Bourn Vincent Memorial Park Act , 1932

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park Act, 1932.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Finance ;

the expression “the Commissioners” means the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland ;

the expression “the Preliminary Agreement” means the Agreement of which a copy is set forth in Part I of the Schedule to this Act ;

the expression “the Deed of Grant” means the Indenture of which a copy is set forth in Part II of the Schedule to this Act ;

the expression “the Supplemental Agreement” means the Agreement of which a copy is set forth in Part III of the Schedule to this Act ;

the expression “the Scheduled Documents” means the Preliminary Agreement, the Deed of Grant, and the Supplemental Agreement, and shall be construed as referring to those documents either collectively or distributively as the context may require ;

the expression “the Preliminary Conveyance” means a certain Indenture already prepared and executed as an escrow and intended to bear even date with the Deed of Grant and to be made between Robert Nesbitt Keller, William Thomas Mackay, and Percival Hugh Browne of the one part and Senator Arthur Rose Vincent of the other part ;

the expression “the Park” means the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park.

3 Expenses and receipts.

3.—(1) All expenses incurred by the Minister in the execution of this Act, including in particular the moneys payable by the Minister under the Supplemental Agreement as the price of the property thereby agreed to be sold to him and all expenses incurred by the Minister in or about the preparation and execution of the scheduled documents, and also, to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister, all expenses incurred by the Commissioners in the execution of this Act, shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(2) All moneys received by the Commissioners under this Act shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister shall direct.

PART II. Acceptance of Gift.

4 Acceptance of gift and completion thereof.

4.—The generous gift by Senator Arthur Rose Vincent, in conjunction with William Bowers Bourn and Agnes M. Bourn, of the property commonly known as the Muckross Estate to the Nation for the purposes of a National Park, which is intended to be effected by the scheduled documents, is hereby gratefully accepted, and accordingly—

(a) it is hereby declared that the Preliminary Agreement is hereby approved of and that effect shall be given thereto in the manner provided by this Act, and

(b) it is hereby enacted that it shall be lawful for the Minister to execute the Deed of Grant and to take and hold in accordance with this Act the lands and property conveyed to him by that Deed, and

(c) it is hereby further enacted that it shall be lawful for the Minister to carry out the Supplemental Agreement and to take, receive, and hold in accordance with this Act all lands and chattels conveyed or delivered to him in pursuance of that Agreement.

5 General application of the property.

5.—(1) All the lands and property (other than chattels personal) which are conveyed to the Minister by or in pursuance of the scheduled documents or any of them shall be held by and vested in him for the purpose of forming and being used in accordance with this Act as a national park which shall be and is hereby styled and entitled “The Bourn Vincent Memorial Park.”

(2) All chattels personal which are transferred to or acquired by the Minister under or in pursuance of the scheduled documents or any of them shall be held by and vested in him for such purposes as are appointed by this Act.

6 Erection of monument.

6.—(1) In this section the expression “the Settlors” means Senator Arthur Rose Vincent, William Bowers Bourn, and Agnes M. Bourn, respectively mentioned and described in the scheduled documents, and the survivors and survivor of them.

(2) It shall be lawful for the Settlors to erect at their own expense at any place in the Park chosen by them or (with their authority) by the designer of the monument hereinafter mentioned, one, and only one, monument to the memory of the late Maud Chase Bourn Vincent, wife of the said Senator Arthur Rose Vincent.

(3) The said monument shall be of such design as the Settlors shall, at their absolute discretion, appoint, and shall have inscribed thereon, at the expense of the Settlors, such inscription indicative of the purpose of the said monument as the Settlors shall direct.

(4) The Minister shall cause the said monument to be maintained, preserved, and kept in good and proper order, condition, and repair, and all references in this Act to the maintenance of the Park shall be construed as including such maintenance, preservation, and keeping.

7 Contribution to costs of scheduled documents.

7.—The Minister shall, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, pay to Senator Arthur Rose Vincent, named and described in the scheduled documents, such sum not exceeding five hundred pounds as shall be agreed upon between the Minister and the said Senator Arthur Rose Vincent as and for a contribution to the costs and expenses incurred by the said Senator Arthur Rose Vincent in and about the preparation, execution, and completion of the scheduled documents and the costs and expenses incurred by the parties to the Preliminary Conveyance in and about the preparation, execution, and completion of that Conveyance.

8 Exemption from stamp duty.

8.—No stamp duty shall be payable on the Preliminary Conveyance nor on any of the scheduled documents nor on any instrument which bears date subsequent to the date of the passing of this Act and is necessary to give effect to any of the scheduled documents.

