User:Jnestorius/Civil parish

<Civil parish (Ireland)

Sources:

• 1657 commission for uniting and dividing parishes:

  An inquisition taken at Maryborough the 13th of October 1657, before Sir Charles Coote, Knight, Baronet, President of the province of Connaught, Henry Gilbert, Robert Preston, Raphael Hunt, Henry Owen, Francis Barrington, Thomas Pigot, William Scot, John Rawlins, Gilbert Rawson, Henry Lestrange, and William Weldon, Esqrs. Commissioners, appointed and authorized, by virtue of a commission issued out of his highness the Lord Protector's court of chancery, under the great seal of Ireland, bearing date at Dublin, the 30th day of July, in the year of our Lord God 1657, for the uniting and dividing of parishes, ordering and placing of churches, erecting and endowing of free schools, and to hear and enquire of divers other matters, in the said commission contained, upon the oaths of honest and lawful men, whose names do here ensue, viz. * who do say [follows names and contents of pre-existing parishes]

• 1725x41 Church rules for uniting and dividing parishes
• 1810 account of earlier printed parish information.
• Of Parish Vestries, and their powers
• MY LORD, Armagh, November 15, 1819 .

  I HAVE the honour of transmitting to your Excellency, in obedience to the commands of His Royal Highness The Prince Regent, the Returns made by the Bishops of the Province of Armagh, respecting the Ecclesiastical state of their several Dioceses. It was thought prudent that these should not be required till after the annual Visitations, as each Bishop would then be better able to render an accurate account of the different Parishes within his jurisdiction. The delay which has occurred since, was occasioned by the deaths of the Archbishop of Tuam and the Bishop of Clogher, which caused many changes in the Church establishment.

  I trust your Excellency will find, that great improvement has taken place in the Church of Ireland, since the Report made of it in the year 1806. Subsequent to that period, indeed, many Churches and Glebe-houses have been built; many Glebes have been purchased, many Livings have been divided, and much more actual Residence has been obtained.

  The Unions in the Irish Church have long been considered as one of its greatest defects. These Unions are of two kinds, perpetual and pro hac vice; the former are made by the Privy Council, the latter by the Bishop of the Diocese. As Perpetual Unions cannot be effected without the consent of the Patron, the Incumbent, the Bishop, the Archbishop, and the Privy Council, they undergo such severe investigations as precludes all suspicion of their being improperly made. But Episcopal Unions are under no such restraints; and it is possible, therefore, that some of them, particularly those made in former times, may be found to be extremely objectionable.

  In justification of such Unions, however, it must be observed, that in many cases the Livings of which they were composed were so inconsiderable, no Clergyman would accept the cure of them. A factious vote of the Irish House of Commons, by prohibiting the payment of agistment tithe, reduced the Vicars to absolute want; and to provide a scanty maintenance, it became necessary to unite several Vicarages into one Benefice. Even now, there are many Unions of Vicarages, consisting of from eight to ten Parishes, which do not produce a clear Ecclesiastical income of two hundred per annum; nay, there are two large Unions, which having been augmented, cannot exceed one hundred.

  When Parishes have been long united, every day increases the difficulty of separating them. The Churches are in ruins, the Glebe-houses have disappeared, and in various instances, the small Glebes have been seized by laymen, from whom they cannot now be easily wrested.

  The reluctance of Irish Gentlemen to suffer their tithe deeds to be inspected, in order to sell a few acres of land, often renders it impossible to procure a Glebe, or even the site of a Church; were these Unions then hastily and indiscriminately dissolved, little would be gained by the public or by the Established Church; for the greater part of the Parishes which compose them, would remain without Glebes, Glebe-houses, places of Worship, or resident Clergymen.

  Still however it appears expedient, not only to ascertain the real state of Episcopal Unions, but to provide a check against abuse in the exercise of the power of uniting. Now, if the Archbishops written consent were required for such Unions; if none were valid unless made on a separate instrument, containing a detail of the circumstances which rendered the measure necessary; and if all papers relating to it were entered at large iu the Registry of the Archbishop of the Province; in the course of a few years every Episcopal Union would be maturely considered, and the making or continuing improper Unions would be entirely prevented.

