The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-22 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 22, 1835.

FIRST REPORT OF THE COMMIS.
SIONERS of PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, IRELAND,

The Report commences by stating, that the Commissioners
having prepared lists of queries, sent copies to ministers of all
persuasions officiating in Ireland, as well as to the several
enumerators employed by them.
To these queries (say the Commissioners) we have been
furnished by the clergy of the Established Church with an-
swers relating to 1,390 parishes ; by the Roman Catholic
clergy, with answers relating to 868 parishes ; by Presbyte-
rian ministers, with answers relating to 210 parishes ; and by
the enumerators, with answers relating to all the parishes in
Ireland.
For the purpose of obtaining a census, by parishes, of the
present numbers of the inhabitants of Ireland, distinguishing
their respective religious tenets, the following was the method
which, after much and attentive consideration, we adopted :
After duly considering the great expense, the prospect of
delay, and other inconveniencies incidental to an entirely
new enumeration (involving a classification into religious de-
nominations) of the population of Ireland, we determined upon
making the population returns for 1831 the basis of our opera-
tions with regard to this branch of our inquiry, by referring
them back to the original enumerators, in order that they
might distinguish the religious persuasion of the several per-
sons therein mentioned.
The last general census of the population of Ireland was
taken in the year 1831, by 1,308 enumerators, appointed for
that purpose by the magistrates of the several counties, under
the provisions of the Population Acts then in force.
That census was taken by districts, comprising one or more
parishes, or parts of parishes, according to the civil division
prevailing in counties for the purpose of grand jury assess-
ments ; and each enumerator employed upon it was bound to
visit personally, and to verify on his oath the fact of his having
so visited, every house within the parishes, or parts of parishes,
which he had been appointed to enumerate.
_

In the original boas used by these enumerators are specified,
among other particulars, the several town lands or streets in
each of such parishes ; the several houses in each of such
town lands or streets; the name of the occupier or owner of
each house ; the number of families residing in each house ;
number of persons in each family, distinguishing males and fe-
males; and the number of servants in each house, distinguish-

ing males and females.
We may here notice two important advantages which at-
tended this use of the census of 1831 as the basis of our in-

quiry in respect to population. In the first place, it furnished
a fixed total number of persons in each parish, townland, and
house, ascertained by simple enumeration, and free from the
suspicion of being intentionally returned greater or less than
the truth, owing to any bias that might be supposed to exist
in the mind of the enumerator, since at the time that census
was taken, there was no expectation that it would be used for
the purpose of discovering the proportion which the members
of each religious persuasion bore to each other. In the next
place, the enumerators, by whom that census was taken, were
appointed in 1831 by the magistrates in each county, and were
better qualified, by their local knowledge and acqaintance with
their own entries in the census books, to insert the reli-
gious denominations with accuracy and expedition, than
persons less conversant with the subject; and, by so employ-
ing. them, we were also enabled to avoid the many delays and
other inconveniences which would have arisen, had we under-

taken to select for ourselves an entirely new body of enume-
rators for the whole of Ireland. This return was also of use

in checking any private census that might be presented to the
Commissioner, inasmuch as it enabled him to estimate the pro-
bable accuracy of any return taken at the present time, by
comparing it with the classified census of 1831.

We accordingly caused copies of these books to be trans-
mitted to the original enumerators employed in the year 1831
(except in some few instances, where others were of necessity
substituted), together with directions to them to ascertain and
insert, in columns left blank for that purpose, the particular
religious persuasions of the inhabitants of each parish
according to its population, as it appeared from such
original return to have existed in, the year 1831. Among
the other instructions given to the enumerators, we impressed
upon them the importance of their communicating with each
ininster of religion (of whatever persuasion) residing or offi-
ciating within the parish, and of soliciting from him such in-
formation as he might be able to supply with regard to any
cases upon which his assistance might be required ; and we
further instructed the enumerators to afford to such of the
clergy of the parish as might at any time desire to inspect the
return of 1831, every reasonable facility for so doing. At the
same time that we transmitted the books and the accompany-
ing instructions to the enumerators, we addressed a circular
letter to the respective resident and officiating clergy of each
parish, apprizing them of the course that we were adopting in
relation to this branch of our inquiry, and requesting their aid
so far as they could conveniently afford it. The general out-
line of the course subsequently pursued will sufficiently appear
in an extract from the circular letter last referred to, which,
after specifying the nature of the additional matter to be in-
serted by the enumerator in his original return, proceeds as
follows :