9 Exemptions from death duty.

9.—(1) Neither estate duty nor succession duty shall be chargeable in connection with the death of Senator Arthur Rose Vincent, named and described in the scheduled documents, in respect of the lands (whether of real or chattel real tenure) or chattels personal conveyed, transferred, or sold or agreed to be conveyed, transferred, or sold by the scheduled documents or any of them.

(2) Estate duty shall not be chargeable on the death of William Bowers Bourn, named and described in the scheduled documents, under paragraph (c) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Finance Act, 1894, as extended by sub-section (2) of section 59 of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, on the consideration given for the conveyance effected by the Preliminary Conveyance, notwithstanding that such consideration was provided by the said William Bowers Bourn.

(3) Save as is expressly provided by sub-section (2) of this section, nothing in this section shall operate to exempt from estate duty or from succession duty at any time the said consideration given for the conveyance effected by the Preliminary Conveyance nor any land, investments, or funds for the time being representing such consideration.

PART III. Maintenance of the Park.

10 Date of taking possession of the Park and commencement of this Part of this Act.

10.—The Minister shall enter into possession and occupation of the Park on the 31st day of December, 1932, and as on and from that date shall be responsible for the management and control of the Park, and accordingly this Part of this Act shall come into operation on the said 31st day of December, 1932.

11 Vesting of control of the Park in the Commissioners.

11.—The management and control of the Park shall be vested in the Commissioners, but such management and control and all other duties and powers imposed on or vested in the Commissioners in relation to the Park by this Part of this Act or otherwise shall be performed and exercised by the Commissioners, subject to and in accordance with the general directions of the Minister.

12 Maintenance and management of the Park.

12.—(1) The Commissioners shall maintain and manage the Park as a national park for the general purpose of the recreation and enjoyment of the public and shall for that purpose have full power, subject to the sanction (either general or particular) of the Minister, to execute all such works and do all such things as shall in their opinion be necessary for the proper maintenance and management of the Park or be necessary for or contribute towards affording to the public the facilities and benefits to be derived from the Park.

(2) In addition and without prejudice to the general powers conferred on the Commissioners by the preceding sub-section of this section, it shall be lawful for the Commissioners, with the sanction (either general or particular) of the Minister, to reserve any portion of the Park or any building in the Park for any particular purpose, whether State or public or private, to let any part of the Park or any building in the Park or any right over or in respect of any part of the Park to any person, and to charge tolls for the admission of persons, vehicles, vessels, and animals to the Park or any building therein or any part of the Park or of any such building.

13 Employment of officers and servants.

13.—(1) The Commissioners may from time to time appoint such and so many officers, park constables, gamekeepers, waterbailiffs, workmen, and servants as the Commissioners shall, with the approval of the Minister, think necessary for the proper execution of the duties and exercise of the powers imposed or conferred on them in relation to the Park by this Act or otherwise.

(2) The Commissioners, when making appointments under this section, shall give preference to persons who were, before the commencement of this Part of this Act, employed on the Muckross Estate by the owners thereof and shall, so far as may be practicable, appoint under this section every person who was so employed immediately before such commencement to a position not less favourable in remuneration and conditions of service to those enjoyed by similar employees in the service of the State.

(3) Every person appointed by the Commissioners under this section shall, subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, be so appointed upon and subject to such terms and conditions and at such remuneration as the Commissioners shall, with the sanction of the Minister, determine.

14 Power of the Commissioners to make bye-laws.

14.—(1) The Commissioners may, subject to the approval of the Minister, make bye-laws for regulating and controlling the use and enjoyment of the Park by the public, and generally for the maintenance, management, and preservation of the Park as a national park.

(2) Every person who shall do any act (whether of commission or omission) which is a breach or in contravention of a bye-law made under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(3) Copies of all bye-laws made under this section and for the time being in force shall be posted in the Park in such conspicuous manner and places as the Commissioners may deem best calculated to give notice thereof to the persons using the Park.

(4) Every bye-law made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if either such House shall, within twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after such bye-law was laid before it, pass a resolution annulling such bye-law, such bye-law shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such bye-law.

15 Removal and arrest of offenders in the Park.

15.—(1) If any person in the Park and within the view of a park constable does any act which is an offence under any bye-law made under this Act, or is in contravention of any such bye-law, such park constable, if in uniform, may do both or either of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) demand from such person his name and address, or

(b) order such person to leave the Park.

(2) If any such person as aforesaid refuses to give his name or refuses to give his address to a park constable upon demand by such park constable as aforesaid, or gives a name or address which is known to or reasonably suspected by the park constable to be false or fictitious, the park constable may without warrant arrest and take into his custody such person.

(3) If any such person as aforesaid, on being so required as aforesaid, refuses or fails to leave the Park, any park constable may either remove such person from the Park by force or may without warrant arrest and take into custody such person.