  The real state of the Established Church of Ireland is indeed little known, and has been often extremely misrepresented. Englishmen are acquainted with it only from the works of political writers, or from the description of travellers, who arc equally zealous to destroy the establishment. Irish gentlemen are not much better informed, but derive their opinions from what passes in their immediate vicinity; and if Ecclesiastical abuse prevail in the Parish where they reside, they rashly and falsely conclude, that every part of Ireland is in the same deplorable situation.

  I am persuaded, however, that great improvements have taken place in this Province; and doubt whether eight contiguous English Dioceses can be found, in which the Churches and Houses are in such excellent order, or the Clergy more careful, exact, and zealous in the discharge of their parochial duties.

• 1821 Census Preliminary observations p.x Parishes discrepancy described
• Erck, John Caillard (1827). The ecclesiastical register: containing the names of the dignitaries and parochial clergy of Ireland : as also of the parishes and their respective patrons and an account of monies granted for building churches and glebe-houses with ecclesiastical annals annexed to each diocese and appendixes : containing among other things several cases of quare impedit. R. Milliken and Son. p. 164. Retrieved 9 November 2014. [dated 1823; from 1821 census? probably does other dioceses on other pages] "parochial anomalies" of Limerick; discusses exclaves, but also civil cess vs church tithe legal disputes
• Union of Parishes Act, 1827 irishstatutebook already wikisource of original text; presumably reduced anomalies of above
• Royal Commission on Unions of Parochial Benefices in Ireland (13 July 1831). First Report. Parliamentary papers. Vol. HC 1831 IX (93) 73. Retrieved 21 July 2020 – via Internet Archive.
• Royal Commission on Unions of Parochial Benefices in Ireland (24 June 1834). Second Report. Parliamentary papers. Vol. HC 1834 XXI (406) 1. Retrieved 21 July 2020 – via EPPI.
• Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Revenue and Patronage in Ireland (28 August 1833). First Report. Parliamentary papers. Vol. HC 1833 XXI (762). Retrieved 21 July 2020 – via EPPI.
• Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Revenue and Patronage in Ireland (15 April 1834). Second Report. Parliamentary papers. Vol. HC 1834 XXIII (589) 23. Retrieved 21 July 2020 – via EPPI.
• 1835 Royal Commission on State of Religious and other Public Instruction in Ireland First Report pp.3-5 used "parochial benefice", not identical to 1831 census; explains its conversion methods.
  • Details list all CoI parishes with Civil parish compoonents
    • p.46a shows examples where civil parish split between ecc parishes and vice versa (vice versa is on a;most every page).
• 1835 Edinburgh Review, Or, Critical Journal. A. and C. Black. 1835. pp. 499–.

The unions in the Irish Church,' said the Archbishop of Armagh, in a letter to the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1819, have long been considered as one of its greatest defects. These 'unions are of two kinds, perpetual and pro hdc vice; the former 'are made by the Privy Council, the latter by the bishop of the 'diocese. As perpetual unions cannot be effected without the 'consent of the patron, the incumbent, the bishop, the archbishop, 'and the Privy Council, they undergo such severe investigation 'as precludes all suspicion of their being improperly made. But 'episcopal unions are under no such restraints; and it is possible, 'therefore, that some of them, particularly those made in former 'times, may be found to be extremely objectionable.' Of these Episcopal unions there are (according to the Irish Ecclesiastical Register) 230, comprising 704 parishes or parts of parishes; some of which unions have eight, ten, and even eleven parishes in each. Many unions do indeed appear to be extremely objectionable ; but we cannot say whether the instances to which we would refer are episcopal or perpetual. It might be supposed that in uniting parishes into one benefice, to be under the superintendence of one incumbent, for the purpose of religious instruction, the contiguity of such parishes would be considered a necessary condition. Yet it appears that out of 478 unions, enumerated by the Commissioners of Public Instruction, there are 87 in which the parishes are not contiguous. Some of these cases of non-contiguity are unimportant—the separated parishes lying very near; but there are others of a very different stamp, of which we will cite a few examples.