" It is intended that the return relating to each of the
parishes over which your ministry extends, when completed by
the insertion of such additional matter, shall be deposited in
some convenient place in or near to the parish, (of which you
shall receive due notice,) to be there open, for at the least
fourteen days, to the inspection of yourself and other persons
residing in or connected with the parish ; and it is further
intended, that upon a future day, (of which also you shall
receive due notice,) some of the Commissioners shall repair
to the district, for the purpose (among other things) of
having the said return verified by the oath of the enumerator
employed to amend it ; upon which occasion the Commis-
sioners so attending will be ready to receive any evidence
that you may desire to give, either personally or through
others, with respect to the correctness of such return, and also
to receive any original census (verified by affidavit) of the pre-
sent numbers of the inhabitants of the parish, belonging to
each or any of the respective religious persuasions therein,
that you fray be pleased to tender them in aid of their inquiry."
The clergy, to whom this circular was addressed, were further
informed by it of the instructions given to the enumerators to
afford them (should they so desire) every facility of inspecting
the return transmitted to each enumerator, during the period
that he might be occupied in classifying it.
With the exception of some few instances, where a partial
deviation from this plan was found to be expedient or indis-
pensable, the course of proceeding as above detailed has been
uniformly acted upon.
As, from time to time, on the completion of the enume.
rotors' books, and the expiration of the fourteen days from the
day of their deposit for public inspection, each benitice be-
came ready to be visited, one or more of the Commissioners,
furnished with all the returns which had been received with
i.cgard to such benefice, repaired to the spot, and held an in-
euiry, in respect thereof, into the several matters directed b::
the Commission. In all cases the Commissioners, besides di-
recting previous public notice to be given of the time and place
of holding the inquiry, sent a special notice thereof to the se-
veral clergy of the parish, to the enumerator, to the school-
masters, and others whose personal attendance was requisite.
The Commissioners held their local investigation publicly ;
causing the population return, as classified by the enumerator,
to be verified by his oath, and receiving any evidence that
might be tendered on the spot with respect to its accuracy ;
receiving and examining into the correctness of any original
census of the actual inhabitants of the parish (distinguishing
their religious creeds) which might be offered to them, and
ascertaining, on the evidence of the parties attending before
them, the several other matters of fact (exclusive of the
census) comprised within the terms of the Commission. Al-
though, from our inquiries being in every case held on the
spot, the Commissioner was usually unable to give the parties
concerned more than a few days' notice of his visit, yet we are
happy to state that our inquiries were almost invariably at-
tended by the clergy of the Established Church, and very ge-
nerally, especially in country parishes, by the clergy of other
denominations ; and that we found, almost universally, a dis-
position prevailing in all quarters to aid our investigations,
and to furnish us with the information which it was our duty
to obtain.

The result of the local investigation in each sepeate bene-
fice is recorded in this special Report thereupon of the visiting
Commissioners; the Report distinguishing the matters directed
by the Commission to be inquired into, according to the divi-
sion of benefices and of parishes respectively.
In reference to the subject of benefices and parishes, we
have here to observe that we have understood the benefice con-
templated by the Commission to mean the " parochial bene-
fice," or the territorial extent comprised within each particular
" cure of souls ;" and it consequently appeared to us that the
one or more parishes forming such benefice should be taken to
be parishes according to the present ecclesiastical division of
the Established Church of Ireland. That division we have
accordingly adopted throughout our inquiry.
But the ecclesiastical division of parishes is often not iden-
tical, either in name or territorial extent, with the civil division
of parishes already mentioned as existing in counties for the
purposes of Grand Jury assessments, and adopted in the popu-
lation returns of 1821 and 1831. We thus found in many in-
stances (independent of a difference in name) that one eccle-
siastical parish was composed of two or more civil parishes, or
parts of parishes ; and more frequently, on the other hand,
that two or more ecclesiastical parishes, or pints of parishes,
were comprised in a single civil parish. It may further be re-
marked that, in the Roman Catholic Church, a parochial divi-
sion is adopted totally distinct from the ecclesiastical or civil.
For the purpose, therefore, of avoiding confusion, and of
enabling the visiting Commissioner to ascertain each particular
ecclesiastical parish upon which he had to report, we applied
to the registrars of the several dioceses in Ireland, and, with
two exceptions, we obtained from all of them returns, specify-
ing, among other things, the names of the several parochial
benefices within the diocese ; of the parishes forming each
benefice ; and of the town lands over which each of such
parishes extends.
By a comparison of these with the names of the townlands
in the population returns of 1831, aided by oral evidence re-
ceived on the spot, the visiting Commissioner was enabled to
ascertain in every case the name and territorial boundaries of
each parish, according to .the ecclesiastical division, and to
assign to each its proper population ; and in those cases
where he was without the aid of the registrar's return, he was
able to obtain the requisite information as to townlands from
the tithe composition book deposited in the parish, or from oral
evidence.

