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Authority record
Offaly (King's)

Trench, Henry

  • Person
  • 1807-1881

Henry Trench was the second son of William and Sarah Trench of Cangort Park, Shinrone, Co. Offaly. He married Georgina Mary Amelia Bloomfield on 22 October 1836 and had 8 children. By the 1870s Trench owned 4,707 acres in county Tipperary, 2,113 acres in county Offaly, 1,926 acres in county Limerick, 1,581 acres in county Galway, 704 acres in county Clare and 432 acres in county Roscommon.

Bulfin, Eamonn

  • Person
  • 1892-1968

Eamonn Bulfin was born in Argentina to Irish parents. His father William Bulfin of Derrinlough, near Birr, County Offaly, had emigrated to Argentina in the 1880s and became the editor of The Southern Cross newspaper. On the family's return to Ireland, William Bulfin enrolled Eamonn in Pearse's school, St Enda's in Rathfarnham, and he later attended University College Dublin. Eamonn joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1913, and along with some fellow St Enda's students created home-made bombs in the school's basement in preparation for the Easter Rising.

Notable for raising the 'Irish Republic' flag over the GPO In the Easter Rising of 1916. Following the insurrection he was condemned to death, but was reprieved and deported to Buenos Aires after internment in Frongoch in Wales along with the other Irish soldiers of the Rising. In 1920 he was elected Chairperson of Offaly County Council in absentia and held the post when the decision was taken to rename King's County as Offaly. He returned in 1923 on the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 and was active in local politics.

Pattersons & Co. Ltd.

  • Corporate body
  • 1821-1970s

Pattersons & Co. Ltd. traded at the Old Established House, J.K.L Street, Edenderry and consisted of a public house, a general provisions shop and an undertakers.

Patrick Moore & Sons, Victuallers

  • Corporate body
  • c.1890 - 1960

Patrick Moore & Sons were a family run victuallers who supplied meat to many local people and businesses in the towns of Edenderry, County Offaly and Rathangan, County Kildare and many smaller towns in the surrounding area.

J. & L. F. Goodbody Ltd.

  • Corporate body
  • 1865 – 1984

J. & L. F. Goodbody was established in 1865 as a jute manufacturing business based at Clashawaun in Clara and also with offices in Dublin. Its directors were Jonathan Goodbody (1865-88), Lewis F. Goodbody (1865-87), Robert Goodbody (c1870-88), Joshua C. Goodbody (c1873-88), Fredrick R. Goodbody (1880-88) and J. B. Clibborn Goodbody (1880-88).

The business was formed into a limited company in 1888 and traded under the name J. & L. F. Goodbody Ltd. As well as jute, it also manufactured cotton and synthetics. Its main factories at Clara and Waterford were later joined by factories at Dublin, Limerick and Slane. In 1937, it became a public company when outside shareholders and directors were introduced. It was quoted on the Dublin Stock Exchange and wound up in 1984. The family crest was adopted as the registered trade mark.

Presbyterian Church, Birr

  • Corporate body
  • c.1839-

The Presbyterian Church in Birr grew in numbers in the 1840s following the Crotty Schism. Fr William Crotty (with his cousin Fr Michael Crotty) led this breakaway Catholic congregation to join the Presbyterian Church. Crotty's Church built to emulate a Presbyterian Hall was erected in Castle Street in 1839. A new church building for the Presbyterian congregation was erected in 1885 in John's Mall, not now in use.

King's County Infirmary

  • Corporate body
  • 1788-1921

King’s County Infirmary was established under King George III’s reign with the passing of the Irish County Infirmaries Act of 1765. This act enabled the creation of infirmaries in thirty Irish counties. In an amending act from 1768, King’s County Infirmary was moved from Philipstown (Daingean) to Tullamore, the new county town. During the redevelopment of Tullamore town by the Earl of Charleville, a new infirmary building was erected in 1788 on Church Street and was further extended in 1812.

The County Infirmaries Act was enacted to provide healthcare to the poor which fulfilled the eighteenth century philanthropic ideals of the landed gentry who supported these institutions through donations and subscriptions. King’s County Infirmary was supported by an income comprising of parliamentary funds, grand jury presentments, governor subscriptions, donations, and patient fees. The infirmary was managed by a Board of Governors who paid subscriptions for their position on the board. Governors had absolute control over the infirmary including staff appointments and patient admissions. To gain access to the infirmary, Governors issued tickets of admission which were most likely given to their employees, tenants, and servants. The governors who supported the hospital were made up of local gentry and landowners such as the Earl of Rosse, Lord Digby and prominent businessowners such as the Goodbody family.

During the War of Independence, King’s County Infirmary came under the jurisdiction of the new Sinn Féin majority council, now renamed Offaly County Council. On the 21st of January 1921, the secretary to Offaly County Council attended a meeting of the board to inform them of the closure of the infirmary. It was to be closed under the Offaly amalgamation scheme whereby the workhouse hospital would become the new County Hospital. The board pleaded with the council to delay the closure in order to settle the affairs of the hospital in relation to critical patients and financial matters. The hospital eventually closed in August 1921 after it was reported by the surgeon and registrar to the board, that the bedding and beds were carried out of the infirmary by unknown persons suspected to be under orders of the county council.

Following its closure, King’s County Infirmary accommodated the civil guards and then housed the county library until 1977. The façade of the original King’s County Infirmary can still be seen on Church Street, Tullamore, which has now been repurposed into apartments.

Cox, Ambrose Clement Wolseley

  • Person
  • 1845-1913

Col. A.C. Wolseley Cox was the son of Ambrose Cox and Emily C. Wolseley. He was born in 1845 and inherited Clara House on the death of his father in 1863. He subsequently mortgaged the house and estate to fund his army career and his life in London. He married Louisa Helen Elizabeth Kirwan in 1870 and left a son, Reginald Garnett Wolseley Cox (1872-1904). Their Dublin residence at 41 Fitzwilliam Street is now known as the Fitzwilliam Townhouse. Col. Cox served as High Sherriff for King's County in 1873 but his income was insufficient to support his lifestyle and he was declared a bankrupt in 1888.

Birr Business & Professional Women’s Association

  • Corporate body
  • 1967-1982

Birr Business and Professional Women’s Club was formed in the County Arms Hotel, in November 1967. It was the first business and professional women’s club to be formed in Ireland outside of Dublin.

Banagher Refugee Commitee

  • Corporate body
  • 1914-1918

The Committee had been established during World War I to support Belgian refugees with accommodation and financial assistance after the German invasion into Belgium.

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