Court of Registry June 1929

Genealogy, Archaeology, History, Heritage & Folklore

Moderators: Clare Support, Clare Past Mod

Post Reply
Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Court of Registry June 1929

Post by Sduddy » Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:32 pm

“You ought to know my father well, Mr. Crowe, for he pays you your rent” - memorable words spoken by Barron in defence of his father, Old Barron, - taken from a report on the progress of the Court of Registry in the Freeman’s Journal of June 9th 1829.

Explanatory Note on the 1829 Election and the Court of Registry:
The Penal Laws, which had placed restrictions on Catholics holding public office, etc., were eased somewhat in 1793 when Catholics were allowed to vote in the elections of members to Parliament. Catholics, however, did not stand for election, as taking a seat in parliament would require them to take the Oath of Supremacy, which was incompatible with Catholicism. Daniel O Connell forced the issue. He stood in a by-election for County Clare in 1828, and, having won the election, was unable to take his seat. Parliament saw that denying O’Connell his seat would cause outrage, and would lead to another rebellion in Ireland. Thus the right of members of faiths (other than the established Church) to take their seats in Parliament became law in April 1829. However, the act was not made retrospective. O’Connell’s seat was declared vacant and another election ordered.
In the meantime, another law had been introduced, which restricted the right to vote to men who had property valued at £10 at a minimum. And so the 1829 election would have to be contested by O’Connell without the participation of most of his supporters (the forty-shilling freeholders).
In his article on Catholic Emancipation in Clare History and Society, (eds Matthew Lynch and Patrick Nugent, Geography Publications, 2008), Kieran Sheedy says, “When news of this reached the county a rush of applications for the registration of the new £10 freeholds began. A special court of registry was set up in early June, and sessions proved to be long and arduous as law agents representing the Catholic Association and the Protestant Brunswick Club were in constant attendance. The work of the registry court continued for five weeks, with the legal agents of the Brunswick Club striving to point out any flaw or erasure affecting title, while their arguments were strenuously opposed by the other side. The court alternated its sittings between Ennis, Ennistymon, Kilrush and Sixmilebridge. When it had completed its work a total of only 653 freeholders had been registered, little more than one fifth of the electors who had voted in the 1828 election. The breakdown by barony of the new electorate was Islands 72, Inchiquin 30, Corcomroe 110, Burren 14, Ibricken 60, Moyarta 53, Clonderlaw 101, Tulla 157, Bunratty 57.”
The progress of the registration of voters was of great general interest and was reported in The Freeman’s Journal of June 9th, 1829.
The applicants mentioned in the report are: Patrick Hare [Hehir], Daniel Finucane, Thomas Brew, Michael O'Loughlin, Thomas Barrington, John Russell, Michael Cullinan, Patrick Cunee, Malachy Gorman, Patrick O'Brien, Thomas Kenney, John O'Brien, Bartholomew Hone, John Carny [Kearney], Murty Curtis, James Flanagan, Patrick Sullivan, Christopher Barnett, Patrick O'Healy, John Russell, Tady Curtin.

My transcription is attached.
Court%20of%20Registry%201829.doc
(59.5 KiB) Downloaded 81 times
Sheila
Last edited by Sduddy on Fri Jul 01, 2022 10:04 am, edited 3 times in total.

kbarlow
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:07 am

Re: Court of Registry June 1929

Post by kbarlow » Wed Aug 03, 2016 2:16 am

Sheila - a million thank-yous for posting this important document. Many of my family connections are witnesses and I am gaining so much more information about how they lost their lands and why they continued to be "rebels". The witness you have transcribed as Bartholomew Hone (of the Commons) is Bartholomew Hehir (Hare by the English reporting).

Once again the Clare County Library comes up trumps, especially for those of the diaspora unable to access local papers.

regards, Kerry

kbarlow
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:07 am

Re: Court of Registry June 1929

Post by kbarlow » Wed Aug 03, 2016 3:16 am

Hi again Sheila - I note on the list of Registry of Freeholders 1829, elsewhere on the Library site, that my Kearse (Kierce) family also appear. Do you happen to know if the Freeman's Journal reported that part of the proceedings ? (3 June 1829).

