§ SIR THOMAS ESMONDETo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland how is it that Mr. Sinnott, of Ballinaclash, Enniscorthy, county Wexford, has been sued by the Irish Land Commission for £4 11s., tithe 183 rent, in respect of his holding of fifty-four acres which he purchased under the former Land Purchase Acts, and under which purchase the proportion of the original tithe rent-charge due on his fifty-four acres should have been redeemed by the vendor, and in view of the fact that the total tithe rent for the 128 acres comprised in Ballinaclash was only £3 a year, and that seventy-four acres of that townland have been purchased by other tenants.
(Answered by Mr. Atkinson.) Before the purchase Mr. Sinnott, and not his landlord, was liable for payment of the tithe rent-charge, as he held under a lease made in 1798 for 999 years. Since the purchase by Mr. Sinnott the question of the liability has been the subject of litigation, and by an order of Mr. Justice Ross, made 7th March, 1904, Mr. Sinnott's future annual liability has been fixed at £4 11s. l0d. per annum. The £4 11s. mentioned in the Question represents unpaid arrears.