Mallow, a market town and watering place on the north bank of the River Blackwater, had a ‘lucrative trade’ in the manufacture of candles, soap, blankets and flannel. A corporation of a provost, 12 free burgesses and commonalty had been established by charter in 1612, but had quickly fallen ‘into disuse’, leaving the seneschal of the manor to govern the town.
Kinsale, a market town at the mouth of the River Bandon, had a ‘capacious and secure harbour’ dealing ‘chiefly in the export of agricultural produce, and the import of timber ... and coal, iron and salt’.S. Lewis, Top. Dict. of Ireland (1837), ii.
Ireland’s ‘second city’ of Cork, a county of itself, boasted an ‘almost matchless’ natural harbour, in which a vast shipbuilding and naval supply industry had developed during the Napoleonic wars, situated around the victualling yards at Cobh (Cove) on Great Island, providing local contractors with large fortunes. The impact of the navy’s gradual withdrawal during this period was countered by the growth of an ‘extensive trade in corn and flour’ and the establishment of cutlery, glass and glove manufactories. S. Lewis, Top. Dict. of Ireland (1837), ii.
Youghal, a port and market town on the south coast ‘much frequented during the summer for sea bathing’, had a ‘considerable trade’ with England in the export of agricultural produce. The Boyles, earls of Shannon, had long dominated the representation and management of its self-elected corporation of ten aldermen (one of whom was annually elected mayor), an unlimited number of burgesses (comprising retired bailiffs) and freemen created by ‘special favour’. S. Lewis, Top. Dict. of Ireland (1837), ii. 725; PP (1831-2), xliii.
Bandon Bridge, a market town on the River Bandon with a declining cotton spinning industry and rising unemployment, had long been considered ‘a stronghold of Protestant loyalty’.S. Lewis, Top. Dict. of Ireland (1837), i. 178-80; Cork Constitution, 19 July 1831. For many years Francis Bernard of Castle Bernard, 1st earl of Bandon, had controlled its self-elected and exclusively Protestant corporation of 13 burgesses, most of whom were his close relatives and one of whom was annually elected provost.