Byrne's Dictionary of Irish Local History (26 page)

gauger
. An excise official whose duty it was to gauge the capacity of casks or other vessels or containers and assess the customs duty on any dutiable imported goods. The duty of gauger was usually united with that of
searcher
. For the collection of inland duties on beer, ale and spirits the revenue districts of Ireland were divided into ‘walks' and a gauger was appointed for each walk. Twice weekly the gauger traversed his walk to examine the accounts of brewers and distillers and record the quantity of liquor brewed. A surveyor examined and attested the gauger's returns and submitted them to the district head (the collector) who charged and collected the duty. (Ní Mhurchadha,
The customs
.)

gauntlet
. A leather glove fortified with metal which protected the hands in combat.

gavelkind
. Partible inheritance, a system of joint and equal inheritance among males. Typically, under
Brehon law
, the lord divided the land owned by a deceased member of the sept equally between his sons, subject to periodic re-distribution. The ‘gavelkind act' (2 Anne, c. 6, 1704) required the estate of a deceased Catholic to be gavelled or partibly divided among his sons. If the eldest son conformed to the
Church of Ireland,
however, the entire estate devolved to him. This act was not repealed until 1778.
See
penal laws, relief acts.

gavellor, gaviller
. (OE,
gafol
, rent, tax or tribute) In medieval Ireland, a
tenant-at-will
. He was a
freeman
, largely of English origin, who paid rent and owed suit of court and labour services to the manor. The tenancy-at-will appears to have been nominal in that gavellors holdings were heritable.

Genealogical Office
.
See
Ulster king of arms

genealogies
. Collections of pedigrees of native Irish overlords which are now considered spurious, certainly for the pre-Patrician era, and propagandist in the sense that they were compiled to validate the accession to lordship of the contemporary lord.

General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
. The annual meeting of
Presbyterian
ministers, officers and representative elders from the presbyteries. It exercises overall control in matters of faith, education, property, discipline and the missionary work in the church. It elects its own officers and committees and appoints a moderator whose term of office is of one year's duration. It is the supreme court of appeal for cases taken from the
session, presbytery
or
synod
. The General Assembly was formed in 1840 with the merger of the
Synod of Ulster
and the
Seceders
. In 1854 it was joined by the southern congregations, formerly known as the Southern Association or Synod of Munster.

General Convention
. A convention of bishops, clergy and lay representatives that met in February 1870 to guide the Church of Ireland through the vicissitudes of disestablishment and to devise plans for the future administration of the church. It agreed on a constitution and structure for the newly independent body. The General Synod, an assembly of the bishops, clergy and lay representatives, became the supreme governing council of the church (with diocesan synods to supervise local affairs). Bishops were to be elected by an electoral college drawn from all the dioceses within the province in which the vacant see lay.
See
Representative Church Body. (Acheson,
A history
, pp. 200–205.)

general lesson
. In accordance with the requirement that schools connected with the national system be conducted on a non-denominational basis, the commissioners of education in Ireland directed that a general lesson on religious tolerance be taught in all schools and that a printed version be displayed in every school. The theme of the lesson was tolerance as Christ exemplified it in his life. Pupils were exhorted to live peaceably with all men, to love and pray for their enemies, to treat kindly those who held erroneous doctrines and to turn the cheek when confronted with unkindly behaviour, violence, quarrelling and abuse.
See
Education, National System of. (
Fiftieth report of the commissioners of education in Ireland
(1883), p. 31.)

german
. A relationship in the fullest sense. Fully akin.

gibbet
. An upright post with a projecting arm from which an executed felon was suspended.

gleave, glieve
. A lance.

glebe land
. Land belonging to a parish and forming part of a clergyman's benefice. This freehold land was usually granted to a parish at the time of its foundation (from the eighteenth century) or was purchased by the
Board of First Fruits
to supplement the living. Glebes varied considerably in extent from parish to parish. They were leased out or farmed by the minister. The glebe was a feature of Anglo-Norman Ireland, the Gaelic equivalent being
termon
land (church endowments that were farmed for rent and
refection
by hereditary tenants known as
coarbs
or
erenaghs
).
See
terrier.

glib
. Gaelic hairstyle characterised by a long fringe overhanging the forehead and sometimes drawn over the eyes.

