TO UNDERSTAND the concept of a Manor, it is necssary
briefly to sketch the fuedal landholding system. Feudal con-
cepts which applied in Normandy were modified by Norman
custom in England and then exported almost fully developed
after the Anglo-Norman Conquest of Ireland in 1169. The
adventurers who conquered England created a system where
-by all land belonged to the King. Land was granted in par-
cels by the King to his followers who held as tenants in chief.
These magnates then divided their lands out to sub-tenants.
Land was thus the subject of a pyramid of interests under the
Crown. By controlling who could profit from the use of the
conquered land, the Crown secured allegiance throughout the
conquered society. The alnd of Ireland was similarly claimed
by the King and another set of French-speaking adventurers
were granted lands to hold as tenants-in-chief. This concept
continues today: just as all of the land of Ireland ultimately
belonged to Henry II after 1169, under article 10 of the
constitution all the land of Ireland ultimately belonged to the
State. Henry II was concerned with keeping control over
Norman barons; the same concept provides a constitutional
basis to interfere with the citizen's use of land in the name of
common good. As was said by Chritopher Jessel in Law of
the Manor (1998): "The importance of the Manor lies in this.
It was not just an institution of historical interest, it is a so-
phisticated way of allowing people to live and work together.
The fact that food is no longer grown on land broken up by
a plough driven by eight oxen is to that extent irrelevant. The
ideas worked out in the Manor are of enduring importance
and as relevant as a thousand years ago."

The prcess whereby the tenant of land granted a part of it to
another to hold for himelf as Lord is called subinfeudation.
Arising out of the grant, the grantor held a Seignory or Lord-
ship: "a right remained in the Lord (after a grant made) called
a Seignory consisting of services to be performed by the ten-
ant and a right to have the land returned on the expiration of
the grant...''1 Out of this process developed mesne Lordships
and where there were several free tenants holding under the
same Lord, that Lord had rights of civil jurisdiction over them
as an incident of this nature of tenure. The Lord may also have rights of criminal jurisdiction arising by Crown grant or
prescription. In the classic feudal construct, every Manor was
a small government in itself. After the Anglo-Norman con-
quest of Ireland, Manors began to appear in Ireland. These
Manors were created mostly within the Pale and depended
on historical factors for their location and extent. "In those
parts of Ireland subjected to feudalism, Manors were devel-
oped, which contained the central residences of the tenants
in chief suitably fortified with motes and stockades. Each
Manor had its quota of tenants owing service to the Lord of
the Manor."2

The name manerium meant in the first place an abiding place;
it became used to signify a landed estate; and it was gradually
used to imply law in law the existance of a Court. A grant by
a feudal Lord before the Statute Quia Emptores, 1290, cre-
ated a Manor whereas a sale of a Manor after 1290 created
a Reputed Manor: the difference is of no real significance for
the purpose herein. Manors tended to correspond roughly
with modern parishes.3 Manors typically consisted of the land
belonging to the Lord (the demesne), the land held of the Lord by free tenants, the land held of the Lord by villein ten-
ants, the rights of jurisdiction over the free tenants in the Court Baron and over the villeins in the Court Customary,
and waste land over which the tenants were entitled to pas-
ture their cattle. Manors were