• Tintern, in the diocese of Ferns, is a union of five parishes, one of which is detached, and distant seven miles from the rest.
• The Chancellorship, De of Waterford, is a union of two parishes, ten miles apart.
• Templeneiry, in Cashel, a union of three parishes not contiguous; the boundary of one of which is above twelve miles from the church, which is situated in the other parish.
• Kilcooly, in Kilmacduagh, a union of ten parishes, of which eight are contiguous and two detached—one six miles, the other ten miles, distant from the contiguous parishes and from each other.
• Ballynakill, in Tuam, a union of nine parishes, one of which is thirteen miles from the rest of the benefice, and twenty-seven from the church.
• Kilcullihean, in Ossory, is a union of two parishes, distant about thirteen miles from each other.
• Rasharkin, in Connor, a union of three parishes, Rasharkin, Killdollough, and Killraghts, of which it is reported that ' Kill'dollough is twelve miles from Rasharkin, and ten miles from 'Killraghts, which is ten miles from Rasharkin.'
• The Treasurership, in Connor, is a union of two parishes distant between twenty-five and thirty miles.
• Burnchurch, in Ossory, is a union of fourteen parishes, three of which are at 'opposite extremities of the county of Kil'kenny, many miles from each other and from the body of the 'union.'
• Kilflyn, in Ardfert and Aghadoe, is a union of eight parishes, of which five and three are respectively contiguous, and the two portions of the benefice are separated by a distance of twenty-five miles.

These are instances of defective unions. But this evil is not always attributable to the unions; for there are also instances, such as Wells in Leighlin, Agher in Meath, and Abbeylara in Ardagh, in which the parts of a single parish are considerably detached. The latter is also one of those instances of inconvenient form, with reference to the purposes of public worship and religious instruction, which is objectionable in the present ecclesiastical division in Ireland. The benefice of Abbeylara, consisting of a single divided parish, is fourteen Irish miles long, and two broad; and the church is at one extremity. It is obvious that when a benefice is long and narrow, the distance of some of the parishioners from the church, and the labours of the clergyman in his parochial duties are much greater, than when the same area is more nearly square or circular. Yet this obvious inconvenience exists in many Irish benefices. Kilcrohan is twenty-seven miles long; Templeport, twenty-nine; Fircal, twenty-two miles long, by from five to seven broad; Kilrusb, twenty-eight miles by six; Roscrea, seven by one and a half; Cloncha, thirteen by three; Artrea, fifteen by three and a half; Termonbarry, eight by three-fourths ; Donoughmore, sixteen by six; Corry, sixteen by from three to five; Ballinascreen, sixteen by two and a half; and Kilcommon, forty by sixteen. These distances, too, be it observed, are given in Irish miles, which exceed the English by about thirteen to ten.

Anomalous and objectionable as is the ecclesiastical territorial division, thus considered, it is still more so with reference to the distribution of that part of the population for the benefit of whom it is peculiarly designed. Although the members of the Established Church are very unequally distributed in Ireland, we can perceive no evidence of the ecclesiastical divisions of the country having been in the slightest degree systematically arranged with reference to these inequalities. There are inequalities in the division, but not such as appear to have sprung out of any considerations of this kind. In short, it seems as though Ireland had been parcelled out into dioceses and benefices, without any evident consciousness that the members of the Established Church are comparatively more numerous in one part of the kingdom than in the other. Thus the province of Armagh has 502 benefices for its 517,722 members of the Established Church; while the province of Cashel, with only 110,813, is divided into 469 benefices. The diocese of Clogher has forty-five benefices to 104,359 members of the Established Church; the diocese of Cashel has forty-eight benefices for an Established Church population of 6178 ; and Emly not less than seventeen for 1246. So strangely unequal is the division into dioceses with respect to the number of members of the Established Church, that at one end of the scale we find the dioceses of Dublin, Clogher, and Armagh, each containing an Established Church population of more than 100,000 souls ; at the other extremity, Emly, with its 1246 members of the Established Church—Kilmacduagh with 656—Kilfenora with only 235. It is a remarkable circumstance, and one which will perhaps illustrate more strongly than any other the complete absence of all reference to Anglican population in both the diocesan and parochial divisions—that a single benefice, Belfast, one of forty-seven benefices in the diocese of Connor, contains more members of the Established Church than the six dioceses of Waterford, Emly, Kilfenora, Kilmacduagh, Achonry, and Clonfert, which comprise sixty-two benefices. But this is not all. There are 41 benefices in Ireland in which there is no member of the Established Church—99 in which there is one, and not more than twenty—124 in which there are twenty, and not more than fifty—160 in which there are more than fifty, and not more than lOO. There are in all 264 benefices, in each of which the members of the Established Church are not more than fifty—there are in all 424 benefices, in none of which do they exceed 100. There are above 400 benefices in Ireland, in which the aggregate members of the Established Church are not equal in amount to those contained in the single benefice of Belfast.

