The Irish Revenue System: Government and Administration, 1689-1702.

Abstract

This dissertation is an examination of the Irish revenue system in the reign of William III, concentrating on the extent to which the period witnessed the development of a modem, professional system, and the forces that shaped that change. The work is divided into an introduction, nine chapters, a conclusion, and five appendices. Chapter one focuses on the establishment of a Williamite revenue administration during the Irish war, 1689-91, and the extent to which that administration maintained or altered the existing Jacobite administration. Chapter two details the different revenue branches in Ireland, their origins and legislative foundations, and the comparisons with the English revenue branches. Chapter three examines revenue yield and expenditure, and the extent to which the increased costs of government in the aftermath of the war necessitated an expansion of the revenue sources. Chapter four provides an assessment of the role of the English government in the Irish revenue establishment. Chapter five profiles the personnel of the revenue commission, while chapter six examines the role of the commissioners. Chapter seven focuses on the function and personnel of the commissioners' country-wide collection service, while chapter eight looks at the diminishing role of the antiquated exchequer. Chapter nine details the developments within Irish politics and parliament in relation to the revenue, and examines how the government's increased need for money caused the advent of regular parliaments, and allowed for greater parliamentary scrutiny of the government's expenditure. The five appendices provide statistical information in support of these chapters, covering the yield of all revenue branches, expenditure, petition lists, office-holders in the exchequer, the revenue conmiission, the ancient customs offices, and the collection service, money issues from the English treasury to the Irish receiverand paymaster-general, and a list of revenue officials sitting as M.P.s in the Irish parliament.