Board of First Fruits

The Board of First Fruits (Irish: Bord na Prímhide[1]) was an institution of the Church of Ireland that was established in 1711 by Anne, Queen of Great Britain to build and improve churches and glebe houses in Ireland.

From the English Reformation in the 16th century, most Irish people chose to remain Roman Catholic and had by now to pay tithes valued at about 10% of an area's agricultural produce, to maintain and fund the established state church, the Anglican Church of Ireland, to which only a small minority of the population converted.

[3] During the first 70 years of its existence, the board purchased glebe lands for benefices at a total cost of £3,543.

[4] In the twenty years following the Act of Union, a total of £807,648 was paid out in grants to purchases glebe lands in 193 benefices, the building of 550 glebe houses, and the building, rebuilding and enlargement of 697 churches.

The following lists a few and is not exhaustive: Many churches and glebe houses were constructed or improved with funding from the Board of First Fruits.