for such a charter.
Only one town, Wexford, applied for a charter restoring borough status, which was granted in 1846.
Boroughs in Schedule B
| Number | Borough | County |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ardee | Louth |
| 2 | Armagh (City) | Armagh |
| 3 | Athlone | Roscommon and Westmeath |
| 4 | Athy | Kildare |
| 5 | Bandon or Bandon Bridge | Cork |
| 6 | Boyle | Roscommon |
| 7 | Callan | Kilkenny |
| 8 | Carlow | Carlow |
| 9 | Carrickfergus (County of the Town) | Antrim |
| 10 | Cashel (City) | Tipperary |
| 11 | Charleville | Cork |
| 12 | Cloghnakilty | Cork |
| 13 | Coleraine | Londonderry |
| 14 | Dingle | Kerry |
| 15 | Dundalk | Louth |
| 16 | Dungannon | Tyrone |
| 17 | Ennis | Clare |
| 18 | Enniscorthy | Wexford |
| 19 | Enniskillen | Fermanagh |
| 20 | Fethard | Wexford |
| 21 | Galway | Galway |
| 22 | Gorey | Wexford |
| 23 | Kells | Meath |
| 24 | Kinsale | Cork |
| 25 | Longford | Longford |
| 26 | Maryborough | Queen’s County |
| 27 | Monaghan | Monaghan |
| 28 | Naas | Kildare |
| 29 | Navan | Meath |
| 30 | New Ross | Wexford |
| 31 | Portarlington | Queen’s County and King’s County |
| 32 | Strabane | Tyrone |
| 33 | Tralee | Kerry |
| 34 | Trim | Meath |
| 35 | Tuam | Galway |
| 36 | Wexford | Wexford |
| 37 | Wicklow | Wicklow |
| 38 | Youghal | Cork |
Boroughs in Schedule I
| Number | Borough | County |
|---|---|---|
| 39 | Ardfert | Kerry |
| 40 | Athenry | Galway |
| 41 | Baltinglass | Wicklow |
| 42 | Bangor | Down |
| 43 | Belturbet | Cavan |
| 44 | Carlingford | Louth |
| 45 | Castlemartyr | Cork |
| 46 | Cavan | Cavan |
| 47 | Charlemont | Armagh |
| 48 | Duleek | Meath |
| 49 | Hillsborough | Down |
| 50 | Inistioge | Kilkenny |
| 51 | Kilbeggan | Westmeath |
| 52 | Kildare | Kildare |
| 53 | Killileagh | Down |
| 54 | Kilmallock | Limerick |
| 55 | Lifford | Donegal |
| 56 | Middleton | Cork |
| 57 | Newtownards | Down |
| 58 | Thomastown | Kilkenny |
[edit] Town Commissioners
Many of the extinguished boroughs had an additional form of local government in place, in the form of commissioners appointed under The Lighting of Towns (Ireland) Act, 1828. Where such a body existed, it was deemed to be the successor to the corporation. Section 16 of the Act provided that any borough dissolved with property worth more than £100, and which did not have commissioners under the 1828 Act, should have a board of "Municipal Commissioners" established.
[edit] Sources
- The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840
- Mark Callanan & Justin F Keogan (editors), Local Government in Ireland Inside Out, Dublin, 2003
- Desmond Roche, Local Government in Ireland, Dublin, 1982
| Electoral reform in the United Kingdom
|
| Parliamentary Reform Acts |
| England (1832) | Scotland (1832) | Ireland (1832) |
| England (1867) | Scotland (1868) | Ireland (1868) |
| Municipal Reform Acts |
| Scotland (1833) | England (1835) | Ireland (1840) |
| Representation of the People Acts |
| 1884 | 1918 | 1928 | 1948 |
| 1969 | 1983 | 1985 | 2000 |
| Other acts |
| Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 | Ballot Act 1872 |
| Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 |
| Related |
| Reform Club | Carlton Club | Rotten borough |