(4) Whenever a park constable arrests any person under this section he shall forthwith bring and deliver such person into the custody of a member of the Gárda Síochána to be dealt with according to law.

(5) Every person who, on being required by a park constable acting under this section, to give his name and address, refuses to give his name or refuses to give his address, or gives a false or fictitious name or address, or who on being ordered by a park constable acting under this section to leave the Park, refuses or fails to leave the Park, or having left or been removed from the Park returns thereto on the same day, shall be guilty of an offence under this section, and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

(6) A member of the Gárda Síochána on duty in the Park shall have and may exercise the powers conferred on park constables by this section.

16 Obstruction of and assaults on Park constables.

16.—Every person who shall obstruct or impede any park constable in the lawful execution of any of his duties or powers as such park constable under this Act or any bye-law made thereunder and every person who shall assault a park constable while engaged in the lawful execution of any such duties or powers shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.

17 Employment of police in the Park.

17.—It shall be lawful for members of the Gárda Síochána to be employed on police duties in the Park.

PART IV. Custody and use of Chattels Personal.

18 Definition of “the said chattels.”

18.—In this Part of this Act the expression “the said chattels” means all chattels personal acquired by the Minister under or in pursuance of the scheduled documents or any of them, and includes all produce of or accretions to such chattels and all chattels acquired by way of replacement of chattels sold, consumed in use, or damaged or destroyed.

19 Date of delivery of chattels and of commencement of this Part of this Act.

19.—The said chattels shall be delivered to and received by the Minister on the 31st day of December, 1932, or such later date (not being later than the 31st day of March, 1933) as shall be arranged between Senator Arthur Rose Vincent (named and described in the scheduled documents) and the Minister, and this Part of this Act shall come into operation immediately upon such delivery and receipt.

20 Performance and exercise of duties and powers of the Commissioners.

20.—The duties and powers imposed on or vested in the Commissioners in relation to the said chattels by this Part of this Act or otherwise shall be performed and exercised by the Commissioners subject to and in accordance with the general directions of the Minister.

21 Custody and management of the said chattels.

21.—(1) The custody of the said chattels shall be vested in the Commissioners and the said chattels shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be maintained, managed, and used by the Commissioners for such purposes, ancillary to the maintenance of the Park and the use thereof by the public as the Commissioners, with the sanction (either general or particular) of the Minister, shall think proper, or for any other purposes whatsoever which shall be particularly sanctioned by the Minister.

(2) The Commissioners shall have full power to do all such things in relation to the said chattels as they shall, with the sanction (either general or particular) of the Minister, consider to be necessary or proper for the due maintenance, management, and use of the said chattels in accordance with this section, including power to let or sell any of the said chattels in the ordinary course of management or, with the particular sanction of the Minister, to sell any of the said chattels absolutely, and power, with the sanction (either general or particular) of the Minister, to acquire chattels for the purpose of replacing any of the said chattels sold, consumed in use, or damaged or destroyed.

SCEIDEAL.

SCHEDULE.

PART I.

CUID I.

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT made the Seventeenth day of November, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-two, BETWEEN ARTHUR ROSE VINCENT, of Muckross House, Muckross, in the County of Kerry, C.B.E., Senator Irish Free State (hereinafter called “the Settlor”), of the one part and the Minister for Finance in Saorstát Eireann (hereinafter sometimes for brevity referred to as “the Minister”) of the other part, WHEREAS the Settlor has agreed to purchase the Estate comprising the lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises described in Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule hereto, subject as hereinafter is mentioned but otherwise free from incumbrances ; AND WHEREAS the Settlor has entered into the said Purchase Agreement with the object of presenting the said Estate to the Nation as a free gift in conjunction with William Bowers Bourn of Filoli House, San Mateo, California, and his wife, Agnes M. Bourn, and in the names of the Settlor and the said William Bowers Bourn and Agnes M. Bourn. AND WHEREAS the Settlor having informed the Executive Council of Saorstát Eireann of his desire to make the aforesaid gift requested it to accept same on behalf of the Nation, and the Executive Council having duly intimated its willingness to accept the gift IT WAS AGREED that the said Estate should be conveyed by the Settlor to the Minister, to be held by him on behalf of the State, and that the preliminary arrangements in relation thereto should be specified in writing in the form of an Agreement between the Settlor and the Minister (being this Agreement). NOW THESE PRESENTS WITNESS and IT IS HEREBY AGREED AND DECLARED by and between the parties hereto as follows:—

1.—THE SETTLOR in the name of the Settlor and in the name of the said William Bowers Bourn and Agnes M. Bourn and as a free gift to the Nation shall convey to the Minister the said lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises described in Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule hereto, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained but otherwise free from incumbrances.