In a country in which there exists an ecclesiastical division, made ostensibly with a view to the religious instruction of the members of one persuasion—yet in which there are forty-one of these portions of territory in none of which is one single member of that persuasion to be found—we should conclude, that this apportionment would comprise at least all persons of this persuasion that are to be found in the land; and that none would be excluded from the benefits of a provision which appears in many instances to be so lavishly afforded. But what is the fact ? that there are fifty-seven parishes or districts in Ireland excluded from the present ecclesiastical division, which are without provision for cure of souls — that there are residing in these unprovided parishes 3,030 members of the Established Church. The number seems small; but let it be remembered, that it is as great a number of Episcopalian Protestants as can be found in 200 of the benefices of Ireland. In three of these unprovided parishes the number of such persons exceed 500; and in one of them—Grange O'Neill, in the county of Armagh—it amounts to 578. Such is the present ecclesiastical division of Ireland—and such is its conformity with the religious wants of that portion of the population for whom it is peculiarly designed! We will now come to the revenues.

• Poor Law report
  • ACCOUNTS AND PAPERS: FIFTEEN VOLUMES. 1837. p. 20.

    60 In Ireland it will, I think, be essential that the central authority should be empowered to fix the boundaries of a Union, without being restricted to parish boundaries. It should be empowered to divide parishes, either for the purpose of electing guardians, or for joining a portion of a parish to one Union, and another portion of - the same parish to another Union. It should also be empowered to consolidate parishes for the purpose of electing one or more guardians, and likewise to form election districts for this purpose, without reference to parochial boundaries. And lastly the central authority should be empowered to add to, take from, and remodel unions, with or without consent, at any time that such change might be deemed to be necessary. These powers have been much wanted by the English Poor Law Commissioners, and would have enabled them to make their Unions more compact and convenient than they are at present;—local prejudice and local interests having frequently compelled the Commissioners to abandon the arrangement which, with reference to the general interest, they deemed the best. In Ireland, full powers in this respect are, I think, indispensable, not only on account of the size and uncertain boundaries of some parishes, but also to enable the central authority to deal with the various circumstances under which the Unions will there have to be formed.

    77 In forming the country into unions, it will I think be necessary to observe unions an .pans es. ^g civil) rather than the ecclesiastical boundaries of parishes; but cases will arise, in which it may be requisite to disregard all such boundaries—it being obviously more important that the district to be united should be compact, convenient, and accessible, and be naturally connected with its centre, than that the old and often inconvenient boundaries should be observed. This applies no less to county or baronial boundaries, than to those of parishes or other divisions; and it cannot, I think, be too strongly impressed upon the individuals to whom the duty of forming unions may be confided, that the point to which they ought to direct their attention in grouping the country into unions, as regards size, form, and means of communication, is the general interest and convenience of the inhabitants.

  • Condition of the poorer classes in Ireland: remarks by G. C. Lewis on the third report "Difficulty as to parishes in Ireland"

    The Report does not state whether the relief-districts are to be composed of parishes, or whether the Guardians are to be elected by parishes (s. 17, 18); but the Officers of Health are, in conformity with the Act from which their name is borrowed, to be elected by parishes (s. 26). It may be here remarked that, in the event of a Poor Law being introduced into Ireland, a practical difficulty will arise from the ambiguity of the term " parish." A parish in Ireland is sometimes an ecclesiastical parish, according to the division of the Established Church. It is according to these parishes that the Report of the Commissioners of Public Instruction is made; and it may be remarked that these divisions are sometimes so small, and several have in so many cases been united time out of mind in one benefice, that not only their boundaries but even their names are often quite forgotten on the spot. Again, it is sometimes a civil parish, as laid down in the books of the baronial collectors. These parishes, in some dioceses, differ altogether from the ecclesiastical parishes: it is according to these that the population census is made, and they are best known on the spot. Besides these two legal divisions there are the Roman Catholic parishes, which differ entirely from both; and the Unions are also sometimes called and considered single parishes, the parts which compose them being forgotten. The only well-ascertained territorial divisions in Ireland are baronies and townlands.

