Archives | Cartlann Chill Dara
Athy Town Commissioners' Minute Books
Identity Statement
Repository Code: IE 2036
Archive Reference: KCA/ATC/M/1
Title: Minute books of Athy Town Commissioners
Creation Dates: 1855-1905
Extent Medium: 3 volumes
Context
Administrative History: King Henry VIII granted Athy a charter in 1515 which established a borough council comprised of 12 burgesses elected by the freemen of the village of Athy. Under a subsequent charter of1613 a town Sovereign was elected each year to take charge of Athy's affairs, in addition to the Borough Council. Nineteenth century reforms of local government led to the establishment of town commissioners under the Lighting of Towns (Ireland) Act 1828 in sixty-five towns; in 1840 the remaining borough councils, including Athy, were abolished by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, leaving the town without any form of municipal government. Athy was granted Town Commission status sometime between 1840 and 1843. The Commissioners retained the corporate property of the borough council and the municipal coat of arms. Further reforms took place under the 1854 Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act which allowed electors of populous places to choose to establish town commissioners and giving greater powers to town commissioners for the provision of paving, lighting, draining, cleansing, and supplying with water. In 1898 the Local Government Act gave the Town Commissioners the right to be reconstituted as Urban District Councils which came into effect in Athy on 01 April 1900.
Content and Structure
Scope and Content: Bound volumes of minutes of Athy Town Commissioners’ meetings, which were first held in the Courthouse and subsequently the Town Hall from c. 1871. The minutes record attendance, correspondence, resolutions and details of business transacted relating to issues such as the provision of public lighting, management of fairs and markets, and orders to issue payments such as for paving, repairing water pumps and gas lighting. The Commissioners also passed resolutions expressing their views on local and national matters.
Arrangement: Bound volumes are arranged chronologically.
Conditions of Use and Access
Access Conditions: Full Access
Conditions Governing Reproduction: Permission from archivist required.
Creation Dates: 1855-1905
Extent Medium: 3 volumes
Material Language: English
Allied Materials
Copies Information: One volume of minutes covering the years 1855-1891 has been digitised and can be accessed here. Kildare County Archives acknowledges the support of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Commemorations fund 2024 to digitise this volume.
Related Material: Copy of the 1613 charter of Athy Borough, Co. Kildare. Public Record Office for Northern Ireland, PRONI Reference: DIO/4/11/3
Minute book of the corporation of Athy, Co. Kildare and c.10 associated documents relating to the charters, fairs customs and lands of the boroughs of Athy, Harristown, and Kildare, Co. Kildare, 1727-1879. Public Record Office for Northern Ireland, PRONI Reference: MIC541/24
Minute book of the corporation of Athy, Co. Kildare,1738-1778. Public Record Office for Northern Ireland, PRONI Reference: D3078/4/2
Publications: Local Government in Ireland in nineteenth century Ireland, by Virginia Crossman (1994).
Eye on the Past Vol. 3, No. 518, by Frank Taaffe (2007)