Byrne's Dictionary of Irish Local History by Joseph Byrne Read Free Book Online

have to enter the property to take possession. As the estate being conveyed was a lease there was no need to enrol it. Next, by deed of release the grantor conveyed his reversion to the grantee. See use, feoffment to.
    bar haven . A harbour at the entrance to which lies a submerged sand-bank.
    barmkin . An enclosure about a castle which served as a refuge for people and animals.
    baronial police force . A precursor of the Royal Irish Constabulary, baronial policemen or ‘Barnies’ were introduced in 1773 and operated in rural areas in support of the magistrates, executing warrants, collecting revenues and preserving the peace. The baronial force was diminutive – it never exceeded a national complement of 600 men – and notoriously inefficient. Several attempts were made at reformation. In 1787 a police act (27 Geo. III, c. 42) permitted grand juries in disturbed areas to appoint 16 sub-constables for each barony under the supervision of a government-appointed chief constable. In 1792 a new baronial force was inaugurated but that proved incapable of dealing with the widespread agrarian unrest of the early nineteenth century and was replaced in 1814 by the peace preservation force. See Peace Preservation Act (1814), police. (Beames, Peasants, p. 157 passim ; Boyle, ‘Police’, pp. 90–116; O’Sullivan, The Irish constabularies , pp. 11–12, 16; Palmer, Police .)
    barony . An ancient division comprising a number of townlands which were thought to have been co-terminous with the tuath or multiples of the tricha-cét (pre-Norman territories occupied by the native Irish). Although some baronies are co-terminous with tuatha , the vast majority are not for there were 97 tuatha and 273 baronies. This suggests that many baronies were the creation of Anglo-Norman colonists. The barony corresponds roughly to the English hundred and was also known as a cantred. Baronies later became subdivisions of Irish counties when the country was shired and were widely used from the sixteenth century for administrative purposes. Both the Civil Survey (1654–6) and the Down Survey (1654–9) were conducted along baronial lines and county rates were paid to the grand jury on a baronial basis.
    Barrack Board . See Board of Works.
    barrel . In Ireland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the barrel was the predominant unit of measurement for agricultural produce rather than the bushel or quarter . With some exceptions it was in universal use throughout the country. The precise weight of a barrel differed from commodity to commodity. A barrel of wheat or rye weighed 20 stones, of oats 14 stones, of barley or bere 16 stones. The official weight of a barrel of potatoes was 20 stones but witnesses at the Devon Commission gave weights ranging from 20 to 24 stones. (Bourke, ‘Notes’, pp. 236–245.)
    barrow . A tumulus or earthen mound raised over one or more prehistoric burials.
    base court . Any lesser court, such as a manor court, that is not a court of record .
    basinet, bascinet, bassenet . A skull-cap or helmet made of metal or some other hard material, sometimes pointed.
    batter . A sloping wall, narrower at the top than at the bottom, designed to support a house or other building. Batters also served to protect fortifications from undermining.
    battery . A number of artillery pieces assembled in one location for tactical reasons.
    battle, trial by . Introduced into England and Ireland by the Normans, trial by battle originated in the belief that divine providence would ensure victory to the party in the right in any dispute. It was used to settle criminal, property and debt cases. Initially it was the litigants who fought, making litigation a risky business if the opposition was a skilful fighter. Later, champions were usually employed to fight on their behalf. Trial by battle was repudiated as a barbarity by the church and became obsolete by the 1300s although a case of trial by battle is