• 1861 Census, Report and tables on ages and education, Vol. I
  • , pp.1-4 mainly about revisions to boundaries under Acts since 1827; distinguishing provisional v final and all purposes v some purposes
  • [p.39 compares 1834 figures from 1835 Royal Commission, incidental notes on parish types and changes
• John Gray 1866 Hansard HC Deb 10 April 1866 vol 182 c998

  "Civil parishes" is a new phrase, specially adopted for drawing a distinction between the benefices and the parishes, which used to he called in other times the benefices of pluralists. Some of them have been united so as to make but one benefice, while there is really a plurality of parishes yielding tithes to the incumbent, who is said, however, to have only a benefice, The 199 of the civil parishes without any Church population represent one in twelve of the whole number of parishes, but an impression would be produced by the passage I read from the Primate's charge, that these 199 parishes were small in point of extent, and were analogous to the fanciful pictures of parishes drawn by his Grace, one of which is forty yards square, another of which is described as covered by a brewery, and the third by a flour mill, but which descriptions I have shown to be mythical, and neither of the three districts are included in the 199 parishes referred to by the Census Commissioners.

  http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1866/apr/10/established-church-ireland-resolution#column_998

• LEE, Alfred Theophilus (1868). "Difference between a Benefice and a Parish in Ireland.". Facts respecting the Present State of the Church in Ireland ... Fifty-ninth thousand. pp. 16–. Retrieved 10 November 2014. :

  The Census Commissioners of 1861, in their Report, page 21, mention three classes of parishes in Ireland.

  1. The parish of the Established Church.
  2. The Civil parish.
  3. The Roman Catholic parishes—very often differing from both.

  The Census Commissioners have adopted the second classification in their reports [Ireland is divided into 2,428 districts or civil parishes, for facilitating the collection of county rates; some of these districts have for more than two centuries ceased to be parishes in the ecclesiastical sense of the term, and many of them are of very small area; e.g., the parish of St. Doologes, in Ferns, is only forty yards square. For other instances, see Archbishop of Armagh’s Charge of 1864, p.14], and the results of the Census thus appear in the most disadvantageous light possible as regards the Established Church.

  In Ireland a parish is not conterminous with a benefice. A benefice is often a union of several parishes under one incumbent [E. g.—the union of Listowell, diocese of Ardfert, contains ten parishes under one incumbent, net income £276; Kilcolgan, diocese of Kilmacduagh, nine parishes, net income £413; Donanaughta, diocese of Clonfert, seven parishes, net income £254. Thus, in three unions, we find twenty-six parishes, total income £943, or on an average £36 58. for each parish. Other similar instances may be found in Captain Stacpoole’s Return, from which this is taken.]. Thus, whilst there are 2,428 civil parishes in Ireland, there are only 1,510 benefices; from which it follows, that there are 918 more civil parishes in Ireland than benefices. If we remember this important fact, the statement (Table ix. Census Report, 1861, p. 36) of which we have lately heard so much, viz., that there are 199 parishes in Ireland without any Church population, loses all its significance; for whilst it may be perfectly true that there are some portions of benefices (called in the Report civil parishes) in this state, there is but a single benefice in all Ireland to be found [Manfieldtown, diocese of Armagh, net value £191 10s. per annum. There is a church, however, in which Divine service is performed, and a congregation attends from the adjoining parish, which is conveniently situated for that purpose. (See Primate’s Charge, 1864, p. 29).], and that one particularly circumstanced, in which there are not several members of the Established Church.

  These civil parishes arose in several ways—in many cases from the consolidation of separate chapelries—and since 1662 all the acts by the Lord Lieutenant in council have provided that parishes united by certain statutes should be one parish. Several Acts of Parliament state that, in some parts of the country parishes are “ so small, that five or six lie together within a mile or two.” (See Dr. Hume’s Analysis of the Census, p. 62.)

