among the grounds proffered for the bishop's claim to the compensation to be awarded at the union was that, by immemorial custom, part of the oath of office taken by the portreeve of irishtown was to be true to the interests of the bishop of ossory; that the burgesses were always elected on the recommendation of the bishop; that neither property, residence, nor service in the borough was required of any freeman; that hardly one inhabitant of the borough in 1800 was a freeman; and that the influence of the bishop had always been so powerful that all members of parliament and burgesses had been uniformly elected on his recommendation, without one instance to the contrary. in 1779, the lord lieutenant the earl of buckinghamshire was writing to the prime minister lord north to recommend john hotham for the see of ossory, and reminded north that there was a borough with the see, "which requires a great deal of management," adding that for this work dr hotham "appears to me particularly well qualified."