Showing 90 results

Preprinted acknowledgment postcards sent by return by prisoners-of-war in German camps on receipt of relief parcels organised by the Birr Castle scheme. Personal details recorded include name, rank and internment camp.

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.

Administrative correspondence relating to the prisoner of war relief scheme set up at Birr Castle under the patronage of Lady Rosse; postcards and letters of thanks from the prisoners of war from Irish regiments (but predominantly the Irish Guards) interned in Germany; and acknowledgment postcards of parcels received from same.

Includes letters about Disestablishment, Poor Law reform, Orangeism, Conservative registration, Home Rule and the Irish Land question. Also includes letter from M. McCormack, CC, Kinnitty to Lord Rosse concerning agrarian dispute in Kinnitty parish between Francis Foley and Delaney at Newtown (3 March 1911).

‘P’, ‘Q’, ‘R’ and ‘T’ - including letters from the Hon. Geoffrey L. Parsons, in Basingstoke, relating to the affairs of Birr Castle Demesne, during the period in which he acted on behalf of the sixth earl in his minority (1918-1924). Also includes letters from members of the Pigott family [see V/24], Mrs Manning Robertson, the 5th and 6th Earls of Rosse, J.H. Tyler (the Womersley agent [see H/117]), etc, etc.

‘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).

Box of in-letters from correspondents whose names begin with ‘A’ and ‘C’, including correspondence about Sir Nesbitt Armstrong’s trusts, and letters from James Callaghan (a thatcher employed by the Rosse estate), from the ‘Chief of Staff, January 1923’ about the occupation of Birr Castle by the Free State Army, from W. Y. Chisholm (manager of the Rosse sawmill [see Q/327]), from Miss Edith A. Cramer, [see M/18], from Messrs Coutts & Co., etc.

Includes: Letter from Padraig Ua Maolchatha, Col. Comdt., G. O. C. 3rd Southern Command, Roscrea: I am directed by the Chief of General Staff to inform you that it will not be possible to evacuate any portion of the premises occupied by the troops before Christmas. I am at present unable to give you any idea when we may be able to evacuate Birr Castle but assure you that we will not occupy it any longer than necessary. I regret being unable to facilitate Lord Rosse’s family in this matter but trust that the owner will appreciate the circumstances which force us to remain in occupation.’ (4 December 1922)

Includes letter from Capt. F. O’Brien for the Chief of General Staff, Dublin, to Toler Garvey: ‘I have been in communication with the General Officer Commanding of the Area who informs me that we was aware of game being shot on the Rosse Estate, but did not prevent it, as he was not aware that the game was preserved.’ (8 January 1923)

Includes a letter from Toler R. Garvey Jr land agent at Birr Castle to ‘V.J. Beaumont Nesbitt’, Tubberdaly, Edenderry on 9 June 1921 who records agitations in Birr, and laments a former way of life:

‘...Although things are bad they are not a bit worse than I had anticipated, but we must reach an end of it sometime and we, or whoever is left, may once again be able to live in peace, though I don’t think they will ever know the comfort and good times which we had in the past.’

Also includes letter to Hon. Geoffrey Parsons on 8 December 1921, revealing the anxiety surrounding the situation for landowners following the War of Independence:

‘I enclose... Notice from the Local Government Board of their intention to take the land at Croghan after all, but in view of the Settlement just arrived at on the Irish question, it seems very doubtful that they will proceed with the matter. Things have moved rapidly since I saw you and we shall be face to face with a totally new situation.’

Inquest reports handwritten by James Dillon, King's County Coroner into a leather-bound notebook. Inquests begin at No. 589, 21 February 1846 and end at No. 1079, 12 December 1854. Format of inquest reports is largely identical beginning with a record of the inquest number, date, location of inquest and the name of the deceased. Then follows a list of the jurors present and witnesses called. The reports end with a verdict on the cause of death. Notable due to its date span which covers the famine era.

This collection is comprised of the records of Patrick Moore & Sons, Victuallers of Edenderry and Rathangan. They were a family business who sold meat to the surrounding towns including Edenderry, Rathangan, Allenwood, Clonbulloge, Enfield, Kinnegad and Rhode. The collection includes ledgers, cash books, stock books, daily order books and van sales books. There are also documents regarding financial accounts such as bank account books, customer account books, bills of account with local traders, Dublin traders and a trader from Manchester. Also includes documents of their accounts with other businesses and legal costs as well as personal family photographs. A note in ledger P1/C/17 from 1923 recounts that Judge Wakely's house, Ballyburly, near Rhode, was 'burned by irregulars' in 1923.

Individuals and businesses that had an account with Patrick Moore & Sons include:
Coopers & Bailey, Central Market London.
H.M. Hawkins, Seifond, Dorchester.
Doctor Hamilton, Edenderry.
E.J.B. Nesbitt, Rutland Gate, London.
E.J.B. Nesbitt, Penton Lodge, Andover.
D. Alesbury.
Civic Guards, Edenderry.
J. Joly, Clonbologue.

Patrick Moore & Sons had accounts with:
William Bros, Edenderry (Grocery Account)
M.J. O'Brien, Edenderry.
William Bros. (Petrol Account)
Offaly County Board of Health and Public Assistance.