Catalogue description Irish Customs Board Records

Irish commissioners of revenue were first appointed under an act of 1662. They supervised the entire Irish revenue, including customs and excise, crown rents, quit rents and hearth money. The revenues were under their sole management from 1682, when farming ceased, and a Receiver General was appointed in the following year. Not all the commissioners had equal powers; of their number, which was usually seven, only five were competent to deal with excise duties. In 1789 the Irish Revenue Board was reorganised, and of the nine commissioners now appointed, four dealt with customs, two with excise, and three with both kinds of duty.

The business of customs and excise was divided, and the respective boards were directed to sit and act separately, though still composed partly of the same members. In 1801 the division was made more complete, and the boards were entirely separated by an act of 1807 which empowered the crown to appoint seven commissioners for each revenue. Unlike the English and Scottish boards, the Irish Boards of Customs exercised certain judicial functions, sitting to hear revenue causes arising in the Dublin district; and there were courts of subcommissioners, composed of the principal customs officers, to try those arising in the country.

The Irish board was abolished in 1823 when a single Board of Customs for the United Kingdom was established, though until 1830 Irish customs were under the management of one of the commissioners and two assistant commissioners resident at Dublin.