Item 2 - Diary of William Bury Homan Mulock

6pp

Typescript diary entry of William Bury Homan Mulock, reflecting on the surroundings of the Bellair Estate; his childhood on the estate; estate improvements; sale of the estate to tenants under the Land Acts; effects on Irish agriculture and corn production during the first World War.

"The Townland of Bellair or Bally-ard (High Town) stands almost in the centre of Ireland and its hill crowned with a thick grove of beech and fir is a conspicuous object from most of the Counties in Ireland...

I dearly loved and revered the old place with all the tradition it stood for, and for my first day in India I determined to save money and pull it through as my father had always impressed on me the severe strain his large family had been on the estate...

I have now held it for close on 30 years and in the natural course of things must soon relinquish it. I can however fairly claim to have done more than any predecessor for its benefit. I have sold to the tenants, under the Land Acts, and have paid of all charges. I have renovated the house and wing, rebuilt all the farm buildings, and a good part of the stabling...

I have now (1918) had close on ten years experience as an Irish Landlord without tenants, having sold under the Land Acts 1908-9. I can't say that I regret their loss. I live more like an English squire, without anxiety or fear of malicious injuries, cattle drives, or burnings, and I have more leisure to look after my Bellair farm which is now paying me well for all my improvements".

Existence or location of original diaries is unknown.