With respect to the several statistical matters (apart from
the census) embraced within the scope of the inquiry, the
Commissioners, with the aid of the documentary information
previously supplied to them, and of the evidence resorted to
and
the spot, have succeeded in obtaining satisfactory results;
and accordingly they do not feel it to be necessary to state,
with more minuteness than has already been done, the parti-
cular mode of investigation adopted by them for that purpose.
With regard, however, to the census,—a subject of inquiry
upon which, from its own nature, rigid accuracy is not easily

insured, even where nothing beyond a simple enumeration is
involved,—we will now submit a few details explanatory of the
process through which the results in the present instance have
been obtained.
As a general rule (subject, however, to the exceptions
hereafter mentioned), the enumerator's return for 1831 has
been acted upon as conclusive evidence of the total number
in that year of the inhabitants of each parish ; but with re-
spect to the enumerator's classification of those inhabitants
into the several religious denominations, the Commissioner
holding the inquiry received and invited all such
evidence from the parties attending before him as might en-
able him to correct any errors committed by the enumerator.
Having accordingly corrected any errors that might be pointed
out, the Commissioner received the return, thus classified, as
a census of the population of the parish in the year 1831,
founded, so far as numbers were concerned, upon actual enu-
meration ; and if no satisfactory original census of the present
population of the parish, similarly classified, was tendered to
him, he proceeded to supply its place through the following
process of computation :
Before the visiting Commissioners had proceeded to make
their local inquiries, we obtained, by a comparison of the de-
tailed returns of the population of Ireland contained in the
abstracts of the censuses of 1821 and 1831, printed by order of
the House of Commons, the ratio of increase or diminution
of the population that was found upon such comparison to
have actually prevailed between those years,—first, in the
rural districts of each particular county, and next in all
towns therein having a population of not less than 2,000 in-
habitants ; and proceeding upon the assumption that the ratio
so ascertained had continued undisturbed up to the year 1834,
we caused tables to be framed showing the proportionate in-
crease or diminution of the population of such rural districts
and towns respectively, which, according to that assumption,
might be estimated to have taken place between the years
1831 and 1834. By a reference to these tables, the Commis-
sioner was enabled at once to determine the extent to which
he was to add to, or deduct from, the numbers of the popula-
tion of any particular parish as given in the census of 1831.
And, upon the further assumption that the variations, as to
increase or diminution, had been equal among the several re-

ligious denominations, the same rate of computation applied
to each of those denominations gave their present numbers,
bearing the same relative proportions with respect to religious
tenets, as in the classified census of 1831. But as the rate
used in each computation was liable to have been disturbed
within the three preceding years by local and temporary
causes, such as unusual mortality, or unusual emigration from
or immigration into the parish, the Commissioners, before
adopting the computed numbers as a final result, ascertained
by evidenc.3 whether or not such causes had existed, and,
where their existence was established, made necessary allow-
ances for them, according to the extent to which they appeared
to have operated.
In some instances it was discovered that in the eumeration
of 1831, a particular townland in a parish had been acciden-
tally omitted. In these cases an original census of such town-
land, embracing the distinctions of religion, was taken, under
the direction of the Commissioners, and the numbers, as found
b: such census, added to the computed population of the pre-
sent time.

