Liberties

English Background

Liberties in England had developed in an attempt to enlist local magnates in the preservation of order by giving them a share of the profits of justice and the dues arising in larger liberties. They were administered by the hundred courts presided over by officials of the local magnates rather than by the royal officials.

After the Norman conquest, feudal lord was given the right to hold court for his tenants in relation to matters arising out of the feudal relationship.  Some magnates succeeded in obtaining grants, excluding royal officials both sheriffs and justices from their lands.  By the 12th and 13th century, the greater franchises developed these rights into what were later be called palatines. The franchise holders / liberties were represented in parliament.

Liberties in Ireland

There existed in Medieval Ireland a number of liberties and franchises. From the 13th to the 16th century, they effectively, fell out  of the control of the Crown government in Dublin.  They came to be dominated by the Anglo-Irish magnates.  They in turn became significantly Gaelicised over the period.

The liberties of Leinster and Ulster were divided into shires for administrative convenience.  By the end of the 13th century, many of the modern counties had taken shape. Liberties could be divided on succession to the lordship by a number of co-heirs.

Liberties were held by families and devolved in accordance with the law of succession.  Liberties could revert to the Crown.  Thy could be held as coparceners  or by widows.  The falling of liberties to the Crown was an important source of revenue and control.  In the later medieval periods, the Crown claimed rights to reclaim franchises because of the failure of heirs.

In addition to major franchises, there was a range of minor liberties, with courts of individual lords and communities, which claimed  franchises of one type or another.

Classes of Liberties

Within the liberties, the Crown’s rights were significantly more limited.  They were limited by  the terms of the particular liberties, which differed significantly.  The extent to which the consent of liberty of the lord was required for particular matters depended on the terms of the grant.  This could be significant in terms of reversion of interest and the rights of the Crown relative to the lord generally, within the area concerned.  The terms of the charter of the Liberty to the Lord determined the extent to which the crown retained jurisdiction over a particular matter.

The greater liberties were organised along the model of royal administration which then became. Kildare became  a royal county at the end of the 13th century.  Ulster was subdivided into five shires.  The Lord is represented by a Stewart which was distinct from the sheriff of the county.  The liberty and the county may be coterminous which was generally the case outside of  Ulster.  The Stewart took an oath to the king as well as the Lord of Liberty.

Law and Administration in the Liberties

The law of the land was applicable within liberties, but must be executed by the lord.  The royal writ of error could issue to ensure that this was done. Outside of this, the King’s officials could not enter the liberty unless there had been a failure to execute a royal writ.  Liberties could ultimately be forfeited.

Within the liberties, the lord’s, writ ran and the lords peace was enforced. A system of government paralleling that of the King on a smaller scale, existed.

The lord had a council  equivalent that for the King with the seneschal acting in his absence. Within the liberties, locally based government was based organised in the same lines as in the King’s shires, with sheriffs, chief sergeants and sergeants of baronies.  County courts existed parallel to those in the royal counties with the same jurisdiction.

Seneschal

The seneschal was equivalent to the justiciar/lord lieutenant.  He represented the lord and was an all-powerful officials with administrative, judicial and military functions.  He presided over the liberty court and dealt with cases which outside liberties, would have gone to the Itinerant justices or the Kings Bench in Dublin.

He accounted for his lord at the Dublin exchequer, dealing with his lord’s liability for relief, fines, scutages and other obligations and also debts owed to the crown by others within the liberty which had been ordered for collection by royal writ. There appears to be an office equivalent to a chancellor in the principal liberties.  There were  also receiver and  treasurers dealing with financial matters.

The seneschal was assisted by justices in relation to judicial matters.  During the 13th century, liberties obtained the right to use judicial procedure so that  cases relating to land held by free tenure was decided by a verdict of the jury. Lords exercised the right of escheats in certain liberties and the King’s prerogative right of wardship was abandoned in respect of the tenants in chief.

Courts

The sheriff of the liberty presided in the county court.  This was distinct from the court where the Stewart sat as judge in the pleas which exceeded the jurisdiction of the sheriff, which were not reserved to the Crown.  On judicial business, the Stewart was accompanied by members of the Lord’s council, justices and assessors.

The liberties had their own exchequer, chancellors and treasurers / receivers. Within Ulster, there appears to have been itinerant  justices within the liberties. If it is necessary for  a writ to be executed within one of the Leinster liberties, the sheriff of Dublin was charged with arranging that this was done by the liberty administration.  The Sheriff of the Leinster made return to the Sheriff of Dublin.  The same practice applied in Ulster until the turn of the 14th century, when  the Irish Parliament provided for separate royal sheriffs of Ulster and Meath.

The writ of error was used to review courts of records.  In the case of courts which were not of record, writs of false judgment were used which had their common feature, the recording of the plea by the Sheriff and the verbal testimony of four persons.  The proceedings of county courts and liberties were not records.