CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



TOTAL VALUE OF IMPORTS INTO IRELAND FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND BRITISH POSSESSIONS ABROAD, 

 AND EXPORTS FROM IRELAND TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND BRITISH POSSESSIONS ABROAD, 1868-1870. 



GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION. 



For civil and other purposes, the island is 

 divided into 4 provinces Ulster, Leinster, Mun- 

 ster, and Connaught which are subdivided into 

 32 counties, and these, again, into baronies, hun- 

 dreds, and other minor sections. The following 

 table shews the population of the counties and 

 provinces of Ireland, according to the census of 

 1881 : 



LHNSTER 



Carlow 46.508 



Dublin 418,152 



Kildare 76,102 



Kilkenny 99,064 



King's 72,668 



Longford 60,790 



Louth 78,228 



Meath 86,301 



Queen's 72.598 



Westmeath 71,513 



Wexford 123,587 



Wicklow. 73,679 



Total 1,279,190 



MUNSTER 



dare 141,210 



Cork 492,810 



Kerry 200,448 



Limerick 177,203 



Tipperary 199,004 



Waterford "3,235 



Total 1,323,910 



ULSTER 



Antrim 423- I 7* 



Armagh 162,823 



Cavan 129,008 



Donegal 205,443 



Down 169,927 



Fermanagh 84,633 



Londonderry 164,714 



Monaghan. 102,590 



Tyrone 197,233 



Total i,739>543 



CONNAUGHT 



Galway .241,662 



Leitrim 89,795 



Mayo 243,030 



Roscommon 131, 755 



Sligo 110,955 



Total 817,197 



Leinster 1,279,190 



Munster 1,323,910 



Ulster 1,739,542 



Connaught 817,197 



Total 5,159,839 



The government of the country, since the 

 Union in 1801, has been incorporated with that 

 of Great Britain. It is represented in the 

 imperial parliament by 28 members of the 

 House of Lords, and 103 of the House of 

 Commons. The executive government is invested 

 in a Lord-lieutenant, assisted by a Privy-council 

 and chief- secretary. The mass of the Irish 

 people have long been bitterly discontented with 

 the administration of the country, and through 

 the majority of their representatives in parliament 

 have demanded ' Home Rule ' local autonomy 

 under a national Irish parliament, meeting in 

 Dublin. In 1885, Mr Gladstone's government 

 intimated their readiness to grant this concession, 

 and introduced a bill giving to Ireland Home 

 Rule in a very wide sense ; followed by a bill 

 buying up the rights of Irish landlords in the soil. 



Religion. The dominant religion in Ireland is 

 the Roman Catholic. Up to 1869, the Established 

 Church was 3. branch of the Church of England. 

 But by act of parliament, passed in that year 



261 



(32 and 33 Viet, c. 42), the Episcopal Church was 

 disestablished in Ireland. Immediately on the 

 aassing of the act, in accordance with its i ith and 

 [2th clauses, the Irish Church Temporalities Com- 

 missioners took over all the property which the 

 ate Ecclesiastical Commissioners had under their 

 control, and issued forms of claim to be filled up 

 ay every clergyman, or other person entitled to 

 receive a continuance of income, or compensation, 

 under the terms of the act. The igth section of 

 the act provides for the reorganisation of the 

 church ; in accordance with which, a clerical 

 synod met in Dublin, on I4th September 1869, to 

 consult on the representation of the clergy in a 

 future general convention of bishops, clergy, and 

 iaity. This 'National Synod of the Church of 

 Ireland,' consisting of the provincial synods of 

 Armagh and Tuam, and of Dublin and Cashel, 

 met in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and closed 

 its session on i6th September. It was resolved 

 ' that this synod deems it its duty to place upon 

 record a declaration that it is now called upon not 

 to originate a constitution for a new communion, 

 but to repair a sudden breach in one of the most 

 ancient churches of Christendom.' A meeting of 

 laymen was subsequently held in Dublin, with a 

 view to passing regulations as to the representa- 

 tion of the laity in the general synod of the church. 

 It was resolved that, in the opinion of the meeting, 

 'the clerical and lay representatives should sit and 

 discuss all questions together in the general synod, 

 with the right to vote by orders, if demanded by 

 three of either order present at the meeting.' A 

 resolution was also carried, affirming the expedi- 

 ency of fixing the number of lay representatives in 

 the general synod in the proportion of two to one 

 of the clergy. On the second day of the meeting, 

 it was resolved ' that the dioceses should be 

 divided into three groups, and allotted a represen- 

 tation as follows : Down, 71 ; Armagh, 72 ; Dublin, 

 59 ; Derry, 36 ; Kilmore, 34 ; Cork, 38 ; Ossory, 

 36 ; Tuam, 19 ; Meath, 23 ; Killaloe, 19 ; Limerick, 

 19 ; Cashel, 20 total, 446.' It was also resolved 

 that 'no test be required of the electors in any 

 parish, district, or congregation, except the declara- 

 tion that they are residents in the parish, or mem- 

 bers of the congregation, and members of the 

 Church of Ireland, and twenty-one years of age.' 

 The general convention assembled to legislate on 

 church matters on I5th February 1870. It was 

 resolved that ' no question shall be decided except 

 by a majority of the bishops present, and a 

 majority of the clerical and lay representatives 

 present, whether voting conjointly or separately, 

 provided always, that when any motion has been 