In other instances it was found that a particular townland
had been twice enumerated in 1831, and assigned to two dis-
tinct parishes. In such cases the visiting Commissioner ascer-
tained by evidence the parish to which it properly belonged,
and deducted the number of its inhabitants from the popula-
tion of the parish to which it had been erroneously assigned.
The census of 1831 having been taken on the principle of
inserting as inmates of each house visitors residing therein for
two or more days, and in the case of inns or hotels, travellers
residing therein for one or more nights, it became necessary
to ascertain whether that census of the parish under investiga-
tion might not have included some considerable number of
merely temporary residents, such as harvest labourers or casual
visitors ; and, when such was found to have been the fact, and
the probable number of such temporary residents established by
evidence, they were deducted from the number of the popula-
tion as existing at the present time that would otherwise have
resulted from the computation made. In such cases also,
whenever the parish in which any of the individuals so deducted
were permanently domiciled was discoverable, care was taken
that they should be added to the population of their proper
parish. With these and similar precautions the visiting Com-
missioners, in the absence of an original census, arrived at a
computation of the present numbers of &e inhabitants of each
particular parish, distinguishing their respective religious
creeds.

In numerous instances, however, the officiating clergy of
the parish, and more especially of the Established Church, in
accordance with the suggestion contained in the circular letter
from which an extract has been above given, tendered at the
place of holding the local inquiry an original census taken by
them or under their direction, comprising either the whole or
a portion of the present population of the parish, distinguishing
the religious persuasions to which the individuals therein set
down respectively belonged.
Every such census was open to the inspection of all persons
present at the inquiry, and its accuracy was scrutinized by the
visiting Commissioner, who received all proper evidence in
support or impeachment of its correctness ; and whenever the
accuracy of such original census was established to the satisfac-
tion of the Commissioner, it was adopted in preference to the
computation based upon the census of 1831.
It is observable that the census of the members of the Esta-
blished Church includes a considerable number of Wesleyan
Methodists, who, although attending religious service in other
places of worship, consider theintelves to be in connexion with
the Established Church, and wished to be classed as mem-
bers of that body. We do not report the particular number of
these persons, but that is considerable, especially in some dis-
tricts, will appear from an inspection of the number of their
places of worship enumerated in our reports, arid the average
number of persons attending divine service in each.
We were not required by the terms of the Commission to
distinguish the denominations and numerical proportions of
those other Protestants who really dissent from the Established
Church, and who desired to be classed as Protestant Dis-
senters ; and it is only by a reference to the names of the places
of worship, and the statement of their average congregations,
that the names of these religious denominations and their re-
spective numerical importance can be collected from our reports.
In the special report of the visiting Commissioner upon each
parish, or union of parishes, will be found a table showing the
number of the inhabitants according to the census of 1831,
classified into their several denominations, and a second table
showing the numbers in 1834 (similarly classified), as resulting
from the local inquiry, and specifying, in a note annexed
thereto, whether the latter result had been obtained by a corn.
Mutation from the census of 1831, or from an original census
furnished to the reporting Commissioner.

We have here to observe, that with respect to any given pa-
rish (even where its ecclesiastical and civil name is the same),
the numbers of its population, in the year 1831, as stated in
the first of these tables, will be found not to accord with the
numbers for the same nominal parish appearing in the popula-
tion returns for 1831, excepting in those cases where the terri-
torial extent of the ecclesiastical and civil parish happen to be
identical.

With respect to the enumeration of the population of Ireland
made in 1831, which has served as the basis of our inquiry, we
have had every reason to be satisfied of its general correctness ;
and, on the whole, we present to your Majesty our census of
Ireland for the past year with a full confidence that it affords a
very close approximation to the truth in a matter where perfect
accuracy is nearly unattainable. If, however, there is any part
of our census which exhibits the true state of the population
more precisely than another, it is that which relates to the mem-
bers of the Established Church; as not only the comparative
smallness of their numbers in some parts of the country, and
their social position, render them more easy of enumeration,
but in a large number of parishes we have been enabled to re-
turn the Protestants of the Established Church on the authority
of censuses made for the occasion by their own clergymen, and
carefully investigated at the local inquiry held by the visiting
Commissioners.

We have, however, in very few instances been enabled to
state the number of Presbyterians from an original census of
their own minister. This did not arise from any unwilling-
ness on the part of the Presbyterian clergymen to assist our
inquiries, but from the circumstance of their cure of souls be-
ing independent of territorial divisions. As the Presbyterians
resident in any given parish frequently belonged to congrega-
tions of different ministers, it was impossible for us to state
their numbers by original census, unless all those ministers at-
tended at the inquiry, and tendered a census of such members
of their respective congregations as dwelt in the parish.
Hence it happened that we were prevented from making use
of the census of a Presbyterian minister containing his own
congregation, in most of the cases in which it was offered
to us.

