§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state what is the Catholic and Protestant population respectively of the county of Wicklow; the number of Catholic magistrates and Protestant magistrates, exclusive of ex-officio, in the same county; the number of Catholic and Protestant magistrates appointed for the same county from the 1st July, 1895, to the 12th January 1906.
MR. BRYCEAccording to the last census, the Catholic population of county Wicklow numbered 48,083, and the Protestant population, 12,470. I am informed by the Lord Chancellor's Department that the number of magistrates in the county is 129, of whom twenty-two are believed to be Catholics, and 107 Protestants. The number appointed between 1st July, 1895, and 12th January, 1906, is forty-two, of whom three are believed to be Catholics and thirty-nine Protestants.