BANKS. 123 



The Bank of Ireland participated with the Provincial, in the two latter 

 years, in meeting the rush for gold in the provinces ; for, in the meantime, 

 the Act of 9 George IV., c. 8i, had been passed, putting it on a level with 

 the other existing banks, as regards paying all notes at the places where 

 they were issued. 



In the first of these years, for the convenience of the public, the Provincial 

 Bank had opened an office in Dublin, where they paid their own notes in 

 gold, but did not reissue them, or keep customers' accounts. Legislation 

 was construed as not disallowing such establishments, of mere agency, but 

 the Bank of Ireland considered the presence of the Provincial Bank in 

 Dublin an infringement of its vested rights in the metropolis and fifty miles 

 district, and brought an action in their vindication, December, 1828. The 

 verdict was for the plaintiffs, with dd. damages, and ^d. costs ; which marked 

 the public sentiment in the situation. In 1826, the Dublin merchants and 

 traders had memorialised the Lords of the Treasury to permit Joint Stock 

 Banks to be established in the city, indicating the disadvantages at which 

 they were placed in comparison with other towns where banking facilities 

 were not so restricted ; but their petition for bank extension had not been 

 entertained. The outcome of the lawsuit referred to was — an arrangement 

 between the two Banks, which led to the Act of 1830 (i William IV., c. 32) 

 empowering Joint Stock Banks to pay notes in Dublin, for the purpose, 

 only, of withdrawing them from circulation. As Mr. Malcolm Dillon says : 



" The Provincial Bank was the real pioneer of Irish banking. It fell to the 

 lot of that institution to combat with existing^ prejudices, to g^uide legislation, 

 and step by step to secure the freedom of trade in banking." 



Other "runs" on it took place in 1833 and 1836 — and in common with 

 the other banks, the Bank of Ireland and the National Bank particularly. 



The scarcity of money in London was then so extreme that even the 

 Exchequer bills could hardly be converted into cash. Mr. Pierce Mahony 

 stated in his evidence before the House of Commons Committee, in 1837, 

 that the supply of gold transmitted to Ireland from the Bank of England 

 during this panic, which lasted about a month, was almost iJ"2,ooo,ooo. The 

 Provincial Bank was prepared for it, and had specie on hands exceeding the 

 amount of its note-issue. In 1839 there was another but a small " run " on 

 the Provincial ; in 1 856 there was a considerable one, owing to the stop- 

 page of the Royal British and Tipperary Banks, and other causes. In 1875 

 it lost heavily by the series of huge linen failures in the north of Ireland. In 

 Belfast the Provincial had opened in 1826, in Donegall-street ; in 1870, it 

 moved to its present stately pile, erected on ground in the defunct Hercules- 

 place, sold (very shortsightedly, and to the dissatisfaction of many Belfast 

 Catholics at the time) by the Committee of the old Catholic Institute. In 

 1882, it adopted limited liability. 



The Belfast Banking Company was the next in the order of establish- 

 ment. It was formed, with a capital of ;^500,ooo, by an amalgamation of 

 the old Belfast Bank and the Commercial Bank, Belfast, and commenced 

 business August i, 1827. Its head office was, and is, what was the historic 

 Old Exchange — the place where the Irish Harpers' meeting was held in 

 1792, where winter subscription balls were given, and where Henry Joy 

 M'Cracken was tried and sentenced to death, July 17, 1798, being hanged at 



