Byrne's Dictionary of Irish Local History Read Free

to a specific spatial concept. See balliboe, ballybetagh, capell lands, cartron, collop, cowlands, gnieve, great acre, horsemen’s beds, mile, ploughland, quarter, sessiagh, soum, tathe. (Andrews, Plantation acres , pp. 4–18; Bourke, ‘Notes on some agricultural’, pp. 236–245.)
    acta. (L., pl of actum , act) Decrees passed by or a record of the transactions of a council, cathedral chapter, ecclesiastical court or Catholic synod.
    adminicle . (L. adminiculum , a prop) Any supporting or corroborative evidence necessary for the trial of a case.
    admiralty court . A court with jurisdiction over shipping and mercantile cases including piracy and prizes at sea, shipboard deaths, sailors’ pay, collisions, wreck and salvage. It was established in Ireland in the sixteenth century under the supervision of the English admiralty. Although admirals were appointed in Ireland during the middle ages their appointments appear to have been honorific and maritime issues were usually dealt with in chancery . Provincial vice-admirals were appointed in the sixteenth century but such posts were sinecures and the functions were performed by deputies. As was the case with the English admiralty courts, the Irish court engaged in disputes with other courts, with the lord deputy and with town corporations and individuals who claimed to possess the right of jurisdiction over admiralty cases by charter. The Irish admiralty court remained subordinate to the English high court of admiralty until it became an independent court, the high court of admiralty, in 1784 (23 & 24 Geo. III, c. 14) following the passage of Yelverton’s Act. Appeals from this court lay to the court of appeal in chancery and from thence to the Irish privy council. The admiralty court became a division of the high court following the re-modelling of the Irish courts by the Judicature Act of 1877. In 1893 it was merged with queen’s bench on the death of the existing judge. (Appleby and O’Dowd, ‘The Irish admiralty’, pp. 299–320.)
    adventurer . A person who advanced a sum of money under the 1642 Adventurers’ Act (17 Chas. I, c. 34) for the suppression of the 1641 rebellion, the return for which was to be a proportional grant of forfeited land in Ireland. (Bottigheimer, English money. )
    advowee . One who has the right of presentation or advowson of a church benefice .
    advowry, avowry . In medieval times, a small annual payment made by a native Irishman to his lord to secure his freedom and the right to pursue an action in court which would be undertaken by the lord on his behalf. An action taken by an Irishman on his own behalf would fail on the simple basis that he was an Irishman. (Hand, English law. )
    advowson . The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice , a right which normally belonged to the person who built the church but in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was granted to a religious house and with it went the tithe . In the sixteenth century when the monasteries were dissolved ( see dissolution) tithe was frequently alienated to laymen and thus the right of presentation fell into lay hands. See dissolution
    adze . An axe-like tool with a thin curved blade mounted at right-angles to the shaft used for shaping wood.
    aetat, aetatis . Abbreviated aet ., the Latin for aged, at the age of.
    afer . A low-bred workhorse.
    afforced council . In medieval and early modern Ireland the justiciar occasionally strengthened the privy council by requesting the attendance of leading magnates of the Pale who, as tenants-in-chief, were obliged to assist him. Afforced councils were usually associated with the imposition of a general cess or important military matters. See great council.
    agistment letting . A short-term lease of land for grazing purposes, the pastoral equivalent of conacre . See tithe agistment.
    agnate . A kinsman whose descent can be traced exclusively through the male or paternal line. The