- Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840
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The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 
Parliament of the United KingdomLong title An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland Statute book chapter 3 & 4 Vict. c. 108 Territorial extent Ireland Dates Royal Assent 10 August 1840 Commencement 25 October 1840 Other legislation Repealing legislation Local Government Act 2001 (Ireland), Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 (Northern Ireland) Status: Repealed The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840 (3 & 4 Vict.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.
Contents
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 Dissolved Boroughs
Under section 13 of the Act, the remaining 58 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 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.
References
- 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 KingdomReform Acts ParliamentaryMunicipalRepresentation of
the People ActsOther related Acts Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 · Ballot Act 1872 · Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 · Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 · House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 · Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 · Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 · Electoral Administration Act 2006 · Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011
Related topics Unreformed House of Commons · Chartism · Reform Club · Carlton Club · Rotten and pocket boroughs · Women's suffrage · United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011 United Kingdom legislationPre-Parliamentary legislation 
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Orders in Council for Northern IrelandSecondary legislation Categories:- 1840 in law
- United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1840
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- Local government in the Republic of Ireland
- 1840 in Ireland
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