Byrne's Dictionary of Irish Local History (13 page)

Church Temporalities Commission
. A commission introduced by the
Irish Church Act
(1869) to receive and administer the temporalities of the Church of Ireland. Under the act the church was deprived of all of its property with the exception of churches in actual use and churchyards, schoolhouses, schoolyards and school lands associated with such churches. Glebehouses and glebelands, however, were not excepted though the church was permitted to acquire the houses on favourable terms and the lands at market value. Later the commissioners transferred ownership of these properties to the
Representative Church Body
. By 1880 the commission had paid over £7 million to the Representative Church Body to maintain the existing clergy and the surplus, amounting to almost £4.5 million was used to recompense the Presbyterian church and Maynooth College for the loss of government grants, to relieve distress and fund educational provision. The act also allowed for a land purchase scheme by empowering the commissioners to sell church lands to tenants. Under the scheme, three-quarters of the purchase price was advanced to prospective buyers who repaid the loan by mortgage over 32 years.

church-warden
. An Anglican parish administrator. Two unpaid church-wardens were elected annually by the select
vestry
to administer each parish, to protect the church and to serve as its legal representatives. Sextons and parish clerks were often appointed by the select vestry to assist the church-wardens who were also assisted by volunteers and other appointees such as
overseers
who collected the parish cess and distributed money and assistance to those on the poor list. The records of their administration are contained in the church-wardens' accounts.

cillín, céiliúrach
. (Ir.,
cillín
, little graveyard) A burial site for unbaptised infants, often contained within a walled enclosure and most common in the south-west of Ireland.

cist
. A neolithic burial chamber lined with stone.

Cistercian
. (The White Monks) A monastic order founded in 1098 at Cîteaux (
Cistercium
) near Dijon by a group of Benedictines from the abbey of Molesme who were dissatisfied with the lax observance of their abbey and anxious to live according to a strict interpretation of the Rule of St Benedict. The order grew spectacularly, most notably after the founding of Clairvaux by St Bernard in 1115. Cistercian life was characterised by the uniform observance of rules and discipline in all houses. All abbots were required to attend the annual general chapter meeting at Cîteaux and a yearly abbatial visitation of all houses was conducted to ensure discipline was maintained. The first Irish house was established at Mellifont in 1142 as part of St Malachy's attempt to reform the church and by 1228 there were 34. From 1216 until 1274 the order came under the scrutiny of the general chapter for diverging from key Cistercian observances. The failure of Irish abbots to attend the general chapter, indiscipline within the Gaelic houses, ethnic tension between Gaelic and Anglo-Norman monasteries and vigorous opposition to external visitations led to the deposing of the abbots of Jerpoint and Mellifont and the assignation of Mellifont and its affiliated houses to foreign houses. Most Cistercian houses were suppressed after the
dissolution
of the monasteries by Henry VIII and it was not until 1832, with the foundation of Mount Melleray, that the order regained a foothold in Ireland. (Conway, ‘Sources for the history', pp. 16–23.)

civil bill
. A bill of complaint used to initiate legal proceedings, also known as an ‘English bill' because unlike its alternative, the
original writ
, it was written in English. It was a short paper document containing the names of plaintiff and defendant, a brief outline of the plaintiff's claim and the date and place when and where the defendant must appear to answer the complaint. The civil bill was served personally at least six days before the commencement of the
assize courts
where the case was tried summarily and determined by the judge of assize. Speed, cost and simplicity explain the popularity of civil bill process. Actions by writ often extended over several terms, costs were prohibitive and original writs were not always available. By contrast civil bill proceedings were completed in a matter of days, cost little more than a pound and the preparation of claim couldn't have been easier; the plaintiff purchased a blank bill, filled in the details and presented it to the defendant. The volume of civil bill proceedings severely taxed the judges of assize and in 1796 an
assistant-barrister
was appointed to hear civil bills exclusively at the
quarter-sessions
. (Greer, ‘The development', pp. 27–59.)

