• About the 1831 Tithe Defaulters
• Counties covered
• The Affidavits
• Information in the Schedules
• What do the index records include?
• Source documents
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If a clergyman wished to seek assistance under the terms of the Act, he had to:

• swear an Affidavit setting out the methods he had employed in attempting to recover the arrears
• write a Schedule with the 'Names, Descriptions, and Places of Abode of the Persons, Occupiers of Land' within his Parish or the 'Representatives of such of them as are dead'
• state how much tithe was due from each individual and how much they were in arrears.

The 1,061 pages of Tithe Defaulters record 29,027 names across 232 Parishes (see counties below) during June to August, 1832. This unique record of names, addresses and occupations provides an important genealogical source for Ireland, especially given the near total destruction of the 1831 census. Tithe Applotment Books cover more of Ireland but do not record occupations, or have the variety of 'observations' included in this Index.

The 1831 Tithe Defaulters Schedules, published on CD by Eneclann, are compiled by Stephen McCormac.

Click here to buy the CD in the Origins Store

The Affidavits repeatedly convey the united resistance to the payment of tithes, which they call a 'Combination'. Some mention the Whitefoot System and 'Hurlers', where under the pretext of holding hurling matches, mass protest meetings were held. The majority of the Affidavits deal with the violent resistance to the tithes. For example:

That in consequence of the general resistance to the payment of Tithes.... no proceedings were taken to enforce payment....and also from a Notice being posted up in said Parish (Grange Silvia, Co.Kilkenny) that if John Lane, who was employed in collecting said Tithes, did not quit said parish, to prepare his Coffin.
Affidavit of the Rev. John French

Memorialist was deterred... by the murder of the Rev. Mr. Whiting in his immediate neighbourhood.
Affidavit of the Rev. William Hughes

Several Affidavits refer to 'the affair at Carrickshock'. This incident terrified the clergymen and ended their attempts to recover tithe arrears. On 14th December 1831 in Carrickshock, County Kilkenny, a crowd of 500 people followed 38 police under Chief Constable Captain Gibbons, and a process server, Edmund Butler, whom the police were protecting. The crowd wanted Butler to be handed over to them. The confrontation turned nasty when a hail of stones rained down on the police and Gibbons, 14 sub-constables, Butler and 25 to 30 local people were killed.

The clergyman in whose parish this incident occurred understates the affair:

...by citation, and frequent notices to pay and settle afterwards by filing Bills in the Court of Exchequer, all which were rendered ineffectual by a combination and conspiracy among the Roman Catholic Parishioners which ended in the murder of the Chief Constable of Police and fourteen Sub-Constables.
Affidavit of Hans Hamilton, Vicar of Knocktopher

• Address: Coolnabrone alias Corrigan Townland, Powerstown Parish.
  Name: Anstace Norris, wife of John Norris, carpenter, living in America. Did Anstace ever join her husband in America, or did John return to Ireland? This entry also gives us the townland name change.
• Samuel Millet - Schoolmaster, lived in Thomastown Co. Kilkenny. Most important for the genealogist, we are told that he has emigrated.
• Mr Holohan now holds the property of Lawrence Martin in Middlenock, Kilkenny City.
• Conohy Chapel Quarter in Grange McCombe Parish, Co. Kilkenny, John, Richard and James Downey are all listed as Michael's sons. And on the previous page we are told that Michael is the son of James Downey. In this way we have grandfather, father and grandsons.
• In the same parish Richard Downey listed as 'Soldier's brother'.
• James Butler, Marquess of Ormonde was a tithe defaulter in the parish of Dunmore. And then this entry was crossed out.
• Inistioge Parish, Lord Ormonde appears as a tithe defaulter; presumably this is the same James Butler.
• Townland of Ballyduffe, Inistioge Parish, Sir J.C. Coghill, Baronet. This is obviously the same Jonah Coghill who witnessed the affidavits of various clergymen in co Kilkenny. Yet he was afraid to pay his tithes, as was James Butler, Lord Ormonde. Or were they merely playing the system?
• Townland of Kilcreddy in Derrynahinch Parish, Edmond Walsh listed as a tithe defaulter 'for wood'. What does this mean? Did he pay tithes on a piece of woodland he held? Did one pay tithes on woodland?

The List of Defaulters page gives the full list of defaulters recorded for a parish in the order they appear on the original document. This is an important tool as names are often grouped together for a reason. eg. An entry states that a person is the 'rep.' of the next entry (i.e. the representative of, being most commonly the executor). Women are recorded as the 'widow' of the following entry.

Click images to see a larger versions.

Application under the Clergy Relief Fund, 1831

Oath sworn on the Affidavit

The Memorial

The Schedule of Tithe Defaulters

See also:	Subscriber Searches - The 1831 Tithe Defaulters
	Example image - Application under the Clergy Relief Fund, 1831
	Example image - Oath sworn on the Affidavit
	Example image - The Memorial
	Example image - The Schedule of Tithe Defaulters
	Article: Tithe Defaulters Lists: Do They Hold Clues For You?
	About the author - Stephen McCormac
	Origins Store - Buy 1831 Tithe Defaulters on CD
	Source Record Archives
	Logged in users search the collection

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