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Personal and military papers of William Edward Parsons, Major Lord Oxmantown, (from 1908 the fifth earl of Rosse) including commissions; illuminated addresses from the Heaton and Shipley tenants on his coming-of-age, 1894; and from the Birr Parish Vestry on his marriage, 1905; a fairly savage attack on him in The Midland Tribune at the time of his return from the Boer War in 1900 to join the newly formed Irish Regiment; letters from him to Toler R. Garvey during the Boer War and the first World War; a page recording the signatures of Lord Oxmantown and other Irish notabilities who attended a shoot at Ashford, Cong, Co. Mayo; during a visit by the Prince of Wales, 1905; and the fifth earl’s London address book, 1911.

Also includes copy of his birth certificate (1873); commissions and applications to Officers’ Reserve (1908); appeal to be allowed to appear before Medical Board in Dublin, not London (1916); detailed medical reports on the extent of his wound, by shell to the head, where a palm-sized piece missing, damage to his speech, comprehension and gait causing 80% disability with epileptic attacks; his death certificate plus further obituary of the fifth earl by Michael Pegum prepared for the Kildare St and University Club for publication in a book of memorials to those members of the Club who gave their lives in WWI and WWII (2010).

Includes letters to Toler R. Garvey (‘Rob’) from the front describing poisonous gas attacks in the trenches (26 April 1915 and 11 May 1915).

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.

Letters sent by and sent to Theodora Trench from 1913 until 1917.

During this Theodora volunteered with the Red Cross as a Chauffeuse and as such the file contains letter relating to this. Examples include two 1916 letters from the Royal Automobile Club regarding driving tests and a 1916 letter from the Red Cross Voluntary aid detachment informing members of their latest activities.

The file also includes a copy of a letter from Moscow dated Oct 9th 1917. The letter discusses the increasing difficulty faced by those who wish to travel, 'It is no easy matter to get to Petrograd now-a-days; one has first to get permission from the commissaire of the town here and then get a ticket, and it is by no means easy to get either. , but got there at 12.10, and found the place shut'. The letter also discusses the hostility within society 'They seem to be taken by a sort of wave of madness, which brings out all the brute in them'.

Letters to and from Theodora Trench between 1918 and 1922.
The majority of the letters were sent by Sheelah Trench.The letters cover a wide variety of topics.

One reoccurring theme throughout the letters are Sheelah's concerns over the 'Sinn Feiners' actions in Ireland. A letter dated Easter Sunday 1920 elaborates further, 'We hear that the Moneygall Police Barrack has been burnt down, besides Dunkevin, Ballacymackey and many other. That, and destroying Income Tax and other Government Offices, seems to have been the Sinn Feiners game for Easter Monday'.

Sheelah also includes letters and newspaper clippings that she believes may be of interest to Theodora. One such letter dated 24 February 1920 from Mr Hill, P.O.W Staff, Famagusta Cyprus to Benjamin Bloomfield Trench describes his experience working at a Prisoner of War camp in Cyprus and working alongside Irish soldiers.

Letters sent to Theodora Trench between 1943 and 1947. The letters are a mixture of personal and business matters.

Included in the file is a 1945 letter from Haddie, Florence in which she passes on her thanks to Sheelah Trench for helping to locate her brother who had a bomb drop on his house.
1946 Business and personal letters sent to Theodora Trench in 1946. Includes a letter from Josephine Flanagan regarding the sale of a cockerel and a letter from Sheelah Lefroy sending birthday wishes.
1947 Letters sent to Theodora Trench in 1947. The letters are a mixture of pleasure and business. Topics covered include importing coal through Dublin General steam shipping and purchasing chicks from P Flanagan.

‘W’ and ‘’Y’ - principally Edward Walsh (town clerk of Birr, who writes about all manner of local government matters), Harold J. Wiley & Co., insurance brokers of Dublin (who write about Birr Castle insurance), Mrs F. White Spunner of Milltown Park, Shinrone, King’s County (whose estate Garvey managed [although, apart from these letters, no other record of this agency survives in the archive at Birr Castle]).

Includes minor letters from Captain P. Wall, Castle Barracks, Birr (1922-1923).

Letter from Gay White , Lissiniskey, Nenagh dated 13 July 1922. The letter describes Gay experience during the Irish Civil War.

'My dear Tom,
Yours of the 10th to hand. I think since the 29th of June we have had no post here. Dreadful things have happened since I wrote you April 25th. I left Rathurbet April 30th & went to Ballygibbon. On May 15th a body of men took forcible possession of 30 acres of land there. They cut trees down, yet returned. We were left with 9 cows to milk, calves & all sorts of fowl, young & old to feed. Over 90 sheep & lambs to care, all the work of the house to do. Well we did it. The sheep were the great trouble, it was the time for them to be dipped, washed & shorn. They could not be dipped or washed but Betty, Lilla & David sheared all the sheep, but we lost a good many on account of the sheep not being dipped. They got full of maggots. It was dreadful. The cows were easily managed, we all milked them. I got quite good at it I did two night & morning. We just worked all day. On the night of June 14th we had dreadful raid starting about 2.30. The raiders smashed every window & the hall door first. We had collected in one room, they rushed into it. David & Betty were badly beaten by them with their clenched fists. Lilla was not so badly beaten & Poll only got one blow on her face, we were in a dark room most of the time, it was hell. I escaped without a blow. Over & over they held revolvers & shotguns at us & said they would shoot us. They did awful mischief in the house, breaking china & table glass, drank all whiskey & claret. They emptied every drawer out on the floor, Oh such a state - the dirty swine- they left the place in. They stole heaps of things, especially belongings, one thing was my dressing case.'

File of photographs of members of the extended Trench family. Family members who's photographs appear in the file include Arthur Henry Chenevix Trench, Blanche Helen Trench, [Herbert] Trench and Charles Reginald Chenevix Trench (Reggie) in his army uniform. He was later killed in action on 21st March 1918.

The file also includes members of the Lloyd-Edwards family who were related to the Trench family through Georgina Sarah Lloyd-Edwards, sister of Benjamin Bloomfield Trench. Photographs of Blanche Enrica Lloyd-Edwards and Georgie [Georgina Sarah] Lloyd Edwards are included in the file.

File of photographs of friends, acquaintances and unidentified portraits.
The file contains a wide variety of photographs. One notable example includes a photo of 'little Henry' baring the inscription 'for Sheelah with love and best wishes'.
Another notable photograph is that of Edward Aurelian Ridsdale. Attached to the back of the photograph is a copy of a letter of condolence from Sir Frederick Treves to Lady Ridsdale. The letter dated 8 Sept 1925 expresses Fredrick's admiration for Edward Aurelian Ridsdale. He writes 'During the war, he bore upon his shoulders the heaviest burden of the Red Cross work. He sought no prominent position no applause and indeed not even thanks. He thought never of himself but undertook whatever duty- agreeable or disagreeable came in his way. His absolute integrity, his unselfishness, his devotion is the cause and his great administrative ability did more than did the work of any other man to make the Red Cross organisation the success it was in the great war.' 2 framed photographs of an unidentified soldier.

File of photographs taken during the St Barnabas pilgrimage to the battlefields and war graves of Salonika and Gallipoli. The file contains a mixture of personal photographs and professional photographs taken by Graphic Photo Union, Tallis Street, London, England and Central Press Photograph, 119 Fleet Street, London, England. The file also includes Rev. Mullineux at the unveiling of the New Zealand memorial at Gallipoli in April 1925.