borough

borough, an area of settlement endowed with certain privileges and the right of local self‐government, usually confirmed by royal charter. The origins of the practice are Norman French. More than 170 boroughs were established in medieval Ireland. By 1615, 81 returned members to the Irish parliament; the incorporation in 1683 of Dunleer, Co. Louth, the last parliamentary borough to be created, brought the number to 117. These were far from homogeneous: some had become bustling cities, while others were almost totally depopulated. Voting qualifications varied (see franchise) but most were effectively controlled by one or two ‘patrons’. The de facto exclusion of Catholics from borough corporations began with the Restoration, and was confirmed by law in 1691. Between 1704 and 1780 Protestant dissenters were excluded by the sacramental test. Even after the Catholic Relief Act of 1793 borough government remained in practice a Protestant monopoly, only gradually eroded by a combination of electoral reform and increasing Catholic prosperity and political awareness. Meanwhile the powers of the boroughs themselves were declining, while under the Act of Union only 33 retained the right to send members to parliament. After partition there was further delegation of borough powers to county councils in the Irish Free State. In Northern Ireland local government reorganization in 1972 redefined most boroughs, and deprived all of the majority of their powers.

Neal Garnham