Glorious Revolution
. The phrase used to describe the events between 1688 and 1689 from the deposing of James II and the accession of William of Orange and James' daughter, Mary, to the acceptance by the new monarchs of constitutional arrangements which severely curbed the prerogative powers of the crown.
See
Rights, Declaration of.

gnieve, gneeve
. Gaelic spatial unit, equivalent to ten acres. Two gnieves were equal to one
sessiagh
.

gorget
. 1: Neck and throat armour constructed of plate metal 2: A crescent-shaped, beaten-gold neck collar with attached discs at either end. Dating from the Bronze Age and unique to Ireland, almost all gorget discoveries (including that found at Gleninsheen, Co. Clare) have been made in the environs of the Shannon estuary.

gort
. (L.,
hortus
, a small field) 1: A small parcel of land or close of five or six acres given over to some particular use 2: A small enclosed garden attached to a
clachan
house.

gossipred
(compaternity). A relationship cemented through baptismal sponsorship. Like
fosterage
and inter-marriage, gossipred was used in Gaelic Ireland to foster kinship ties between the lord and his extended family and clients. As there was a finite number of children who could be fostered and married off,
gossipred
facilitated the development of additional affinities by enabling a child to be fostered by one family and sponsored by another. What gossipred actually entailed, however, remains unclear. When a man sponsored a child at baptism he became the child's godfather and ‘gossip' to the parents. The relationship was then firmed up in any one of a number of ways. At the baptismal font the parties might publicly bind themselves to mutual assistance. There might be a symbolic breaking of bread and a pledge of service or a specific arrangement agreed by voluntary oath-taking. The most solemn arrangement involved all parties receiving the eucharist together and pledging adherence to each other. The whole affair was usually accompanied by gifts. (Fitzsimons, ‘Fosterage', pp. 138–49.)

Gothic
. There were three identifiable evolutions in Gothic construction during the middle ages: the Early English or
pointed style
, the
decorated style
and the
perpendicular style
. These styles were not rigidly adhered to and there was considerable overlap. The perpendicular style did not occur in Ireland in the middle ages but when gothicism was revived during the nineteenth century many churches were constructed in that style.

Gothick
. A loosely-Gothic architectural style, heavily romanticised and incorporating mock antique features such as towers, turrets, machicolations and follies. It was fashionable in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Gothick novels echoed such improbabilities in their settings (ruined abbeys and houses) and plots.

Gothic revival
. Heavily influenced by trends in contemporary English architecture, the Gothic revival or neo-Gothic style became the most important architectural movement in Ireland in the nineteenth century. The Church of Ireland set the pace. Funded by the
Board of First Fruits
, it began to erect small churches in Gothic perpendicular style in the early nineteenth century. Typically these were simple, rectangular structures, often battlemented. A square tower at the western end was topped with a spire and flanking pinnacles. Pointed windows contained simple intersecting tracery. This deliberate invocation of a pre-Reformation style was intended to emphasise the historical continuity of the church. Until the 1820s the Catholic church favoured neo-classicism (as did the Presbyterian and Unitarian churches), a style which was awe-inspiring and evoked an established order. St Mary's pro-cathedral in Dublin (1815, enlarged with a Greek
Doric
portico in 1840) is a notable example. Gradually, however, Gothic came to predominate, initially in perpendicular (Carlow, 1820) or Tudor Gothic style (St Malachy's, Belfast, 1844). The greatest and most influential exponent of Gothic revivalism in Ireland was the English architect, A. W. Pugin (Killarney, 1842, Enniscorthy, 1843). Pugin, who considered classical architecture paganistic and lionised Gothic as truly Christian, encouraged architects to look at earlier Gothic styles such as Early English or the
decorated style
. He despised ornament other than that which enhanced the structure of the church and designed churches that were sympathetic to the ceremonies they were intended to accommodate. There was a clear distinction between nave and chancel, aisles were laid out to facilitate processions and a proper baptistery was provided. His designs incorporated the rich symbolism of earlier Gothic churches with their cruciform plan and triply-divided windows echoing the Trinity. As was the case with all medieval churches, Pugin's internal arrangement was immediately obvious when viewed from without. Both Patrick Byrne (St Patrick's, Blackrock, 1842) and J. J. McCarthy (Dominic Street, Dublin, 1860) were heavily influenced by Pugin's writing and work. Towards the close of the century ornate Gothic church styles yielded to the simpler
Hiberno-Romanesque
, an unpretentious form which incorporated round-headed windows and doorways that were modelled on earlier monastic churches. (Richardson,
Gothic revival
; Harbison, Potterton and Sheehy,
Irish art
.)

