CONGESTED DISTRICTS BOARD 



We have seen that the self-help movement in Ireland began in 

 1889. The Department of Agriculture, which was to administer 

 State aid after the Irish people had learned to help themselves, 

 was not brought into existence till 1900. In the interval, the 

 Congested Districts Board was created for the purpose, among 

 other things, of administering State aid in congested districts. The 

 creation of the Board followed so quickly on the back of the self-help 

 movement, that, unlike the Department, it cannot be said to be the 

 outcome of that movement. The Board gave State aid, not because 

 the Irish people had helped themselves, but because at that time, 

 and in consequence of the exceptional condition of things to be 

 dealt with, it was considered right to give State aid. The creation 

 of the Board thus constitutes a break in the continuity of the 

 principle which underlies the revival of agriculture represented 

 by the watchwords, "Self-help first, State aid afterwards." We 

 must remember these things in considering the work of the Board. 

 We must also remember that self-help, though not recognised as 

 essential by the Board at the beginning, is now an indispensable 

 part of its policy.^ 



The Congested Districts Board was created by the Land Act of 

 1891. It consists of eleven members — three ex officio members, 

 viz., the Chief Secretary, the Under-Secretary, and the Vice-Pre- 

 sident of the Department of Agriculture. The remaining eight 

 members are appointed by His Majesty. Three of them are tem- 

 porary members. The Board came into existence because of the 

 exceptional and deplorable condition of life in the poorer districts 

 of Ireland. It was to continue in existence for 20 years, by 

 which time it was hoped the Board might have made life more 

 tolerable in these districts. If the work of amelioration was not 

 complete in 20 years, the Board was to continue in existence till 

 otherwise determined by Parliament. 



The 36th section of the Act defines a congested district. The 

 section is as follows : — " Where, at the commencement of this Act, 

 more than 20 per cent, of the population of a county, or, in the 

 case of the County of Cork, of either Eiding thereof, live in 

 electoral divisions of which the total rateable value when divided 

 by the number of the population gives a sum of less than £1, 10s. 

 for each individual, those divisions shall, for the purposes of the 

 Act, be separated from the county in which they are geographi- 

 cally situated and form a separate county," referred to in the Act 

 as a "congested districts county." 428 electoral divisions came 

 within the sweep of this section. They were situated in the north- 

 west, west, and south-west of Ireland, and formed part of the 

 Counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Eoscommon, Mayo, Galway, 



1 This subject is discussed more fully than we can discuss it here by Sir Horace- 

 Plunk et in his thoughtful pamphlet "The Problem of Congestion in Ireland," published 

 by the Department of Agriculture. 

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