i>
WICKLOW UNION.
A COPY of the MEMORIAL lo the Lord Lieutenant of Jrefa^
from Parishioners of the Union of Wicklow.
Onfcrec?,
4_y The House of Commons, to ie Prinfei, 30 Marc/i 1831.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MARQUESS OF ANGLESEY,
Lord Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland.
May it please Your Excellency, WE, the undersigned inhabitants of the Union of Wicklow, beg leave to
approach Your Excellency with the following statement of facts, and supplication for redress.
The Union of Wicklow became vacant on the 6th of January 1830, by the death of Doctor Dealtry, and according to the well known wish of Government, and the best interests of the Established Church, the Archbishop of Dublin signified his intention of dividing the Union, by instituting a correspondence and interviews with the Reverend Doctor Fletcher, who supplied him with maps, valuations and divisions of said Union, which provedit to contain above 32 square Irish miles, and above 22,000 Irish acres of the most peaceable country in Ireland.
The Archbishop gave Doctor Fletcher every reason to suppose that he would appoint him to the parish of Killiskey, of which he had been curate for twelve years, for a number of which years he receivedno salary whatever, and for the remainder onlyabout half of a curate's salary.
He intimated to him that he would make use of his documents with a view to a separation, and hoped that he would get what he could for Killiskey; desired him to take no further trouble until be again wrote to him, which would be after the usual period of such matters lying before the Privy Council; but it appears, from the Archbishop's statement to the Privy Council, dated after these communi-cations with Doctor Fletcher, that His Grace changed his mind with respect to him, and laid before Government a statement diametrically opposed to truth and fact, as will appear from the following: 1st, The Archbishop states the Union to contain only 17,000 acres, whereas the best possible map, then in his possession, proves it to contain above 22,000 Irish acres.
2dly, The Archbishop states the Union to consist of only three parishes, viz.
Drumkey, Kilpoole, and Wicklow, whereas it contains six parishes, of which Drumkey and Kilpoole are the least considerable, and the parish of Wicklow never existed; and the Archbishop was at the time in possession of a statement from the Sequestrator containing all the names of the several parishes, with their value, constituting what is commonly called the Union of Wicklow.
3dly, The Archbishop states the Union _w7/ Z»e worth 909 /.,
whereas Doctor Fletcher's valuation was 1,500 £ ; and the Archbishop's son has since declared that he will not compound for a less sum than 1,600 /.
a year, exclusive of the glebe lands, which are worth upwards of 200 Z.
per annum : and even the Sequestrator's valuation was upwards of 1,200 /.
a year.
4thly, The Archbishop states that the glebe lands are only eight acres one rood and three perches, whereas they amount to above 50 Irish acres : and the Archbishop states further, that there are but three small houses, whereas there are /owriee?i
houses on the glebe premises, one of which pays 30 /.
a year.
5thly, The Archbishop states that a very great proportion of the Union consists of mountain and marsh, woodlands and barren heath, and with little population, 327.
whereas