The statement which we have above made with respect to
the accuracy of the censuses contained in our report applies
especially to the rural districts, and all the less considerable
towns. But in the large towns we have been forced to be
contented with a less scrupulous accuracy, on account of the
extreme difficulty of ascertaining, except at an enormous
expense, the true number of the inhabitants, and the reli-
gious persuasion of each person, in places where there is
a large and fluctuating poor population, who are lodged in
houses where each room is often a separate tenement, and
who are frequently unknown to their neighbours, or even to
their fellow-lodgers. With regard to Belfast, Waterford,
Limerick, and Cork, we have obtained returns of which the
errors probably lie within a small compass • with regard to
Dublin, however, where the difficulties which we have just
intimated were far greater than in the other large towns, the
results which we have obtained are not such that any reliance
can be placed on their minute accuracy. In some Dublin pa-
rishes (as those of St. Paul and St. Anne) the enumerator
performed his task in such a manner that the error in the re-
sult may be considerable : in others the population was ascer-
tained with as much corectuess as was possible, by means of a
census made three years before, in a city where there is a con-
stantly fluctuating population ; and in a few the numbers were
ascertained with a close approximation to the truth,by an original
census made for the occasion under the inspection of the re-
spective clergymen. In many of the Dublin parishes, like-
wise, the Commissioner was assisted by a comparison of a
census of the Protestants made by the clergymen of the Esta-
blished Church in the year 1832. By these means we have
succeeded in giving such an account of the population of the
Dublin parishes as is not, in our opinion, very wide of the
truth ; and which, in some parishes, approaches it as closely
as the circumstances of the case admit; hut we should not
feel justified in claiming for it the same amount of credit to.
which we consider our numerical statements for the rest of
Ireland as properly entitled.
The special reports of the visiting Commissioners upon
all the several benefices and parishes in every diocese of
Ireland are now completed, and consist of two parts ; the
first of which, hereunto annexed, we beg leave to submit to
your Majesty.
In this first part, all matters relating to population and to

religious institutions are presented under a form of arrange-
ment which brings the whole, as appertaining to each parish
or union of parishes, at once into view.
The benefices are, as far as possible, arranged under the
classes to which they were severally represented to belong. In
Class I. are ordinary Rectories and Vicarages ; in Class 11.
Perpetual Cures ; and in Class 111., such Impropriate Cures
as are held separately from any other benefice. It is to be
observed, with respect to this last class, that, in some of them,
although commonly denominated " impropriate cures," it is
out of appropriate funds that provision is made for the pay-
ment of the curate.

A separate class (Class IV.) has likewise been formed of
parishes or other districts, in which no provision for the cure
of souls appeared to exist.
In the second part, which we shall shortly present to your
Majesty, will be contained the results of our inquiry respecting
schools in each benefice, arranged in the same successive order

as in the first part.
It appears that the population of Ireland, as deducible from
the census which we now offer, consists of 852,064 of the
Established Church, 6,427,712 Roman Catholics, 642,356
Presbyterians, and 21,808 other Protestant Dissenters; making,
in the whole, 7,943,940 persons. But it is observable, that
in proceeding upon the census of 1831, the religion of
18,951 persons included therein could not be now ascertained,
on account of changes of residence which had taken place
since that year, and the difficulty of discovering their actual
domicile. Of the persons so omitted, a considerable portion
were doubtless supplied by means of original censuses; leav-
ing, however, a residue which ought not to be altogether over-
looked in estimating the total population of Ireland for 1834.
From the same census it also appears that the proportion,
per centum, borne by the several religious denominations in
Ireland to ;he total population, is as follows :—The Members
of the Established Church, 10 726-1000 ; the Roman Ca-
tholics, 80 913-1000; the Presbyterians, ti 86-1000; andthe
other Protestant Dissenters, 275-1000. And in reference to
the proportions of the several religious persuasions, it is fur-
ther observable that, whilst it does not appear to us that there
_ _

s any unusual inequality in the distribution of the general po-
pulation, it will be seen, upon a review of our Reports, that
the Members of the Established Church are very unequally
dispersed over the country. It will accordingly be found that

there are some benefices (more particularly the southern
and western parts of Ireland) in which there are no Mem-
bers of the Established Church ; that there are others in which

there are but few; whilst, in others, more especially in the
large towns, their number is considerable. The Roman Ca-
tholics are generally diffused over all parts of the country, but
exhibit the largest numbers, as compared with the rest of the
population, in the provinces of Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam.
The Presbyterians reside chiefly in the province of Armagh
—whilst the other Protestant Dissenters do not prevail in
any peculiar district—but are, for the most part, inhabitants
of towns.

