Market and Fair and Carnival Custom

Pg. 116 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY LONGFORD.

Grant 1605 Market and Fair Longford County. Licence to hold a Thursday market and a fair on  the 1st of August

Do. OXIII.— " Grant from the King to Sir Richard, Lord Delvin.— Longford County. Licence to hold a Thursday market and a fair on  the 1st of August, and two days at Longford, with the usual courts  and fees ; rent, 6s. 8d., English. — 7 Dec. 3rd."   

This 1605 royal grant to Sir Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin — recorded in the History of the County Longford (p. 116) — carries considerable feudal and sovereign significance, both legally and symbolically.

🔹 1. Nature of the Grant

The Crown’s patent of 7 December 1605 (3rd of James I) authorized:

“A Thursday market and a fair on the 1st of August and two days at Longford, with the usual courts and fees; rent, 6s. 8d. English.”

This is not a mere economic permission. Under feudal and royal law, the right to hold a market, fair, or carnival was a regalian right — a sovereign privilege that only the monarch could delegate. Thus, when the king granted this right to Lord Delvin, he was investing him with local jurisdiction and quasi-regal authority.

🔹 2. Feudal Honour and Jurisdiction

This grant confirms Lord Delvin’s status as a feudal baron with seignorial powers:

• Market and Fair Rights: Symbolized control over trade, tolls, and weights and measures.

• Court Leet and Court Baron Rights: “With the usual courts and fees” implies judicial authority over disputes and revenues during those events.

• Hereditary Dignity: Such rights were tied to the caput baroniae (the baronial seat), representing lordship over the borough of Longford itself.

Thus, it reinforced the Feudal Honour of Longford — the honour being the collective rights, dignities, and jurisdictions attached to a noble title.

🔹 3. Sovereign and Palatine Significance

Grants of markets, fairs, and courts were instruments of delegated sovereignty, mirroring royal prerogatives at the local level.
By issuing this patent to Lord Delvin, King James I effectively:

• Recognized the Barony of Longford as a semi-autonomous lordship honour with palatine attributes (courts, revenues, and independent administration).

• Strengthened the regalian lineage of the Nugents, who had earlier held the Count Palatine of Meath powers under the de Lacy charter (1172).

• Cemented the baronial sovereignty of the Nugents in Annaly-Teffia, making Longford both a feudal honour and a minor principality in status.

🔹 4. Summary

The 1605 Grant to Sir Richard, Lord Delvin, is therefore a confirmation of palatine authority.
It endowed the holder of the Feudal Barony and Honour of Longford with the sovereign privilege to:

• Convene public markets and fairs,

• Exercise courts and collect fees,

• Administer local justice and commerce in the king’s name.

This royal act marked Longford as a feudal jurisdiction of honour and regalian dignity, perpetuating the baron’s quasi-sovereign status within the ancient Principality of Annaly (Teffia).

Shrove Tuesday (also known in Commonwealth countries and Ireland as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake day) is the day in February or March immediately preceding Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), which is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes.

Rathcline Castle, Lanesborough, Co. Longford
A medieval tower house, enlarged in the early 17th century, now forms a vast ruin. Looks impressive but is only one wall thick.  © Copyright Kieran Campbell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Mardi Gras Carnival

 Each year the Barons and Baronesses of Longford-Annaly have a King and Queen of Carnival.  Part of the Frankish Norman tradition for over 600 years, the Fief Celebrates Carnival on Mardi Gras

French and Frankish Carnival or Mardi Gras dates  as far back as year. 1294 in places like Nice, Paris and West Germany.  The Normans included the Nugents or Nogents of ancient Normandy who later became Irish Nobles that intermarried with the great kingly families of ancient Ireland.

Mardi Gras which is also called Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday in English The earliest records in France establish its existence in 1294 when the Count of Provence, Charles Anjou, wrote that he had passed "the joyous days of carnival.

Mardi Gras refers to the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday.