Related Archive: Henry Boyle

Boyle Surplus

Archived: 12 October 2026

Abstract

In 1753, Ireland’s exchequer surplus provoked a constitutional crisis when the Dublin Commons, led by Speaker Henry Boyle, rejected a debt bill returned from Britain with Crown control over expenditure. The dispute affirmed Commons resistance to executive interference but exposed the limits of parliament under Poynings’ Law, Protestant ascendancy and Westminster’s claimed supremacy; bargaining continued for years. In Dublin, the failing Essex Bridge was dismantled and replacement foundations begun, disrupting traffic while signalling Georgian engineering ambition. Authorities also addressed coal prices, begging, street cleaning and Kildare unrest. George Berkeley died in Oxford, ending an episcopate marked by practical improvement schemes.

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1740 CE

Bread Riots

Archived: 13 October 2026

Abstract

In 1740, severe frost followed by drought disrupted Ireland’s potatoes, grain, livestock and food distribution, initiating the famine 1741. Rising prices made provisions inaccessible to labourers and cottiers, while Dublin crowds rioted from 31 May to 2 June, seizing and redistributing bread, meal and beef at lower prices. Authorities banned food exports, pursued alleged market manipulators, imposed port restrictions and offered rewards, but parliament did not organise comprehensive relief. Archbishop Boulter and charities provided fragmented assistance. The crisis exposed inequalities in landholding, markets and welfare, while autumn brought no recovery before renewed winter, fever and dysentery worsened famine in 1741.

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