  There are certain benefices in the Irish Church, in number less than a thirteenth part of the whole, in which the Church population is very small, numbering from twenty-five downwards. These parishes are situated in all parts of the country, being found in every diocese, except Down and Connor, and Derry and Raphoe. They average about three and a half to each of the thirty-two dioceses into which Ireland is divided. These are the parishes which form the stock-in-trade of the opponents of the Irish Church. Upon them their chief assault i based. They are brought before us again and again in pamphlet after pamphlet, in speech after speech, in leading articles, in quarterlies, in monthly and fortnightly magazines. Sinecures, pluralities, non-residence, have passed away—no attacks can be made on these points. Therefore these parishes are continually kept before the public eye. These benefices number altogether 114 [See Archdeacon Hincks’ Synoptical Table of the Irish Church, 1866. Only nineteen of these parishes are in the Province of Armagh; the remaining ninety-five are in the Province of Dublin.]. The average proportion of net income of each Incumbent, without making any allowance for Curates, is £164 6s. 10d. Now, if the Irish Church is to be maintained in the remote districts as an Establishment at all, on what smaller pittance than this could a Clergyman exist? If the Churchmen of these parishes are not to be left without any spiritual ministrations whatever, on what more economic system could the Clergy be maintained ? We may be told that in places where the Church population is small the parish should be annexed to the neighbouring one, and a Curate should be placed in care of it. But surely no Curate could be expected to undertake the sole charge of a widely-scattered district as most of these parishes are, and to visit which effectually a horse is a necessity, on less than £150 a year? And what do the Clergy of these much-abused parishes now receive ?—-on an average £164 65. 10d. per annum. So that the net gain by the proposed reform is £14 6s. 10d. per parish, a goodly sum indeed ! And to gain this the foundations of all Church property are to be rooted up; and we are told that because of this “monstrous abuse” large reforms are imperatively demanded in the Irish Church.

• 1868 Church Commission

  The original parochial divisions in Ireland were very numerous. For ecclesiastical purposes they have been much modified in form and reduced in number. But for the purposes of geographical distinction, they still exist. These original divisions have been termed by the Census Commissioners civil parishes; their number, according to the Ordnance Survey, is 2,428. The number of benefices at present existing (including in that term perpetual curacies), and confining it to cases where the benefice is held by an actual incumbent, is 1,518, of which all except 27 chapelries and 7 sineoure rectories, have attached to them parishes or districts. There are many of these ecclesiastical parishes and districts, each of which comprises several civil parishes, or portions of several civil parishes, grouped together. The distinction between the ecclesiastical parish or district, and the civil parish, is often overlooked, and thus the civil parish has erroneously been supposed always to represent a benefice. The distinction is, however, important to be kept in mind, as the results of the religious Census of 1861 have, in the published returns of the Commissioners, been stated according to the civil parishes. By the assistance of the Registrar-General, who was one of the Census Commissioners, we have been able to give the same results arranged and classified according to the ecclesiastical parishes and districts.

• Coakley: Spatial Units and the Reporting of Irish Statistical Data: the Evolution of Regional Divisions:

  Each county was divided into baronies, which varied greatly in size and which were subject to pressure towards change from the same sources as the counties: (1) the Grand Juries Act of 1836 empowered the grand jury of any county to divide baronies which were considered too large for administrative purposes, or to combine baronies which were inconveniently small (this power was widely availed of and was a major cause of the increase in the number of baronies);[Grand Jury (Ireland) Act, 1836. 6 & 7 Will. IV, C. 116, s. 175. Division of baronies was also possible by means of local acts, e.g. An Act for the Division of Certain Baronies of great Extent in the Counties of Donegal and Meath, 31 Geo. Ill (Ireland) 1781, C. 48. ] (2) another act of 1836 provided for the consolidation of barony territories in the same manner as counties, by the inclusion within each barony of any portion of another barony which lay wholly within its boundaries [Valuation of Land (Ireland) Act, 1836. 6 & 7 Will. IV, C. 84, s. 51. ] and (3) the Counties and Boroughs Act of 1840 separated rural areas from certain cities and towns and provided that such areas constitute distinct baronies or be merged with neighbouring baronies. [Counties and Boroughs (Ireland) Act, 1840. 3 & 4 Vict., C. 109, s. 2.] In 1672 there were 252 baronies; by 1821 the number had increased to 295 and by 1891 to 327. [William Petty, The political anatomy of Ireland (1691) with introduction by John O'Donovan (Shannon, 1970), p. 117; Census of Ireland, 1821 and Census of Ireland, 1891, Part II: 'General report', p. 7.] As their names suggest, both county and barony were in origin closely linked to the holding of land, being the areas appropriate as the jurisdictions of counts and barons respectively.

