Cork Corporation

The corporation is very ancient, and exists probably by prescription. A charter was granted by John, Earl of Morton, while viceroy of Ireland, in the reign of his father Henry II., in the preamble of which it is stated — "I have granted and given, and by this my charter confirm, to the citizens of Cork all the fields held of my city of Cork and the ground on which the city is, now. for my benefit to increase the strength of the citizens. This is to them and their heirs to hold of me and my heirs, and to remain in frank burgage, by such custom and rent as the burgesses of Bristol, in England pay yearly for their burgages; and to secure my city of Cork I grant this to the same my citizens of Cork all the laws, franchises, and customs or freight which are in Bristol on whatsoever sails. And firmly commanding that the aforesaid my citizens of Cork and their heirs and their successors have the aforesaid city of Cork of me and my successors as is aforesaid, and have all the laws and franchises and frank customs of Bristol; and as those were wont to be used and written in my court and in my hundred of Cork, and in all business. And I forbid that any wrong or hindrance be given to the aforesaid laws and franchises, which gift from us are given and granted, &c."

A copy of this charter is preserved amongst the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, but the original is lost. The earliest charter extant is one of the 26th of Henry III., which granted the city and its appurtenances in fee farm at an annual rent of 80 marks, with prisage of wine, custom, and cocket within the jurisdiction of the port, and certain personal privileges to the citizens, among which was an exemption from toll and all other customs throughout his dominions: under this charter the chief officer of the corporation was called "provost." Edward I. granted two charters, in the 19th and 31st of his reign, the latter of which authorised the bailiffs and men of Cork to have murage, as in other towns in Ireland, for six years.

The charter of the 11th of Edward II. is the first in which the office of mayor is named: the same monarch, in the following year, confirmed the charter of the 19th of Edward I., and gave to the mayor elect the privilege of being sworn before his predecessor in office, instead of going to Dublin to take the oaths before the barons of the exchequer; charters were also granted in the 4th and 5th of Edward III., 5th of Richard II., and 2nd of Edward IV., the last of which, after reciting that the mayor and commonalty had eleven parish churches within the city, with suburbs extending one mile in every direction, that had been for 50 years preceding destroyed by Irish enemies and English rebels, on which account they were unable to pay the fee farm rent, remitted all arrears, and granted them the cocket of the city for the construction of the walls, to be held until they should be able to travel peaceably one mile beyond them.

In the 15th of Edward IV. all former charters were confirmed, and the mayor and citizens were allowed to enjoy all their franchises both within the city and suburbs and through the entire port, "as far as the shore, point, or strand called Rewrawne, on the western part of the said port, and as far as to the shore, point, or strand of the sea, called Benowdran, on the eastern part of the same port, and so far as the castle of Carrigrohan, on the western side of the said city, and in all towns, pills, creeks, burgs, and strands in and to which the sea ebbs and flows in length and breadth within the aforesaid two points, called Rewrawne and Benowdran:" it then releases during pleasure all arrears of the rent of 80 marks, and grants that the corporation, in lieu thereof, shall in future render at the exchequer 20lb. of wax.

Henry VII. granted a charter of inspeximus; and Henry VIII., in the 1st of his reign, gave a confirmatory charter, and in the 28th another, which also conferred upon the mayor the privilege of having a sword carried before him, the sword-bearer to wear "a remarkable cap" (which ceremony is still observed), and granted him the custody of the castle. Edward VI., in the 3rd of his reign, granted a charter of confirmation; and in the 18th of Elizabeth the mayor, recorder, and bailiffs, and the four senior aldermen who had served the office of mayor, were constituted keepers of the peace within the city both by land and by water; and they, or three of them, of whom the mayor and recorder were to be two, were appointed justices of oyer and terminer and general gaol delivery, with power to enquire into all felonies, trespasses, &c, within the city and liberties; this charter also contained a grant to the corporation of all fines and amercements.

The charter of the 6th of James I., after granting that Cork should be a free city, and changing the style of the corporation to that of mayor, sheriffs, and commonalty, with power to make by-laws for the regulation of the municipality, constituted the city and a surrounding district to be marked out by commissioners a distinct county, over which the powers of the justices of the peace for the city were extended, and released the corporation from their annual payment of 20lb. of wax: this charter also granted permission to hold two fairs with all tolls, &c, and created a corporation of the staple with privileges equal to those of London or Dublin.

In the 7th of Charles I. a confirmatory charter was granted, which, after declaring that justices of the county of Cork should have no jurisdiction within the city, further directs that each mayor, on retiring from office, shall be an alderman, and that all the aldermen shall be members of the common council, provided the number do not exceed 24: it also empowers the corporation to elect a town-clerk, clerk of the Crown, and public notary; and likewise six aldermen of the ward, who should have power to determine all causes not exceeding 405. arising within their respective wards. By the charter granted in the 9th of George II. all the aldermen, immediately on retiring from the office of mayor, were made justices of the peace within the county of the city: the same monarch, in the 21st of his reign, granted another charter, which is the last given to the corporation, authorising them to hold two fairs annually at a place called the Lough, within the liberties, and to take the usual tolls.