Kerry

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Court of Registry June 1929

Post by Sduddy » Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:54 pm

Hi Kerry

I’m sorry – that article is the only one I have that includes names of applicants. As registration was of general interest at the time, I am sure that there were reports in other papers too, but probably most just gave the numbers registering, and ventured an opinion on the likelihood of success for O’Connell – see attached.
In the end, William Vesey Fitzgerald refused to stand for election and O’Connell was elected unopposed.
The Freeman’s Journal was pro-O’Connell. I don’t know what stance the Clare papers took, or what details, names, etc., were reported. Sometime soon, I hope, I will get to check that out. And I will keep an eye out for Mr. Kierce/Kearse.

Sheila
Attachments
Clare Election.pdf
(318.1 KiB) Downloaded 479 times

kbarlow
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:07 am

Re: Court of Registry June 1929

Post by kbarlow » Thu Aug 04, 2016 2:22 am

Hi Sheila, thank you very much for the newspaper article of the date. I would appreciate any info you come across on Kearse/Kierce.

Kind regards, Kerry

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Court of Registry June 1929

Post by Sduddy » Fri Aug 12, 2016 5:21 pm

Hi Kerry,

I’m afraid I haven't found Mr. Kierce/Kearse’s name.

The Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser came out twice weekly – on Mondays and Thursdays. I’ve looked at June-July issues and it was very definitely not pro-O’Connell.
A great deal of space is given in every issue to reports on the progress of registration, with speeches given in full, plus accounts of the ruffianly behaviour of O’Connell’s supporters, but there are no lists names of applicants such as the one in the Freeman’s Journal.
It seems that a great many applicants did not appear at the Court of Registry. The Clare Journal reported on Thurs. June 18th: “State of Registry of Freeholders at Ennistymon:
Barony of Corcomroe: Number of Notices served – 376; Registered – 110; Rejected – 40; Did not appear – 225.
Barony of Ibrickane: Number of Notices served – 170; Registered – 45; Rejected – 17; Did not appear: 114.
Barony of Burren: Number of Notices served – 54; Registered – 12; Rejected – 5. Did not appear: 37”.
The same article goes on to report on the results for Moyarta and Clonderlaw: “ The Registry for the Barony of Moyarta was closed on Friday evening at six o’clock. Number of notices served – 362; Registered – 53; Rejected – 44; Did not appear – 265. After the close of the Registry for Moyarta on Tuesday evening, 15 were called in Clonderlaw; 10 registered, and 5 rejected”.
This small number for Clonderlaw is explained on Mon. June 22nd: “ The Registry has concluded for the present in Kilrush. The Barrister was not able to investigate all the claimants for Registry in the Barony of Barony of Clonderlaw, and he has in consequence adjourned the futher hearing to the 29th instant… Notices served – 318; Registered (out of 170 investigated) – 61.
The Barrister was engaged on Saturday in investigating the notices for registry in the Barony of Bunratty. The numbers called were 100, of those 52 appeared and 26 were allowed to register, and 26 were rejected”.

A list of some of the applicants appears on Mon. June 29th in a letter (printed in full) from Richard Scott to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, complaining that their applications had not been dealt with fairly at the Ennistymon sitting. He says that the Barrister followed the list of applicants provided to him by the Clerk of the Peace (Robert Kean) and not the one published in the Clare Journal, and that the different ordering of names meant that applicants were not present when they were called. The names of these applicants are given and are probably to be found already among the lists transcribed by David Kenny and donated to clarelibrary.ie, but I will give them here anyway: John Drony, Patrick Hehir, Michael Lyons, John McInerheny, Michael Hynes, Denis Hynes, Thomas Kelly, Daniel Collins, Thomas Downes, John Crawford, Michael Considine, Patrick Sheehan, Austin Quealy, Patrick Quin, Patrick Shalloo, Patrick Neylan, James Shalloo [these last two are repeated twice], Michael Ryan, M. O’Brien, James Kealeher, Martin Doogan, John Scanlon, Patrick Kennedy, Patrick Casey, Robert Lillis, Patrick Sheehan, Patrick Sheehan, Patrick Kenny, John Morgan.