Civil Survey
. A nation-wide survey conducted by local inquisition between 1654–56 to establish the amount of land forfeited as a consequence of the rebellion of 1641 that was available to be resettled by
adventurers
and soldiers. Although superseded by the more precise, mapped
Down Survey
– which commenced before the commissioners of the Civil Survey had completed their task – the records of the Civil Survey contain details of a highly localised nature of inestimable value to the historian. Here can be found, barony by barony, parish by parish and townland by townland, the names and estates of each landowner, the nature of their tenure, their religious affiliation, the extent, quality and value of the land, the disposition of the
tithe
, the number, quality and value of houses, and associated appurtenances (mills, kilns, fisheries, dovecotes, etc.), occasional details of mortgages and leases, references to manorial courts and some accounts of landowners' deportment during the rebellion. Baronial entries usually begin with a short descriptive summary of the barony and its boundaries and conclude with a statistical abstract and index. Parish entries are similarly structured but somewhat briefer. Some caution is required in relation to the acreages assigned to the various lands for these were arrived at by estimation and may be considerably wide of the mark. Although 27 counties were surveyed (the earlier
Strafford Inquisition
was available for counties Clare, Mayo, Sligo, Galway and Roscommon) only the records for 11 counties survive together with the barony of Muskerry in Cork and some miscellaneous material. All eleven, plus the additional material, have been published by
Irish Manuscripts Commission
under the editorship of R. C. Simington.

Vol. I County Tipperary, east and south (1931).

Vol. II County Tipperary, west and north (1934).

Vol. III County Donegal, Derry and Tyrone (1938).

Vol. IV County Limerick (1938).

Vol. V County Meath (1940).

Vol. VI County Waterford, Muskerry (Co. Cork) and Kilkenny City (1942).

Vol. VII County Dublin (1945).

Vol. VIII County Kildare (1952).

Vol. IX County Wexford (1953).

Vol. X Miscellanea (1961).

(Simms, ‘The Civil Survey', pp. 253–63.)

clachan
. 1: A loose cluster of
bondsmen's
huts 2: An informal nucleated settlement consisting of dwellings and outhouses associated with the
rundale
field system. Clachan houses (often with an attached
gort
or small enclosed garden) were usually gathered together in a hollow on a lee slope above the infield or permanently cultivated open field. (Proudfoot, ‘Clachans', pp. 110–122; Evans,
Irish heritage
, pp. 47–55;
Idem, The personality
, pp. 60–61.)

claims, court of
. Two courts of this name were conducted in the 1660s and a third in 1700. The first was established by the Act of Settlement of 1662 to adjudicate on claims of
innocence
of complicity in the 1641 Confederate Rebellion. Persons awarded a decree of innocence in this court were to be restored to land to which they could claim a valid title and since the decree merely confirmed their innocence they were not required to pass new letters
patent
. It opened in January 1663 and closed in August of that year without having completed its task amidst fears that too many Catholics were being restored to their estates. The second court (1666–1669), procedurally similar to the first, was initiated by the
Act of Explanation
of 1665 to remedy the innumerable deficiencies in the Act of Settlement. Decrees of this court were awarded in the form of a certificate which was used to obtain a
fiant
from the
lord lieutenant
to pass letters patent and thereby establish secure title to an estate. Since the estates processed before this court were considered to have been forfeited, successful claimants became liable to the crown for
quit-rents
. A third court of claims was established in 1700 under the
Act of Resumption
to hear the claims of any person with an interest in an estate forfeited before 13 February 1689 (the date of accession of William and Mary). Over half of the claims were allowed in whole or in part, of which more than half were made by Protestants. The actual amount of land recovered under this court was diminutive. (Arnold,
The Restoration; Idem,
‘The Irish court', pp. 417–30; ‘Abstracts'; Simms,
Williamite
, pp. 136–147.)

claire
. A shallow saltwater basin used for greening oysters, located in marshy regions at high tide level.

