Copies of approximately 1000 outgoing letters, averaging at 1 per page. Some letters illegible due to fading.
Includes letter to E. des. H. Browne, Charleville Estate Office, Tullamore re Sherlock Estate: ' Replying to yours of the 20th inst. It is begging the question to suggest that these tenants understood or were satisfied with the last receipts you gave, or with any of the receipts. The original rent in the time of Sherlock's predecessor was £2.1.10. I have a whole bundle of receipts in evidence of this. It was customary by the Landlord as shown by receipts to give a substantial abatement off this rent and eventually some years before Mr. Sherlock became owner and according to my instructions after a valuation was made by the agent, the rent was fixed at the figure of rent paid. The original tenant was John Fitzgerald Snr and his brother Bernard resided on the lands with him. John allowed Bernard the use of half the lands on paying half the rent., and eventually Bernard's name found its way into the rental, and ever since Mr. Sherlock acquired the estate, half of the rent was paid by Bernard. John died and was succeeded by his widow Mrs Bridget Fitzgerald on whose death John Fitzgerald Jr became the tenant, and John Jr and Bernard appear to be now tenants in common of these lands. I give you these particulars as Mr. Sherlock in court did not seem to be conversant with the facts. It is admitted that the yearly rent of £1.14.0 has been regularly paid every year. These illiterate men paid very little attention to receipts which they can hardly be blamed for not understanding: they were content so long as they paid their year's rent and heard no more about it. But now that the question has been raised they will naturally decline to pay the next gale of rent except in exchange for a proper receipt up to date.' (28 January 1914)

Account book, customer a/c, retail and grocery ledgers of McGinn's Bakery, Tullamore.

Original incoming and copy outgoing correspondence relating to the administration of the Geashill Estate. Matters referred to include installation of a telephone at the Forester's Lodge, Digby Estate; proposed sale of Garda Barracks; insurance renewals; fisheries rates; accounts for purchase of timber; issuance of gun and wireless licences; arrangements for Lord Digby to meet the Irish Land Commission to discuss Geashill queries.

Includes letter to Kennedy from Digby: "Thank you for your letter of March 29th dealing with the Archdeacon and the appointment of his successor. I quite realise the difficulty with regard to anybody having to take on the Geashill Rectory, when the upkeep is bound to be great. With regards to building a bungalow rectory in the Castle grounds at Geashill, the idea does not appeal to me much, especially as now I have decided to plant all land I have got left, and which probably go onto my Schedule B Assessment, which is what I would like to happen. I should have thought that part of the rectory grounds could have been sliced off as a site for the new rectory. Unless, of course, the Garda Barracks house is to be given up by the Garda as was considered as a remote possibility last year" (1 April 1960).

Letter from Department of Posts and Telegraphs: "with reference to your letter of the 30th May to the Postmaster, Tullamore we are now arranging to provide the telephone and the usual agreement will be forwarded for signature in the next few days. The rental will be £14 16s 0d per annum which is calculated on the actual radial measurement of 3 mile 3 furlongs between the Forester's house and Killeigh Exchange. The minimum term of agreement will be for five years. The telephone will be connected to Tullamore exchange for engineering reasons" (3 July 1961).

Copy of letter to Canon A K Palmer: "I have received a letter from The Hon. Captain Edward Digby in which he says that Lord Digby and he wish to make a contribution towards the new school at Geashill and he has requested that I forward you cheque for £300" (14 August 1962).

Original incoming and copy outgoing correspondence relating to the administration of felling notices and forestry at the Geashill Estate concerning purchase orders issued by J&L Goodbody Manufacturers, Clara to the Digby estate; the supply of 3000 stakes to the Office of Public Works, Tullamore; application for public liability insurance for the felling of trees on Geashill estate; application to the Department of Land under for Felling Licence; orders for timbers for parties including TP Kavanagh, WH Kearon and Benjamin Reid.

