If there is ever somebody who will find Wicklow Gold, it is Nivrum, who sends in these latest treasures. These were notices that appeared in an old tourist information booklet. Any thoughts on what date they could be? Visit Powerscourt Stay in Prosser’s and play some tennis Summerhill Dinner Dance every Saturday Night
A Lady’s Diary
Úna Wogan writes of some extracts from a lady’s diary that gives a lot of information about the area around the time of the 1798 rebellion: In 1838 Catherine Mary Howard, a member of the English aristocracy privately published her diaries and personal papers. Intended for her children, she decided to preserve her recordings of…
Mystery Stone at Powerscourt!
I saw this stone recently at Powerscourt, just beneath the Pepper Pot Tower. I took a photo to try to make out the engraving, but the last lines are difficult to make out. Has anyone any idea what it is about? I need a high-res photo to try to make it out, if anyone is…
Prosser’s Receipt (Archive Month #23)
To finish off the August Is Archive month series, something very special. Here is a receipt from H. B. Prosser’s High-Class Grocer and Provision Merchant issued in 1948. Isn’t it just amazing?! Huge thanks to Úna Wogan and Nancy Doran for this one. If you have any old receipts, leaflets or other ephemera relating to…
Enniskerry and Powerscourt Gazette 1861
Gazette Now Available Online Extra! Extra! As part of the celebrations for the Enniskerry Victorian Field Day, I will be publishing a special issue of the Enniskerry and Powerscourt Gazette. This most esteemed journal, never before seen in these parts, will include all of the local gossip of the time, the latest news from our…
Curtlestown: Request for aid for salary for Asst Teacher 1875: ED1/97 (Archive Month #22)
ED1/97 No. 52, Curtlestown Roll #1119, Co. Wicklow, District 40 Request for aid by Thomas O’Dwyer towards the salary of an assistant teacher 5 April 1875 Jeremiah Golden is the principal, Margaret Dowling in the W-mistress, Mary A Doyle is monitress Request for aid for Sarah ?Morris?/?Morrin? age 17yrs, appointed 17-2-1875. 70 males, 77 females…
Curtlestown NS: Application for Asst. Teacher Salary 1863: ED1/95 (Archive Month #21)
Further Application, 9 Jul 1863: ED1/95 No. 96 – Curtlestown Roll #1119, Co. Wicklow, District 40 & 38 Application referred to sub-committee 8th Sept 1863 Queries to be answered on application to the commissioners of national education for aid towards the Salary of an Assistant Teacher In Curtlestown National School in the Parish of Powerscourt…
Curtlestown NS: Request for salary of evening teacher 1861 – ED1/95 (Archive Month #19)
ED1/95 No 108 Curtlestown Roll #1119 Co. Wicklow, District 40 Request for aid by Thomas O’Dwyer towards the salary of an assistant teacher for Curtlestown Evening School States that the average evening attendance has been 23, since opening as a night school. The average age is 19, and they are employed in various occupations in…
Curtlestown NS Application for a Workmistress ED1/96 1855 (Archive Month #20)
ED1/96 No. 7 – Curtlestown Roll #1119 Co. Wicklow, District 40 & 38 QUERIES TO BE ANSWERED ON APPLICATION TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF EDUCATION FOR AID TOWARDS THE SALARY OF A WORK MISTRESS, In Curtlestown National School in the Parish of _______________ County of Wicklow Application from Thomas O’Dwyer for Margaret Dowling, aged 35 to…
Brassington & Gale Valuation of Powerscourt 1853: Tenant Names (Archive Month #18)
In 1853, during the minority of the 7th Viscount Powerscourt, the firm Brassington and Gale (Bachelor’s Walk) were requested to carry out a valuation of all property on the Estate, to assist the Guardians of the estate in deciding on rents that should be charged for land. They produced a ledger of incredible detail, which…
Early Photograph of the Village
Sometimes you think you’ve seen it all and then another email comes along to surprise. Here is an absolutely fantastic photograph of the village, from a slightly different perspective than usual. It’s time to get your grandfather’s monocle out as you’ll need to look very closely to see something the contributor has noticed. At the…
ED1 File – Annacrevy NS (Archive Month #17)
Annacrevy school was a very old school in the parish—probably built at the same time as Powerscourt NS—and this application would lead it to being taken into connexion with the Board of Education, in 1866. The principal, Philip O’Connor, had been principal in the school since the early 1850s. The school no longer operates. Co….
ED2 Files: Enniskerry No. 2 NS (Archive Month #16)
These archives relate to Enniskerry No. 2 School, initially housed in the old fever hospital, then behind the library, before moving to its present location beside the RC Church. These ED2 files trace the minutes from the establishment of the School in 1869 to 1905. ED2/157 Folio 9 (19 crossed out) Roll number is 10177,…
ED1 File: Enniskerry (Powerscourt) Nov 1866 (Archive Month #15)
This application refers to Powerscourt National School in the centre of the village. Formerly named Enniskerry, its name was later changed to Powerscourt. Established in 1818, this application would mean that it would be taken into connexion with the Board of Education from 1866, with the role number 9760. In 2011, the school is still…
ED1 File: Enniskerry No. 2 March 1869 (Archive Month #14)
This application refers to a school that was housed in a room in the old Fever Hospital on Kilgarran Hill. As this was the first application for this school, it would have meant that on acceptance, this school would be taken into connection with the Board of Education. The School would later move to a…
Killegar Church
“The cycling season is coming on,” wrote Rev. Professor George Thomas Stokes in 1891, “and cycling ought to be a great help to archæology.” And so he introduces his article on Killegar Church, which he says can be found by taking the road to Dundrum, and following “the high road to Stepaside…, riding through the…
Powerscourt National School – ED 2 Files (Archive Month #13)
The following transcriptions come from the ED2 files for Enniskerry, later named Powerscourt National School. The school came into connection with the Board quite late – over 30 years after the Board was established. For more context and detail, see the book for more. The ED2 files are held in the National Archives of Ireland,…
The long life of Mary Heffernan
A great find from Úna Wogan, posted on the Discussion Board and well worth repeating here, this is an extract from an article in the Liverpool Mercury dated March 30th 1838. I thought the piece was lovely. Maybe someone out there has Heffernan ancestors: “Longevity – Died on the 7th instant at Ballybrew, in the…
Dargle National School ED/2 Files (Archive Month #12)
ED2/49 – Folio 12 – mentions Dargle School (Roll 982), Parish of Delgany, Townland of Tynehinch in 1816 taken into connexion by the board on 14 Feb 1833. Name of Teacher: Correspondent 14 Feb 1834: Miss (Anastasia) Duffy James Grattan, Bray 3 June 1841: Walter Berrick Esq, Enniskerry 7 April 1846: “Supt. Reports school…
National Board of Education: Index Files (Archive Month #11)
The next several posts will be relating to the archives of schools in the parish and their correspondence with the Board of Education, which was established in 1831. Once schools opted to be “taken into connexion with the board”, there was a range of correspondence with the Commissioners for Education and notes kept by their…