become quite unpopular and unmanageable bodies. Whereas local acts appointing commissioners for particular places specified a boundary or distance inside which the commissioners' powers would be confined, no such limit was specified in the 1828 act. Thomas Larcom of the Irish Ordnance Survey wrote of the commissioners in 1846: The boundaries of their assessments are very vaguely defined. Sometimes a mile, or half a mile around the town, or from its centre; sometimes the whole or part of the parish. An attempt was made to survey them for the Ordnance Maps, but they could not be ascertained with sufficient precision. Municipal reform 1840 In 1840 the majority of Irish boroughs were abolished by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, and the commissioners established by the 1828 act became the only local council. The town commissioners were recognised as successor to the borough, retaining corporate property and the municipal coat of arms. Any town with property of more than £100 that lost its borough corporation, but had not adopted the 1828 Act, was to establish "municipal commissioners". There was, in fact, only one town to which this applied: Carrickfergus in County Antrim. Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854 The Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c.103) allowed electors of populous places to choose to establish town commissioners. This enabled many newer communities that had never had municipal status to gain local government bodies. Many of the towns governed by the 1828 act replaced this with the new legislation as it provided the commissioners with greater powers. Townships established by local acts A number of towns took a different route to establish local authorities in their areas, by having private acts passed in parliament. These acts established "townships" with defined boundaries, defined the powers of the commissioners, gave them powers to make rates, named the first members and provided a procedure for subsequent elections. The majority of townships were formed in the rapidly growing suburbs of Dublin. To gain further powers or adjust their boundaries the township commissioners had to apply for a further act of parliament. Changes in the 1870s In 1872 the Local Government Board of Ireland was formed. One of its duties was to consider applications for the formation of commissioners under the 1854 act, and for alteration of the areas of existing local government towns. The board issued annual reports on its activities, detailing the finances