Town commissioners were elected local government bodies that existed in urban areas in Ireland from the 19th century until 2002. Larger towns with commissioners were converted to urban districts by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with the smaller commissions continuing to exist beyond partition in 1922. The idea was a standardisation of the improvement commissioners established in an ad-hoc manner for particular towns in Britain and Ireland in the eighteenth century. The last town commissioners in Northern Ireland were abolished in 1962. In the Republic of Ireland, the remaining commissions became town councils in 2002, and abolished in 2014.
Lighting of Towns Act 1828
The first town commissioners were established by the Lighting of Towns (Ireland) Act 1828 (9 Geo. 4. c. 82).
This was "adoptive" legislation, which ratepayers in a borough or market town could choose to enact in their community. As the existing borough corporations were ineffective as local authorities the act came into force in sixty-five towns. William Neilson Hancock explained the act in 1877 thus:
Whereas local acts appointing commissioners for particular places specified a boundary or distance inside which the commissioners' powers would be confined, no such limit was specified in the 1828 act. Thomas Larcom of the Irish Ordnance Survey wrote of the commissioners in 1846:
Municipal reform 1840 In 1840 the majority of Irish boroughs were abolished by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, and the commissioners established by the 1828 act became the only local council. The town commissioners were recognised as successor to the borough, retaining corporate property and the municipal coat of arms. Any town with property of more than £100 that lost its borough corporation, but had not adopted the 1828 act, was to establish "municipal commissioners". There was, in fact, only one town to which this applied: Carrickfergus in County Antrim.
Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854
The (17 & 18 Vict. c. 103) allowed electors of populous places to choose to establish town commissioners. This enabled many newer communities that had never had municipal status to gain local government bodies. Many of the towns governed by the 1828 act replaced this with the new legislation as it provided the commissioners with greater powers.
Townships established by local acts A number of towns took a different route to establish local authorities in their areas, by having private acts passed in parliament. These acts established "townships" with defined boundaries, defined the powers of the commissioners, gave them powers to make rates, named the first members and provided a procedure for subsequent elections. The majority of townships were formed in the rapidly growing suburbs of Dublin. To gain further powers or adjust their boundaries the township commissioners had to apply for a further act of Parliament.
Changes in the 1870s In 1872 the Local Government Board of Ireland was formed. One of its duties was to consider applications for the formation of commissioners under the 1854 act, and for alteration of the areas of existing local government towns. The board issued annual reports on its activities, detailing the finances and condition of the various municipalities under its control.
In 1878 Ireland was divided into sanitary districts, with all commissioners in towns with a population of more than 6,000 becoming urban sanitary authorities. The Local Government Board had the power to designate additional towns with commissioners as sanitary districts.
Towns governed under the 1854 act There were 76 such towns in 1881: Arklow, County Wicklow Athy, County Kildare Ardee, County Louth Athlone, County Roscommon and County Westmeath Antrim, County Antrim Aughnacloy, County Tyrone Bagenalstown, County Carlow Balbriggan, County Dublin Ballymena, County Antrim Ballymoney, County Antrim Belturbet, County Cavan Ballyshannon, County Donegal Banbridge, County Down Bangor, County Down Ballybay, County Monaghan Ballinasloe, County Galway and County Roscommon Ballina, County Mayo Boyle, County Roscommon Carlow, County Carlow Callan, County Kilkenny Clonakilty, County Cork Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary Cashel, County Tipperary Cavan, County Cavan Cootehill, County Cavan Coleraine, County Londonderry Carrickmacross, County Monaghan Castleblayney, County Monaghan Clones, County Monaghan Cookstown, County Tyrone Castlebar, County Mayo Dundalk, County Louth Dromore, County Down Enniscorthy, County Wexford Ennis, County Clare Fermoy, County Cork Gorey, County Wexford Gilford, County Down Holywood, County Down Killiney and Ballybrack, County Dublin Kells, County Meath Kinsale, County Cork Keady, County Antrim Killarney, County Kerry Longford, County Longford Lismore, County Waterford Larne, County Antrim Lisburn, County Antrim and County Down Lurgan, County Armagh Letterkenny, County Donegal Limavady, County Londonderry Loughrea, County Galway Maryborough, Queen's County Mountmellick, Queen's County Mullingar, County Westmeath Midleton, County Cork Naas, County Kildare Newbridge, County Kildare Navan, County Meath New Ross, County Wexford Nenagh, County Tipperary Newtownards, County Down Parsontown, King's County Portadown, County Armagh Rathkeale, County Limerick Roscommon, County Roscommon Skibbereen, County Cork Strabane, County Tyrone Tullamore, King's County Trim, County Meath Templemore, County Tipperary Thurles, County Tipperary Tipperary, County Tipperary Tandragee, County Antrim Tuam, County Galway Westport, County Mayo
According to the 1878 report of The Local Government Board, the 1854 Act was adopted in Strandtown, County Antrim on 25 February 1878. However the town is not listed in later reports, and was subsequently incorporated into the borough of Belfast.
