Congested Districts Board for Ireland
The Congested Districts Board for Ireland was established by The Rt. Hon. A.J. Balfour, P.C., M.P., the Chief Secretary, in 1891 to alleviate poverty and living conditions in the west and parts of the north-west of Ireland.
William Lawson Micks worked with the Congested Districts Board (C.D.B.) for the full term of its existence, first as Secretary and from 1909 as a member. The board was dissolved in 1923 by the new Government of the Irish Free State and its staff were absorbed into the Irish Land Commission when its functions were assumed by the Department of Fisheries and Rural Industries.
The C.D.B. was part of the Conservative policy of 'Constructive Unionism' or 'killing Home Rule with kindness'. The purpose of the C.D.B. was to alleviate poverty by paying for public works, such as building piers for small ports on the west coast, to assist fishing, modernising farming methods or sponsoring local factories to give employment and stop emigration from Ireland – the wider effect would see indigenous (and non-Government funded) initiatives. In the Aran Islands, a knitwear industry was established which to this day provides Aran knitwear on a commercial basis using local skilled knitters & designers. Regions under the Board's authority were areas where the rateable valuation was less than 30 shillings. The entire area which was so categorised came to 3,500,000 acres (14,000 km2) in 1901 with a population of 500,000.
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