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Letters, tradesmen’s accounts, inventories of plate, specifications, tender and other papers of the 4th and 5th Earls, all concerning the contents of Birr Castle or improvements and alterations to Birr Castle and demesne and
to houses and cottages owned by the estate – the installation of motors and turbines, plumbing, lighting, heating, redecorating, ‘hacking off’ plaster-work, etc. [Not in chronological order. For other inventories of plate, etc, see H/8 and T/83.]

Patents appointing the 5th Earl Lieutenant and Custos rotulorum of King’s County in succession to his late father,
including two letters from [the Lord Lieutenant], Lord Aberdeen, on the subject (one of them making unsubtle reference to the necessity for the 5th Earl’s committing himself to political support of the government of the day), letters to the 5th Earl giving confidential opinions as to the suitability of various people for appointment as J.P.s, and a tradesman’s account for supplying a Lieutenant’s flag for Birr Castle. [Not in chronological order.]

Contains lists of Irish Guards noting their name, regiment number, rank and where interned, including a separate listing of those from Birr; letters from Selfridge's & Co., Oxford St, London to Lois, Countess of Rosse, in relation to the contents of nine parcel types assembled for sending to the Irish Guards Prisoners of War; correspondence from Mary Britton, Rosfaraghan, Ferbane and Col. Douglas Proby, in relation to subscriptions collected in her village on behalf of Private B. Anderson (Reg No 3220), who is interned in Limburg; and correspondence between Major de Vesci, Regimental Adjutant, Irish Guards to Lady Rosse, mainly in relation to the movement of Irish Guards prisoners between POW camps in Germany so that parcels can be sent to them. Also includes ephemeral material such as newspaper cuttings relating to the Irish Guards, a packet of jam jar covers, and a copy of an illuminated address presented to Queen Mary from the Women of Ireland in July 1911, and distributed by Lady Aberdeen, the head of war relief in Ireland.

Three large folio leasebooks [see also Q/249-50], the first started c.1820 but containing details of leases back to c.1710 and continued up to c.1850; the second and third started c.1850, containing details back to c.1775 and continued almost up to the present day. The second and third are still in the Estate Office, so only the first has been examined. It contains few entries later than 1840, but this possibly reflects the fact that few leases were granted after the 1830s, rather than that the book ceased to be maintained. It is arranged in 2 sequences: first, King’s County property; second ‘the Killeen estate’ [i.e. Tipperary property, principally of Dunalley provenance]. The leases are arranged alphabetically according to the initial letter of each tenant’s name, although within each letter of the alphabet no order is observed. [The book is thus a ready-made finding aid for genealogical inquiries, which are likely to be strong on surname but weak on location. With its aid, it is probable that further refining could be made of the arrangement of the individual King’s County leases which follows, as the leasebook sometimes (particularly in the case of renewals) contains details of location which the individual lease or renewal does not. Nevertheless, this is a slow business, and time did not permit much research along these lines. Q/16/1 has been copied by PRONI – see MIC.564.]Smaller folio leasebook recording, c.1865, details of leases back to c.1705 on the estate of the Hon. Laurence Parsons in King’s County and Cos Tipperary and Wexford [see 0/37 and Q/6. Q/16/4 is also on MIC.564].

Lease of Cloghan, barony of Garrycastle. [For leases of Clonbaniff, see Q/44.]

Envelope of leases of Clonlagga, barony of Ballybritt, a bog adjoining Birr. [In date order.]

Envelope of leases of Dovegrove, barony of Eglish. [See also Q/29 and 47. In date order.] The envelope also includes an agreement with John Boland to fell timber at Dovegrove, a Land Registry certificate, and the sale of a Dovegrove fee farm grant to Mrs. Emily C. Mitchell.

Half-box of leases of Eden and New Eden, barony of Ballybritt, on the outskirts of Birr. The box also includes papers relating to the sale of property at 6, 7, and 8 Eden Road to Assumpta Molloy and other purchasers.

Envelope of leases of Powlduff, barony of Ballybritt. [In date order.]

Envelope of leases of Rossacareen, alias Rossecareen, alias Ross Wood, barony of Eglish, which contains a limestone quarry. [In date order.]