Towns governed under the 1828 act
Only 11 towns were still governed by the act: Armagh, County Armagh Bandon, County Cork Downpatrick, County Down Dungannon, County Tyrone Fethard, County Tipperary Mallow, County Cork Monaghan, County Monaghan Omagh, County Tyrone Tralee, County Kerry Wicklow, County Wicklow Youghal, County Cork
Towns and townships under special acts
There were 14 towns with commissioners formed under such legislation: Blackrock, County Dublin Bray, County Wicklow Clontarf, County Dublin Dalkey, County Dublin Drumcondra, Clonliffe and Glasnevin, County Dublin Enniskillen, County Fermanagh Galway, County Galway Kingstown, County Dublin New Kilmainham, County Dublin Newry, County Armagh and County Down Pembroke, County Dublin Queenstown, County Cork Rathmines and Rathgar, County Dublin
Towns governed under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840
Only one town had established municipal commissioners following the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840: Carrickfergus, County Antrim
In addition to these 102 towns there were 11 boroughs, making 113 towns and cities with some form of local government on Ireland. For completeness, the boroughs were
Belfast Clonmel Cork Drogheda Dublin Kilkenny Limerick Derry Sligo Waterford Wexford (restored 1846)
Changes in 1899–1901 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 created a new type of local council, the urban district governed by an urban district council. All town commissioners that were sanitary authorities became urban district councils. In addition, the Local Government Board was given the power to constitute any other local government town with a population of more than 1500 as an urban district, although the ratepayers could petition to prevent the application of this section of the act.
The effect of this was that the number of towns with commissioners was greatly reduced. Two towns still operating under the 1828 act, Monaghan and Wicklow, were promoted to the 1854 act by section 41 of the 1898 act. By 1902, 74 urban districts had been formed, leaving only 30 towns still governed under the 1854 act. These towns formed part of the surrounding rural district also created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 for nearly all local government purposes, compared with the urban district councils, who enjoyed considerable powers. Over the next few years the number varied as some towns became urban districts and other communities adopted the 1854 act.
Town commissioners in Northern Ireland
Following partition in 1922, four towns with commissioners situated in the six counties of Northern Ireland. The number was reduced to three in 1925 when Downpatrick became an urban district. The remaining town commissioners were dissolved in 1959 and 1962, their functions being transferred to the rural district council: Antrim, County Antrim, dissolved 1962 Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, dissolved 1959 Gilford, County Down, dissolved 1959
Town commissioners in independent Ireland
In the Irish Free State (Ireland from 1937), town commissioners continued to exist until 2002. The 1854 act was still occasionally used to create new local government towns. The Local Government Act 1925 enabled existing town commissioners to dissolve themselves and for urban district councils to downgrade themselves to commissioners.
Where commissioners ceased to exist, in the towns of Callan, Fethard, Newcastle West, Rathkeale, Roscommon and Tullow, their duties were taken over by the county council. However, the town still had a legal existence and separate rates were levied in its area, and the county council had to prepare accounts as commissioners for the town. For example, Newcastle West in County Limerick, whose commissioners were dissolved in 1941, received a grant of a coat of arms by the Chief Herald of Ireland in 1980 – the grant being to "Limerick County Council for the Town of Newcastle West". The Local Government Act 1994 abolished these towns as distinct entities.
The Local Government Act 2001 redesignated both town commissioners and urban district councils as town councils from 1 January 2002. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 abolished town councils. Municipal districts of the county council perform the functions previously performed by the separate town councils.
List of town commissioners in Ireland 1922–2002
Ardee, County Louth Balbriggan, County Dublin Ballinasloe, County Galway Ballybay, County Monaghan Ballyshannon, County Donegal Bandon, County Cork Bantry, County Cork Belturbet, County Cavan, downgraded from Urban District 1950 Boyle, County Roscommon Callan, County Kilkenny, dissolved 1940 Cootehill, County Cavan, downgraded from Urban District 1950 Droichead Nua or Newbridge, County Kildare Edenderry, County Offaly Gorey, County Wexford Granard, County Longford, downgraded from Urban District 1944 Greystones, County Wicklow, created 1984 Fethard, County Tipperary, dissolved 1936 Kilkee, County Clare Leixlip, County Kildare, created 1988 Lismore, County Waterford Loughrea, County Galway Mountmellick, County Laois Muine Bheag or Bagenalstown, County Carlow Mullingar, County Westmeath Newcastle West, County Limerick, dissolved 1941 Passage West, County Cork, downgraded from Urban District 1942 Portlaoise, County Laois Rathkeale, County Limerick, dissolved 1926 Roscommon, County Roscommon, dissolved 1927 Shannon, County Clare, created 1982 Tramore, County Waterford, created 1948 Tuam, County Galway
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