§ The EARL of ST. GERMANSbegged to ask a question of the noble Marquess opposite respecting a union of parishes in the diocese of Ossory in Ireland. The union of Burnchurch consisted of no less than eleven parishes, extending over a district of thirty miles in length, united under one rector. The matter had been brought under the notice of Parliament, and a Bill was passed (the 8th and 9th Vic. c. 95), in 1845, for the purpose of facilitating the subdivision of that and other unions; but he believed the intentions of the Legislature had never been carried into effect. He understood that some difficulty had arisen in consequence of a dispute regarding the patronage. But he wished to know whether Her Majesty's Government had determined to carry the provisions of the Bill into effect; for there was nothing so detrimental to the interest of the Established Church, as the existence of those unions.
§ The MARQUESS of LANSDOWNEentirely concurred in the concluding observation of the noble Earl, and he thought it highly necessary to effect the severance of such extraordinarily large unions of parishes. He had spoken with the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary for Ireland upon the subject, and that right hon. Gentleman had informed him that the difficulty of effecting the severance, in the case alluded to, arose out of a dispute between the bishop and the dean as to the right of presentation.