  The next smallest unit, the civil parish, had its origin in church administration. As this unit was of only slight significance from the point of view of civil government, there was little pressure to change boundaries for purposes of more rational administration. But civil parish boundaries tended to follow those of the Established Church and since the latter, being important ecclesiastical administrative units, tended to change in line with changes in church population and resource allocation, the boundaries of civil parishes tended to fluctuate also. So much was this the case that the census commissioners of 1861 suggested that 'for statistical and even for administrative purposes, it would be desirable that the boundaries of so important and well-known a territorial division should, if possible, be fixed once for all, or at least, be rendered less shifting than at present.'[Census of Irelan d,1861, Part IV: 'Report on religious professions, education and occupations', Vol. I, p. 21.] Change in parish boundaries was due to the creation of new parishes from areas detached from an adjacent parish or parishes, alteration of size by exchange of territory from one parish to another, or merging of separate parishes into a single entity (or union, as it was called); the most powerful force in encouraging these changes was an act which came into force in 1827. [Census of Ireland, 1861, Part II: 'Report on ages and education', p. 2. ] The census commissioners' words apparently did not go unheeded because, although the number of parishes had increased from 2,278 in 1672, it stabilised at 2,428 from 1861 to 1911. Parish boundaries, however, largely ignored those of baronies, with the result that most baronies contained several parishes which lay partly within and partly outside the baronial borders. Finally, it should be noted that as the distribution of the Catholic population differed from that of the Established Church, and as the rates of change in this distribution tended to be different in the case of the two Churches, the boundaries of the Catholic parishes tended to correspond neither with those of the civil nor with those of the Established Church parishes. In some parts of the south-west of Ireland it was the Catholic parishes which were used as units for many civil administrative purposes.[Census of Ireland, 1821, p. x.]

• 1978 Diarmuid Mac Íomhair Post-Reformation Pastors of Fochart Seanchas Ardmhacha: discusses confusing history of parish of Fochart name and area changes, and inaccuracies in 1660s Hearth Money Rolls
• Mac Cotter Peritia 14 (2000) 161–206:

  The only pre-nineteenth century sources for civil parish boundaries in Kerry are the Book of Survey and Distribution and its accompanying Down Survey barony maps, both compiled in the 1650s. It will be noticed, at least in relation to Co Kerry, that the parish boundaries shown in these sources are generally identical with those recorded by the Ordnance Survey in their first survey, two centuries later. Such differences as exist involve small detached portions of parishes, which the seventeenth-century surveyors seem to have been too lazy to record in detail, and so lumped together with a surrounding neighbour.

Wexford union of parishes

17 parishes merged in 2 steps, in 1722 and 1732 (possibly 1772). Which are impropriate, rectories, vicargaes, etc. specified variously

• EPPI 1805 Returns from Dioceses in Ireland p.149 and p.150 no page images, don't trust OCR
• 1810 Carlile p.725 "WEXFORD, within the Liberties of the same, Co. of Wexford^ and Province of Leinster: a Corporate Town, in which are the following parishes, viz.,

  • St. Iberius, a Rectory Impropriate.
  • St. Mart's, a Rectory and Vicarage; the Rectory is valued in the King's Books at ,£26.. 13. .4 Irish Money; and the Vicarage at <£15..3..8.
  • St. Michael's of Feagh, an Impropriate Cure, valued in the King's Books at £2. Irish Money.
  • St. Patrick's, a Rectory, valued in the King's Books at <£20. Irish Money.
  • St. Selskar, an Impropriate Cure.
  • St. Tullogue, an Impropriate Cure.

  all united Episcopally (except St. Patrick's), ever since 1732, to the R. of Bally-brenan, and the Impropriate Cures of Carrigg, St. John's, and St. Peter's; and united by Act of Council (including St. Patrick's), in 1772, to the Rectories of Ardcandrish, Drinagh, Kildavan, Killalogue, Maudlintown, and Rathaspeck: a Church, in repair, in the parish of St. Iberius; and a Church, at Rathaspeck, also in repair: a Glebe House, in the Town of Wexford, and several very small, and unproductive Glebes therein, and in the suburbs: two Glebes (but no Glebe House), at Rathaspeck; the first, of about 5 acres, near the church; the second, of about 3 acres: these glebes are distant about half a mile from each other: The Rev. John Elgee, the Incumbent(in 1806), who has cure of souls, is resident, and discharges the duties, assisted by his Resident Curate, The Rev. Ralph Boyd, at a Salary of £,75. per annum."