Clan na Gael
. A militant Irish-American separatist movement founded by Jerome J. Collins in New York in 1867 following the collapse of the Fenian insurrection of that year. Its goal was the ‘complete and absolute independence of Ireland from Great Britain and the complete severance of all political connections between the two countries to be effected by the unceasing preparation for armed insurrection in Ireland'. From the 1870s, under the leadership and influence of John Devoy (an IRB man), Clan na Gael developed formal links with the
Irish Republican Brotherhood
and recognised the IRB supreme council as the government-in-waiting of the Irish Republic. The Clan viewed home rule as a jumping-off point for armed revolution and to this end provided financial aid to nationalist and home rule politicians in the 1880s. In that decade, too, a militant group within the organisation conducted a campaign of dynamite outrages in Britain. Clan na Gael assisted actively in the preparations for the 1916 Rising, particularly in relation to eliciting German support for the insurrection. The movement split over the terms of the Anglo-Irish treaty, the anti-treaty faction continuing to support IRA action until the death of its leader, Joseph McGarrity, in 1940.

clerestory
. A series of windows inserted in the higher reaches of the
nave, chancel
or
transept
of a large church above the aisle arches and clear of the roofs of the aisles to light the central areas of the church.

clerk
. Short for clerk in holy orders, the term signifies a clergyman.

clerk of the crown, clerk of the peace
. The clerk of the crown was a legal officer responsible for the functioning of the
assize courts
in each county and for keeping the records. His equivalent in the
quarter-sessions
was the clerk of the peace who was additionally responsible for the assistant-barrister's court (
See
assistant-barrister). From 1877 both offices were united as the clerk of the crown and peace and registrars were appointed to each county court for civil business. In 1926 the offices of clerk and registrar were merged and the new office was styled county registrar.

clochán
. (Ir.,
cloch
, a stone) A corbelled, dry stone hut with rectangular interior, constructed without mortar and used as a residence (
booley hut
) or outhouse. Occasionally constructed over a well or
sweat house
. In post-medieval times
clocháns
were relegated to pigsties, henhouses or booleys. Some clocháns were also constructed of wood and wattles.
See
corbel.

cloigtheach
. (Ir., a bell house) A round tower.

Clonmacnoise, Annals of
. The annals of Ireland from the creation to 1408 ad, originally written in Irish and known to us through Tadhg O'Daly's late seventeenth-century copies of Conell MaGeoghegan's 1627 translation. The original author is unknown. Although prominence is given to historical details relating to families and districts about Clonmacnoise (with frequent mention of the monastic founder, St Kieran), the scholar Eugene O'Curry claimed there was nothing in the book to explain why it was called the
Annals of Clonmacnoise
and points to the fact that the
Book of Clonmacnoise
used in the preparation of the
Annals of the Four Masters
came down only to 1227 whereas this book contains records down to 1408. There are copies in Trinity College, Dublin, and the British Museum. (Murphy, ‘The annals'; O'Curry,
Lectures
, pp. 130–139.)

close borough
. A term used to describe the majority of Irish boroughs whose parliamentary representation was determined and controlled by a single patron.

close, letters
. Letters close were mandates, letters and writs of a private nature, folded or closed and sealed on the outside with the great
seal
and addressed in the name of the sovereign to individuals. By contrast, letters
patent
were open for all to read and take notice of. In England letters close were enrolled separately on the close rolls which were records of the court of
chancery
but in Ireland they were enrolled along with letters patent on the patent rolls.

coarb
. (Ir.,
comharba
, successor, heir) In ecclesiastical usage the term refers to the successor or heir of the patron saint of a church, abbey or bishopric. Thus the archbishop of Armagh was known as the coarb of St Patrick. More commonly it was used to denote the chief tenant of
termon
land associated with a particular church. Termon land was land originally granted as an endowment by a local temporal lord in return for prayers and masses and as a contribution to the maintenance and upkeep of the church building. The church, in turn, granted the land to a sept or several septs to descend according to the practice of
tanistry
in return for rents and
refection
(hospitality to the bishop on his visitation). A coarb was the head of a greater family or sept or several septs often having under him several
erenaghs
or heads of smaller septs. Although all erenagh land was termon land, the opposite was not the case. Termon land held by a coarb was regarded as having the privilege of sanctuary and any violation of that sanctuary was considered dishonourable and an insult to the patron saint. It was also theoretically free of exactions by the temporal lords. In some areas of the country the terms coarb and erenagh appear to have been synonymous. (Barry, ‘The appointment', pp. 361–5.)