Includes letter from the Department of Industry and Commerce: " I am writing to appeal to you and all owner of woods to place substantial quantities of timber on sale at the earliest possible date. It is essential in the national interest that building activity should be resumed on an extensive scale without delay. From time to time during the past six years scarcity of building materials has brought building virtually to a standstill. As a result there are large arrears of housing and other important building work to be made good... Unless an effective start is made at this stage, opportunities may be lost that can never be recaptured. Skilled craftsmen now in Great Britain will not return if work is not found for them immediately. If they drift into regular employment abroad, they may be lost to this country for good. The major obstacle in the way of a large-scale resumption of building activity is the scarcity of timber. As you are aware, the country in the past depended on imported timber for practically all of its building needs. There seems to be no immediate prospect of the resumption of imports on the pre-war scale... What therefore I ask the owners of woodlands to do is to help the Industry to tide over this difficult period. this they can do by offering for sale immediately quantities of timber which they would not normally have put on the market until a later date. It is estimated that 15000 standards of good quality timber will suffice in the coming year to make the position of the industry reasonably secure for the future". (31 July 1945)

Includes letter from Department of Lands: "With reference to your letter dated 20th inst. regarding Lord Digby's Estate, I am to state that Felling Notices must be lodged by or on behalf of the owner of the lands on which the trees stand at the Garda Station nearest the trees. If the Department are prepared to grant a Felling Licence they will grant it to the owner of the lands and the owner will be liable for any replanting condition which may be imposed in the Licence." (27 April 1951).

Includes copy letter to John Dunne: "Referring to previous correspondence herein, and your various suggestions of purchasing Spy Hill Wood, Lord Digby instructs us to tell you that after considering the matter very carefully he has come to the definite policy of not selling any more woods on the Estate for various reasons including certain taxation problems. If he was selling woods he would have given you every consideration" (31 July 1951).

Original incoming and copy outgoing correspondence relating to the administration of Glenamoy Estate, Ballina, Co. Mayo under James Boland Esq. Matters referred to include letter from the Department of Lands and Fisheries requesting the total amount of Salmon and sea-trout captured by anglers on waters owned or leased by Lord Digby; payment of fishery rates; requests from several parties to Lord Digby for permission to fish in the Glenamoy River; AGM notice for the Salmon Fisheries Protection Association; arrangements for payment to the Watchers for the Season: Anthony Healy, Michael Healy, Patrick McGrath, Terence Moran, J McDonnell, Ann Healy and Martin McGarry; contention by Lord Digby as to why the existing Close Season on Glenamoy River should not be altered; dispute over the rights in a commonage situate in the townland of Ballygally North; letter from The Salmon Fisheries Protection Association informing their members of impending legislation of a bill dealing with all fishing rights in the Irish Free State (1936).

Includes letter from James King to Goodbody: "Mr Boland has asked me to forward the particulars of the fish caught on Lord Digby's water, which he so kindly gave me permission to fish and I send them list of my catchers - I am sorry I cannot give you the number of my fishing licence, as I have left it at my Lodge at Ballycastle - The fishing was very poor in the Glenamoy last season, wholly due, I think, to the work undertaken by the Board, and the fish could not face the polluted water due to the cement." (2 February 1938)

Includes letter from Digby to Kennedy: "Many thanks for your letter. It is indeed something for the ministers at least to have delayed making bye-laws for opening and closing of the Glenamoy. We have been entirely stopped hunting for Foot & Mouth disease restrictions. If those are taken off in the near future I must stay ay home and try get some value out of my hunters or I missed all the early part of the season by being away in Canada. Otherwise I hope to come over 13th of after to Ireland." (1 February 1938)

Material compiled by Fr Roland Burke Savage SJ relating to the origins of Tullabeg as a school for boys and a novitiate. Includes:
– typescript copies of summaries of replies to queries sent by Fr Burke Savage SJ to Fr Joseph Hurley SJ, House Historian, Tullabeg, comments on those replies and comparisons of the early history of the community, as depicted in Fr John Grene’s ‘A Contribution towards a History of The Irish Province of the Society of Jesus’; the Memorials of the Irish Province and Fr William Molony’s ‘Brief Notices’ of 1831
– notes on Frs Robert and John St Leger and on the original builder at Tullabeg (1955, 23pp)
– letter from Fr Burke Savage SJ to Fr Jerome Mahony SJ (19 November 1955, 3pp) on the ‘strong local tradition that we built Tullabeg’, enclosing copies of early letters relevant to the subject (21 April 1815 – 29 April 1817, 7 items, 9pp).

Title deeds and legal documents relating to the foundation of Tullabeg, and the selling of its lands by the Land Commission. Deeds returned to St. Stanislaus College in 1977 by John J. McDonald & Co., Solicitors. Includes schedule of deeds and documents. Item 1 and 12 on the schedule are missing. Deeds arranged in chronological order according to original (not copy) date.

Deeds relating to the lands of Ballykeenaghan, barony of Ballycowan, County Offaly. Arranged chronologically.