y break.'"

The number of banks which failed in Ireland in earlier times was
extraordinary; thus Sir Robert Peel in his speech of the 9th of June 1845
on the Bank Act of that year, made a quotation "from the report of the
committee of Irish exchanges, which sat in 1804. At that period there were
fifty registered banks, but they all failed, and their failures, I know
personally, led to the most fearful distress." Since the legislation of
1845, however, the business has been carried on with equally extraordinary
steadiness and success, and at the present time is on a footing fully equal
to that of any other part of the United Kingdom.

The earlier history of banking in Ireland pursued very closely the same
process of development as in England. Circulation preceded and fed
deposits. The credit which the banks obtained [v.03 p.0341] by the ready
acceptance of their notes brought customers to their counters, and thus the
existing system, fortunate in excellent managers, was built up gradually
and surely.

Alone in the three kingdoms, Ireland maintains the same limit of authorized
circulation as that established by Peel's Act of 1845. Not one of the six
banks which had the privilege of issue at that period has lost it since.

The names of the banks carrying on business in Ireland, the years when they
were established and their position in 1906, are as follows:--

CAPITAL OF IRISH JOINT-STOCK BANKS IN 1906
+---------------------------+------------+------------+
| | | Rate of |
| Name of Bank and Year | Capital | Dividend |
| when established. | paid-up. | per annum. |
+---------------------------+------------+------------+
| Bank of Ireland 1783 | L2,769,230 | 11 |
| Hibernian Bank* 1824 | 500,000 | 10 |
| Provincial Bank 1825 | 540,000 | 20 |
| Northern Banking Co. 1825 | 500,000 | 18-1/2 |
| Belfast Banking Co. 1827 | 500,000 | 36 |
| National Bank 1835 | 1,500,000 | 8 |
| Ulster Banking Co. 1836 | 500,000 | 18 |
| Royal Bank* 1836 | 300,000 | 12 |
| Munster Bank, Ltd.* 1864 | 200,000 | 8 |
+---------------------------+------------+------------+
* Thus marked are not banks of issue.

[Sidenote: Banking crises]

Banking, like every other business, has to pass through periods of
difficu