Letters and tradesmen’s accounts to the 5th Earl relating to seeds, shrubs, trees and planting, including 3 letters from Augustine Henry [botanist renowned for his flora-collecting explorations in central and western China], 1908-10. One of
Henry’s letters, dated 26 July 1909, is about [Chinese?] plant specimens at Birr; it has been photocopied by PRONI, T/3498/4.

Letters and papers, mostly of the 4th and 5th Earls and Dr Otto Boeddicker, concerning Parsons family history and genealogy, including information about the Oxmantown/Phoenix Park property, sold by the elder branch of the Parsons family to the crown in 1672. Of particular interest is a paper entitled ‘How the Parsons, Earls of Rosse, got the Titles of Baron and Viscount of Oxmantown’.

Letters and papers of the 4th Earl about Parsonstown/Birr: the Castle – his youthful recollections of it, extensions to it 1867-72 [see also M/25], a magazine portrait of his way of life there, 1898, and magazine obituaries of him, 1908; an incident which took place on the road between Banagher and Parsonstown and in which the 4th Earl and his party were stopped and temporarily put in gaol by a drunken R.I.C. man, 1868; the Parsonstown Barracks, 1869, 1899 and N.D.; the Parsonstown Town Commission and Commissioners, 1870 and 1885; admissions to the demesne of privileged locals, 1876-1910; and one of the bridges in the Birr Castle demesne, and the Rivers Brosna and Camcor, 1880 and 1896. The correspondents include Gladstone, W.E. Forster and Lords Strathnairn and Roberts. The sub-section also includes a small account book recording local subscriptions to the Parsonstown Defence Association, the Property Defence Association, the legal fund of the Irish Land Committee, and the Field and Rossmore Testimonials, c.1882.

Original bundle of letters and papers concerning the 4th Earl’s patents for a machine which he had invented for removing leaves and other matter from turbines, 1901-4; together with notes on his experiments with electro-plating, 1908. [Not in chronological order.]

Envelope of legal papers about the estate, including non-contemporary copies of deeds back to 1909, and counsel’s opinions on cases concerning repairs to tenanted houses, rates on such houses, the claims of J. Laurie, a dismissed steward [see Q/389], etc, etc.

Box of leases of Clonoghill, barony of Ballybritt, on the outskirts of Birr, and adjoining Newbridge, to which some of the leases refer [see Q/84]. Also mentioned are the 2 substantial houses situated in the townland of Clonoghill,
Elmgrove and Syngefield. A number of papers, ending in 1946, relate to the former property. Because of Clonoghill’s proximity to Birr, an unusually high proportion of the leases also include holdings in the town. One interesting component of the box is the probate of a local land surveyor, Maurice Downer, 1786, whose estate included part of the lands of Clonoghill; this will is of interest as giving some indication of the degree of affluence enjoyed by a member of his profession. The box also includes papers relating to the sale of a fee farm grant of Elmgrove Bridge to Offaly County Council in 1989.

Envelope of leases of the tuck mill of Birr and premises nearby.

Box of leases of The Green and The Upper Green. [Some of the earliest leases of Cumberland Street (see Q/58) state that it was built on The Green, so it is probable that, as building progressed, leases of The Green change names to leases of sundry streets.] The box also includes papers relating to the sale of properties and fee farm grants in Green Street to the Birr Urban District Council and other purchasers.

Envelope of leases of premises which are all described as being on the road to Burkeshill or as adjoining Burkeshill, and have no other intelligible indication of location. [In date order.]

Leases of premises in Wilmer Road and Wilmer Terrace. This sub-section also includes papers relating to the sale of properties in Wilmer Terrace to Ann Ritchie and other purchasers.