Goulborn's Act
(1825). Goulborn, the Irish chief secretary, introduced the repressive Unlawful Societies Act (6 Geo. IV, c. 4) in 1825 to curb the
Catholic Association
whose rapid growth had alarmed the English administration. The bill declared unlawful any body (including Orange lodges) that remained in existence for more than 14 days to seek a redress of grievances against church or state. The Catholic Association adroitly disbanded only to reform within days with a modified programme purged of overtly political goals.
See
Brunswick clubs.

Grace, Commission of
(1684–8). A sequel to the Acts of
Settlement
and
Explanation
, the Commission of Grace was prompted by an unsettling scramble by discoverers to ferret out
concealed land
or land held under dubious title. To quieten the uncertainty, Charles II issued a commission to the
lord lieutenant
in 1684 to appoint commissioners to issue clean title to those troubled that their titles were defective. The commissioners were authorised to compound with the occupiers and grant new tenures direct from the crown for such rents and fines and under such tenures as they thought fit. Protestants suspected the commission to be a ‘snare' to open their titles to minute inspection to the advantage of Catholics and a means of increasing royal revenue. Grants under the commission, of which there were approximately 500, were recorded in the
Books of Survey and Distribution
and have been printed in
Third volume of reports to the commissioners on public records in Ireland, 1820–25
(Dublin, 1829).
See
defective titles. (Hatchell,
Abstract
.)

Graces
(1625–1641). The ‘graces' were a series of royal concessions on land and religious issues to be offered to Ireland in exchange for a number of annual subventions to the crown. The bargaining process was initiated by the
Old English
who wished to demonstrate that Catholicism and royalism were not mutually exclusive. They also sought to capitalise on the threat of a Spanish invasion and the inadequate defences of the country to leverage significant concessions from the crown. In 1628 the Old English Catholics were joined by the New English Protestants (who would have to share the burden of the subsidies) in a parliamentary delegation to England. Most of their 51 demands for reforms of a general nature useful to all sections of the community were readily conceded. These included the reduction of official fees, the easing of licensing controls on exports, the revoking of commercial and industrial monopolies and the introduction of regulations to reduce the depredations of the army on local communities. Many demands which touched on land and religious issues were also conceded such as amendments to the
court of wards and liveries
, the appointment of Old English commanders to new army companies, the right of heirs to succeed and lawyers to qualify by taking the oath of allegiance as opposed to the
oath of supremacy
, the curtailment of the jurisdiction of the
ecclesiastical courts
over Catholics and crown recognition of all land titles of 60 or more years standing. The Old English, however, failed to secure the rights of Catholics to hold office and Catholics remained legally liable for recusancy fines. The New English secured confirmation of the titles of Ulster
undertakers
irrespective of whether they had observed the plantation conditions. In return for these concessions Ireland was to tender three annual subsidies of £40,000, payable quarterly. The money was paid over but the implementation of the graces proceeded slowly. The pledge regarding the appointment of Old English commanders was broken, land titles remained unconfirmed and only the threat of cutting off the subsidies advanced the reform of the court of wards. As the military position improved the government stalled and the most important graces were postponed. In 1632 the government felt secure enough to meet a deficit of £20,000 by more regular exaction of the recusancy fines. Under Wentworth's lord lieutenancy the Old English renewed their demands for the graces but, although further subsidies were voted, their grievances were not met and the security of land titles remained a concern. After Wentworth's execution, and faced with a hostile Westminster parliament, Charles attempted to gain support in Ireland by confirming the graces. Lords Justice Borlase and Parsons, puritans and pro-parliament, who were exercising power in place of the absentee Leicester, prorogued parliament in August 1641 before statutory effect could be given to the concessions. Within months the country was engulfed in war and the graces issue died. (Clarke,
The graces, 1625–41
.)