The pencil lead is hardly dry on this latest data collection! I’m interested in the change of ownership of land from Powerscourt to tenants, and have been looking at the Land Commission records. From my limited understanding so far the Land Commission was established in 1881 to effect the voluntary transfer of land from estate…
Aerial View of Enniskerry (Archive Month #8)
This one is from the family archives! An aerial view of Enniskerry. What date do you think it is? There is one car that I can spot. I am guessing it is Prosser’s shop front and the optimist in me thinks the planting at Magee’s corner (opposite present toilets) follows the line of the old…
Planting at the Dargle: Journal of Rural Affairs 1842 (Archive Month #7)
The following article about the potential for planting trees in non-arable land in Ireland appeared in the wonderfully named The Irish Farmer’s and Gardener’s Register and Journal of Rural Affairs in 1842 [Volume I, (pp 199 – 205)]. The Journal is available at the National Library of Ireland. The article uses Powerscourt as a case-study,…
Maps from Monck Papers at the National Library of Ireland (Archive Month #6)
The Monck papers which, like the previously mentioned Powerscourt papers, have their own index (No. 4 – Part I includes the Wicklow Estate information), have two maps of interest that I came across. Monck’s lived at Charleville, and the two maps mentioned here cover the area around Tinnehinch at the end of the 18th and…
Correspondence with Famine Relief Commission (Archive Month #5)
The Famine Relief Commission papers are held in the National Archives of Ireland. The Relief Commission was set up in November 1845, and local committees were set up from the following February. The Relief papers are arranged according to certain categories – for example the code “RLFC3/2/” refers to “Incoming letters: baronial sub-series” – these…
Living conditions in Wicklow in 1834 (Archive Month #4)
Following on from a previous post, here is an extract from the previously mentioned Ireland in 1834: a journey throughout Ireland, during the spring, summer, and autumn of 1834, Henry D Inglis, London: Whittaker, 1834. It describes living conditions observed by this writer in Wicklow, but unfortunately no details on what part. It’s interesting to…
Maps from Powerscourt Papers in National Library of Ireland (Archive Month #3)
The National Library of Ireland has an important set of manuscripts relating to Powerscourt and Enniskerry in its Powerscourt Papers collection. There is a general index to the collection, which is available online (Collection List 124 PDF file). Having looked at many of the maps, some more detail from notes made are provided below. As…
House Book for Town of Enniskerry 1840 (Archive Month #2)
NAI 5.3573 30 Jan 1840: Houses in Town of Enniskerry Many of us are familiar with the wonderful Griffith Valuation records available online. The valuation of Ireland has a complicated heritage, but gathered pace as a result of the enactment of the Poor Law in Ireland in 1838, with a view to establishing a uniform…
Travellers’ Accounts of Touring in Enniskerry (Archive Month #1)
There’s a long tradition of travellers writing accounts of passing through Enniskerry and Tinnehinch, (usually) writing about the beauty of the area. In the early stages of the book, I used some of these accounts to build a picture of what the village was like in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. There are…
August is Archive Month!
I have come across a lot of archives, references and notes over the course of doing research for the book. Many of these made it in to the book, many more informed the book, and some while interesting didn’t make it beyond my notes. In order to give them all some more deserved exposure, I…
The Leicester Arms Hotel
There’s a long tradition of hostelry in the village with a reference to Joseph Johnson, Innkeeper, in the 1641 depositions (more here on those). Many travel writers mention lodging at Enniskerry, including De Latocnaye, who stayed with an innkeeper, who was a representative of the O’Toole clan, according to him in his Frenchman’s Walk through…
South Dublin County Library Images
Here’s a nice image repository that includes some pictures of historical and archaeological interest for Enniskerry. It’s an initiative of South Dublin County Libraries – search for Enniskerry: http://www.southdublinimages.ie/search.aspx Thanks to Úna for the link.
Summer Reading/Viewing
I hope you are all enjoying our “summer”! Some things I have come across that might be of interest: Books: I read Bill Bryson’s Book “At Home“. It is a really interesting read, especially if you are interested in social history. While he covers a huge breadth of material, I really liked the parts about…
Hearth Money Rolls, Powerscourt, 1668
One of the earliest writings on placenames by the indefatigable Liam Price, historian, scholar and Wicklow judge, was his work on transcribing the Hearth Money Rolls of County Wicklow, which he published in 1931.* Price was a district justice in County Wicklow from the 1920s until the 1950s. His interest in history and antiquities apparently…
Journal Volume 1 Now Online
The 1st collection of essays in the new journal is now available. The Introduction is given below. You can view all issues at the Journal homepage. Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Journal of Enniskerry and Powerscourt Local History! The purpose of the Journal is to provide a space for articles by authors with…
View of the village c.1870
Here is an unusual sketch of the village from contributor Nivrum, labelled “Captain Russell, 1870”. It is drawn from the town clock, looking up Church Hill. Given that it is from a similar perspective to the Lawrence photos a decade or more later, it is useful to compare with those. If you know more about…
Book Launch
The book has arrived and is ready for launch. The Book Launch is scheduled for 5 pm, Saturday 30th April in the Parochial Hall, Enniskerry. That is this building, the one with the old telephone box outside. I’m not quite sure what is meant to happen at these things, so am open to suggestion, but…
Tragedies at Powerscourt Waterfall
Úna Wogan catalogues some tragic accidents at Powerscourt Waterfall over the last 150 years that were reported in the national media. Powerscourt Waterfall deserves the thousands of visitors it receives each year as, viewed from below or above, it’s one of the most beautiful scenes in Ireland, particularly when the waters are at full flow….
Proceedings Volume 1
One of the outputs of this project is to build up a bank of resources and information about Enniskerry’s history on the website on an ongoing basis. Proceedings of Enniskerry Local History is an edited compilation of information added to the website in a hard-copy form. The primary goal is to have a physical copy…
Royal Visits
In May 2011, Elizabeth II will visit Ireland. Unlike her predecessors, Powerscourt will not be involved in some way with her itinerary. Elizabeth’s grandfather, George V, visited with his wife Queen Mary in 1911 and according to The Irish Times, Viscount and Viscountess Powerscourt, and their house party, joined the King and Queen at the…