It is also observable that in some instances, from the great
extent of the benefice, the Members of the Established Church
arc widely scattered amongst the other inhabitants, whilst—
owing to the lengthened form, or other local peculiaries of
other benefices—they are at an inconvenient distance
from the place of worship, or from the residence of the
clergy assigned to them. The same inconvenience also occa-
sionally arises from the fact that the parishes in union are not
contiguous to each other, and that the intermediate distance
is in some cases very considerable. Hence it happens that
sometimes the parishioners resort to other places of worship
which are more conveniently situated for them, and that fre-
quently the labours of the minister in the strict performance of
his parochial duties must be unduly increased.
Having thus submitted to your Majesty a statement of the
principles on which we have conducted our inquiry, and ad-
verted to a few of the general circumstances that may not be
distinctly apparent in our special reports, we shall abstain from
enlarging upon the various important results deducible from
the detail of the circumstances into which we have inquired.
In adopting this course we are influenced by the considera-
tion, that inasmuch as the inquiry committed to our charge is
essentially of a statistical nature, and as we are not authorised
to recommend remedial measures in respect to the anomalous
relation in which the institutions, of the Established Church
stand, with reference both to its own members, and to the rest
of the population in the greater part of Ireland, as apparent
from those facts as set forth in our Reports, any comments up-
on those facts illustrative of that relation would necessarily in-
volve us in the lengthened discussion of many matters of se-
rious import, not comprehended, as we conceive, within the
scope of our inquiry.
We feel, however, that the condensed results of some of the
leading heads of our inquiry may conduce to the clear under-
standing of the whole. We have, therefore, formed the fol-
lowing summaries for each diocese and province, and, finally,
for the whole of Ireland ; which, amongst other particulars,
exhibit at one view the state of the population in respect to the
different religious persuasions, and the proportion of each to
the whole; the number of parishes, and of places of worship;
the state of the benefices in reference to unions; the con-

tiguity of the united parishes; the places of worship ; the re-
sidence of incumbents ; the existence of glebe-houses ; the
total population of each benefice, and the number of members
of the Established Church belonging to each benefice. The
last of these heads, by classifying the benefices according as
the members of the Established Church in each are above or
below successive numbers in a scale ascending from 0 to above
5,000, will bring clearly into view the degree, in which, as has
been already noticed, their unequal distribution prevails
throughout the several dioceses in Ireland.
(The Report then gives the summary of results for each
province and diocese ; but the summary for the whole of Ire-
land will afford the grand results of the investigation for the
reader.]

SUMMARY.
POPULATION, 1834.

Members of the Established Church
Roman Catholics 6,427,712
Presbyterians 642,356
Other Protestant Dissenters 21,808

Total 7,943,940
PROPORTION PER CENTUM TO THE TOTAL POPULATION.

'embers of the Established Church.......

Roman Catholics

Presbyterians

Other Protestant Dissenters

NUMBEIL OF PLACES OF WORSHIP
Established Church.—Churches
Other places of Worship
Roman Catholic
Presbyterian
Other Protestant Dissenters

Total

726
10, 0-0-0

913
80-
1000
8';
81000
275

10; 0

1,338

196
0,105
452
403

4,494

rmusliEs OR DISTRICTS
With Provision for the Cure of Souls
Without Provision for the Cure of Souls

Total
Number of members of the Established Church in 1834,
in Parishes or Districts, without Provision for Cure of
Souls

NUMBER. OF BENEFICES
Consisting of single parishes
Being unions of two or more parishes

Total
NUNIBEK OF BENEFICES
Being Unions in which the Parishes are not contiguous...
In which there is a Glebe-house
In which there is no Glebe-house

