The freedom was acquired by birth for the eldest son of a freeman, and nomination of the provost, who during the year of his office had the privilege of naming one.
The freemen were elected by a majority of the body at large assembled in a court of D'Oyer Hundred; neither residence nor any other qualification was considered necessary.
Bernard rose, and without preface or remark, proposed Sir Augustus William Clifford, Kt., (the Duke of Devonshire's nominee) as a fit and proper representative for the borough of Bandon in Parliament; John Leslie, Esq., seconded the proposition.
By way of ruse, or pairing off, Viscount Bernard was proposed by John Beamish, Esq., and seconded by Ambrose Hikey, Esq., two gentlemen of opposite opinions.
This was objected by Mr. Meade and Mr. Payne, who stated that, though a long time connected with the Corporation, they never knew this line of proceeding to be adopted.
This was over-ruled by the assessor, who quoted in support of his opinion, an election case in the borough of Harwich, decided by a majority in the House of Commons.
Clifford was declared duly elected.The franchise was expanded in 1832 under the Representation of the People (Ireland) Act 1832, when the £10 householders were added to the electorate and the registration of voters was introduced.
It appears, from the list of MPs and the report of the 1831 election, that the choice of the borough electorate both before and after 1832 was influenced by aristocratic patrons like the Duke of Devonshire and the Bernard family (whose head had the title of Earl of Bandon).
If a Bernard was not elected then quite prominent political figures, notably the future Whig leaders George Tierney and Lord John Russell, were sometimes returned for the borough.