Irish private bill legislation, 1692-1800

What is it about?

Between 1692 and 1800, 485 private bills and heads of private bills were initiated in Ireland, of which 313 (or 65%) received the royal assent. Initially, most private bills were admitted to the political process through the medium of the Irish privy council, but once the house of commons had asserted its primacy as the place of origin of Irish law, private bills increasingly took their rise as heads of private bills in the lower house. A majority of private bills appertained to family settlements, and their particular character obliged both Houses of the Irish parliament and both the British and Irish Privy Councils which scrutinized legislation to establish procedures that are at once revealing of the operation of these bodies and of the privileged position of the elite who could avail of this means to advance and protect their interests.

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