• EPPI 1818 Account of Parishes united and disunited by Order of Lord Lieutenant in Ireland p.1 22 June 1722 names seven parishes
• EPPI 1820 Papers relating to State of Established Church of Ireland p.328 "seven small rectories united 1722, by the name of StPatrick's; also lists two others in the "names of benefices" column (St Marys R & V; Ballybrenan V). "seven parishes united by act of council in 1722, nine other denominations episcopally 1732" p.329 lists eight impropriate cures
• Lewis 1837 "The union of Wexford, in the diocese of Ferns, and in the patronage of the Bishop, consists of the rectories of St. Patrick's, Maudlintown, Killilogue or Kerlogue, Drinagh, Rathaspick, Kildavin, and Ardcandrisk; the rectory and vicarage of St. Mary's, and the impropriate cures of St. Iberius (Wexford), St. Bridget's or Bride's, St. Selsker's or Sanctum Sepulcrum, St. Tullogue's or St. Euleck's, St. Peter's, St. Michael's of Feagh, and Carrigg: of these, the parishes of St. Patrick, St. Mary, St. Iberius, St. Bridget, St. Selsker and St. Tullogue are within the walls, and being entirely built upon, pay no tithes or dues of any kind; the rest, which are without the walls, are described under their respective heads. The glebe of St. Patrick's, now the site of the parochial school, contains 20 perches; that of St. Mary's, now a dwelling-house and offices, 2 roods; of St. Selsker's, now a garden, 20 perches; and of St. Tullogue's, now the site of five small houses, 1 rood; making a total of 1 acre of glebe land within the walls."
• 1846 Parl Gaz Vol.3 pp.538-9 "A parochial union or ecclesiastical benefice, in the dio. of Ferns, Co. Wexford, Leinster. It is ecclesiastically designated St. Patrick's of Wexford. It consists of the rectories of \rdcandrisk, Drinapb, Kildavin, Rathaspick, Maudlintown, Kerlogue, St. Patrick, and St. Tullogue, and the impropriate curacies of Currig, St. John, St. Peter, St. Iberius, St. John, St. Michael of Feagh, St. Bridget, St. Selskar, and St. Mary. Of these, the parishes of Ardcanrisk, Drinach, Kiij>avin, RathasPick, Mauduntown, Kerlocue, Carrig, St. PETER, St. John, and St. Michael Of Feach. are noticed in their own alphabetical places [see these articles) ¡ and the parishes of St. Bridget, St. Tullogue, St. Iberius, St. Mary, St. Patrick, and St. Selskar, lie wholly within the town of Wexford, possess no emolument for the incumbent, and will be noticed in successive sections of the present article."
• 2014 wexford & kilscoran CofI parish [1] "St. Iberius church historically is one of many churches that have stood within the boundaries of Wexford town over many centuries. Notably in 1661 Thoms Gilliver was Rector of St. Iberius, Ardcavan, Ardcolm, Ballybrenan, Killurin, Ballyheage and Ardcandrish but also held St. John's and St. Clement's and later St. Mary's St. Patrick's, and St. Michael's alias Feagh and Killaloge. In 1715 it is noted that St. Mary's and St. Patrick's were consolidated and in 1722 the parishes of Dryna, Maudlinstown, Killaloge, Ardcandrish, Kildavan and Rathaspeck were united to St. Patrick's and called St. Patrick's Wexford. "

Catholic parishes

• rural electrification#Ireland divided into 792 ‘rural areas’ (original map)
  • original pamphlet: 'Supply will be given to "areas" of about 25 sq. miles at a time. A parish or creamery district may form a convenient basis of such an "area." Best areas will be selected first. The "best area" is the one which gives the highest total fixed charge revenue in relation to the cost of erecting the network.
  • William Roe: "We chopped the parishes around somewhat, but tried to keep them as the nucleus of each Rural Area. We found the GAA idea was a great help, because most of their teams were parish teams…their loyalty was owed to the parish and in this way we had rivalry between the parishes as to which should get the electricity first."
• Dáil courts "parish courts"; "it is apparently very difficult to settle the boundaries of these parishes"
• Congested Districts Board
• "parish councils" of The Emergency (Ireland) and 1940 local government act.
• GAA parish rule (not in Dublin, and exceptions allowed elsewhere)

mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/1248/1/PDuffyParish.pdf