NUMBER OF BENEFICES
in which there is more than one Church ...
in which there is only one Church
in which there is no Church
In which the Incumbent is resident
In which the Incumbent is non-resident, but Divine Ser-
vice is performed by him or a Curate in a Place of
Worship
In which the Incumbent is non-resident, and no Divine
Service is performed by him or a Curate in a Place of
Worship

NUMBER OF BENEFICES
In which the entire population is not more than 100
In which the population is more than 100, and not more

2,348
57

2,405

3,030

1,385

118
1,057
210
889

than 200
In which the entire population is more than 200, and not
more than 500
In which the entire population is more than 500, and not
_ _

more than 1,000
In which the entire population is more than 1,000, and
not more than 3,000
In which the entire population is more than 3,000, and
not mere than 5,000
In which the entire population is more than 5,000, and
not more than 10,000
In which the entire population is more than 10,000, and
not more than 15,000
In which the entire population is more than 15,000 and
not more than 20,000
In which the entire population is more than 20,000 and
not more than 30,000
In which the entire population is more than 30,000

NUMBER OF BENEFICES
In which there is no member of the Established .Church
In which there is 1 and not more than 20
In which there are more than 20, and not more than 50
In which there are more than 50, and not more than 100
In which there are more than 100, and not more than 200
In which there are more than 200, and not more than 500
In which there are more than 500, and not more than 1,000
In which there are more than 1,000, and not more than

• 277

99
124
160
224
286
209

2,000
139
In which there are more than 2,000, and not more than
5,000
In which there are more than 5.000 l2
It may be necessary to remark here, in explanation of the
preceding summaries, that we have included cathedrals, pa-
rish churches, and chapels of ease, under the head of
Churches ;" whilst, under that of " other Places of Wor-
ship of the Established Church," we have included those
places in which Divine Service is performed by a Minister of
the Established Church ; it being not an unusual custom to
make use of a school-house, or other suitable place which may
be conveniently situated for that purpose, in those benefices
where there is either no Church, or where the Church is situ-
ated at an inconvenient distance from a part of the parish-
ioners. Private places of worship, and those situated in gaols
or other establishments which are not open to the public,
though generally noticed in the Reports, have not been counted
in the Summary ; but all other places of worship of the Esta-
blished Church which are open to the public, have been in-
cluded under one or other of the above mentioned heads, ac-
cording to their particular nature. In respect to the residence
of incumbents, it is observable that we have taken this to mean
residence strictly within the limits of the benefice ; although
the use of the term in that strict sense necessarily excludes, as
non-residents, those incumbents, who, from want of accom-
modation, or other such cause, reside in an adjoining bene-
fice. It sometimes happens, too, that incumbents, so resi-

ding, are more conveniently situated for the discharge of their
parochial duties, than others who are, strictly speaking, resi-
dent within the benefice. But it became necessary to fix
some certain rule, and if not determined by the lineal boun-
dary of the benefice, each case would have involved a ques-
tion of degree, as to whether the distance was such as would
admit of the incumbent being considered as virtually resident
or not.

In the Appendix annexed to our Reports will be found re-
turns made to us by the registrars of the several dioceses in
Ireland, which will exhibit the state of each diocese in respect
to the number of beneficed clergy and curates; the number
of benefices with, and the number without cure of souls, and
the number of instances in which an incumbent holds more
than one benefice.

We have also appended similar returns, made at our re-
quest by the several bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in
Ireland, showing the names and number of parish priests,
curates, and places of worship in the several dioceses, accord-
ing to he divisions adopted in that Church.
We have in conclusion to remark, that we shall reserve any
reference to the results of our inquiry respecting the Schools
and State of Education now existing in Ireland, until we pre-
sent the Second Part of our Reports to your Majesty.
We, the Commissioners of Public Instruction, Ireland,
whose names are hereunto subscribed, humbly submit to your
Majesty this our First Report.
BROUGHAM. A. LYLE.
DUNCANNON. W. NEWPORT.
HATHERTON. D. G. LURE.
T. D'OYLY. J. F. STRANGWAYS.
T. H. LISTER. N. O'D. BROWNE.
W. H. CURRAN. J. GIBSON.
G. B. LENNARD. A. AUSTIN.
E. C. TUFNELL. W. M'DERMOTT.
D. MAUDE. J. MOODY.
G. C. LEWIS. W. G. CRAIG.
W. T. HAMILTON. A. WILLS.
M. BARRINGTON, Secretary to the Commis