A Morty Considine is mentioned in the Mon. 22nd issue, but it’s not stated whether he was an applicant, or not: “ Yesterday the Court was much disturbed by a great tumult in the hall, upon enquiry by the Barrister into the cause, it appeared by the evidence of one of the Police Constables that a person of this town (Mr. Morty Considine) had said in Court, and in an audible voice, that the Barrister was as fine a lump of an Orangeman as ever presided on that or any other bench, which was the cause of the tumult. His worship remarked that whether the assertion (which was not true) was intended as a compliment or a reflection upon him, he felt it his duty to commit the offender to Jail for 14 days for contempt of Court, if he had any additional evidence in support of that Constable, who swore that many persons in Court must have heard Considine as well as himself, but not one of those would come forward. The accused party was then sworn, and, upon his oath, denied having used the offensive words, having been first told from the Bench that he was not bound to give any answer that would criminate himself. His worship said he would rather keep ninety-nine guilty men out of Jail, that commit one who might be innocent, and that therefore, as he had but one oath against another, he would dismiss the complaint; and Considine was discharged accordingly”.

The following appears in the same issue, “ A full report of the speeches made by Mr. O’Connell, has been sent to the newspapers by a special reporter, who accompanied him in his tour through the County. A very flourishing account has also been forwarded of the speeches delivered at the dinner given to him in Kilrush, where we find the Priest of the Parish presiding on the Sabbath at the Baccanalian orgies. The chairman and the Solicitor, it seems, had the speeching all to themselves. The remainder of the company were engaged in eating and drinking, and listening. We are told there were 190 present. We would give a ducat for a list of the gentry. One hundred and ninety! why they must have comprised every Butcher, Taylor, Broguemaker, Tinker &c., &c., in the town. It was intended to put Paddy Gantly, the Sub Deputy Pawn Broker, in the chair, and to have his Auctioneer, John Culligan, act as Croupier, but the P.P. interfered, and filled one situation himself, and promoted Dr. Daly to the other.
Previous to Mr. O’Connell proceeding to dinner, the Chronicler tells us Mr. O’Connell held a Chapter of the Order of Liberators, when several gentlemen, and among them some Protestants, were invested with the Order.
Will some friend in Kilrush favour us with a “correct return” of the ennobled Protestants – They are worthy to swim down the stream of time”.

Sheila

kbarlow
Posts: 160
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:07 am

Re: Court of Registry June 1929

Post by kbarlow » Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:24 am

Thank you Sheila for taking the time to post this further information about the process. Everything seemed stacked against the ordinary people - the newspaper reminds me of the very partisan one we have here in Oz own by a certain Mr Murdock!

Kerry

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Court of Registry June 1929

Post by Sduddy » Mon Aug 15, 2016 8:55 am

Hi Kerry

To be fair to Mr. B. Knox, editor of the Clare Journal, it seems he wasn’t the worst. Ciaran O Murchadha, in his brilliant prologue to ‘The Great Famine’ (Bloomsbury, 2011), which begins with the glory of a huge meeting of O’Connell supporters in Ennis on June 15th, 1843, says, “The Ennis Tory, Mr. B. Knox, editor of the Clare Journal, was more measured [that the Limerick Chronicle], telling his readers merely that he found it distressing to see ‘such misdirected enthusiasm and for so little purpose’. The subsequent history of the Repeal movement would prove Knox correct in this supposition. His other prediction, that the Ennis meeting would soon be forgotten or ‘remembered in sorrow and in anger’, would prove more prescient still, but in a fashion that would have horrified him. For, within five years, tens of thousands of those who had gathered on the Ennis racecourse on that warm summer day in June would be dead of starvation or disease”

Sheila

Post Reply