Under the authority of these charters a series of by-laws passed in 1721, for electing the officers and otherwise regulating the affairs of the corporation, the different classes in which are the mayor, sheriffs, aldermen, burgesses, and commonalty or freemen. The mayor is chosen on the first Monday in July, nominally by a majority of the freemen, according to a form expressed in one of the by-laws, from among the resident burgesses or persons who have served the office of sheriff, of whom five, whose names have been drawn from a hat containing the names of all entitled to be elected, are put in nomination; but this right of the freemen to choose the mayor is rendered almost nugatory by an association called the "Friendly Club," consisting of about 500 of the freemen, of whom more than 300 are resident, by one of whose rules the members are bound to vote for one of the two senior burgesses of the five whose names are drawn.

The sheriffs are elected on the same day as the mayor, by and from the freemen; but the interposition of the Friendly Club operates in like manner as in the election of mayor. The aldermen are such members of the corporation as have served the office of mayor, and are unlimited in number; six of them, elected by the freemen at large in a court of D'Oyer hundred held for the purpose on a vacancy occurring, are called "Aldermen of the Ward." The burgesses are those who have served the office of sheriff, and are also unlimited in number; and the common council is composed of the mayor, recorder, two sheriffs, and aldermen, not exceeding in all 24, and should they not amount to that number, the deficiency is made up by election from among the burgesses. All by-laws, and orders for the payment of money, letting and disposing of the corporate property, and the admission of freemen, must originate in the common council, and are afterwards confirmed in the court of D'Oyer hundred.

Besides the recorder, the assistant officers of the corporation are a common speaker (who represents the commonalty and attends the meetings of the council, where he is permitted to sit and hear the deliberations, but has no vote), town-clerk, chamberlain, clerks of the Crown, peace, and council, a water and deputy water bailiffs, sword-bearer, two serjeants-at-mace, assay-master, weighmasters, two coroners, and other inferior officers; the principal of these are elected by the freemen at large, in a court of D'Oyer hundred. The appointment of the mayor, sheriffs, recorder, and town-clerk is subject to the approbation of the lord-lieutenant and privy council. The freedom is inherited by the first-born sons of freemen, and obtained by apprenticeship of seven years to a freeman and by grace especial of the common council, subject, in the last case, to the approval of the court of D'Oyer hundred, except as regards persons of distinction who may happen to be in the city, and to whom the council think fit to present the freedom.

The city first sent members to the Irish parliament in 1374, but representatives who appear to have served in London were chosen previously. The right of election was vested in the freemen of the city, and in the 40s. freeholders and £50 leaseholders of the county of the city, of whom the freemen, in 1831, amounted in number to 2331, and the freeholders to 1545, making a total of 3876; but by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 88 (under which the city, from its distinguished importance, retains its privilege of returning two representatives to the Imperial parliament, and the limits of the franchise, comprising the entire county of the city, remain unaltered), the non-resident freemen, except within seven miles, have been disfranchised, and the privilege of voting at elections has been extended to the £10 householders, and the £20 and £10 leaseholders for the respective terms of 14 and 20 years. The number of voters registered up to Jan. 2nd, 1836, amounted to 4791, of whom 1065 were freemen; 2727 £10 householders; 105 £50, 152 £20, and 608 forty-shilling freeholders; 3 £50, 7 £20, and 2 £10 rent-chargers; and 1 £50, 26 £20, and 95 £10 leaseholders: the sheriffs are the returning officers.

The mayor, recorder, and all the aldermen are justices of the peace for the county of the city; and the mayor is also a judge of assize, justice of the peace for the county at large, a judge of the courts of record and conscience, and president of the council and of the court of D'Oyer hundred. Under the new Police bill, there are a chief constable, a head constable, 11 constables and 62 sub-constables. The courts of the corporation are the mayor and sheriffs' court, the courts of city sessions and conscience, and the police office or magistrates' court. The mayor and sheriffs' court, held weekly, has jurisdiction in all personal and mixed actions, except replevin and ejectment, in pleas to any amount; and is a court of record, in which the pleadings are similar to those of the superior courts. Suits may be commenced either by serviceable writ, bailable writ, or attachment against goods, in which last mode the debt sought to be recovered must amount to at least 40s. Irish.

The mayor and sheriffs originally presided as judges; but by the 11th and 12th of George III., cap. 18, the recorder, or his deputy, being a barrister of three years' standing, was made judge, and authorised to sit alone; in his absence the mayor and one of the sheriffs are necessary to constitute a court. The city sessions court is held quarterly before the justices, but by the act above noticed the recorder is empowered to hold the court alone, and in general is the only judge presiding; a grand jury is returned by the sheriff to serve for the entire quarter, and the court sits weekly by adjournment. The number of prisoners tried at these sessions in 1835 was 401, of whom 110 were for felonies and 291 for misdemeanours. The court of conscience was constituted by act of the 3rd of George IV., cap. 85, for the recovery of debts not exceeding 40s. arising within the county of the city: the act appoints the mayor and aldermen of the ward judges, not less than three of them to be sufficient to hold the court. The police-office, or magistrates' court, adjoins the court of conscience, and was constituted by the same act. The revenue of the corporation, exclusively of the expense of collecting the tolls, amounts to about £6237 per annum, arising from various sources.