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CSO/RP/OR/1830/677

File of letters from Maj William Miller [Inspector General], Fermoy, [County Cork], to William Gregory, [Under Secretary, Dublin Castle], regarding outrages, enclosing letters from Francis Crossley, Chief Constable, Kanturk, [County Cork], HR Brownrigg, Chief Constable, Doneraile, [County Cork], and Col John Longfield, Longueville, [County Cork], on a new private political club in Kanturk, with Brownrigg providing names of twelve members. Miller eventually reports that the club has discontinued its meetings because it felt under scrutiny by the constabulary. Longfield also passes on a recommendation from Lord Bantry that Thomas Ludgate be promoted to Constable rank. [Contains list of names not given in this description.]

2 Nov 1830-2 Dec 1830

1830

CSO/RP/CA/1824/32

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the Catholic Association at the Corn Exchange, chaired by James O’Connell; most of the meeting was taken up with reading letters enclosing subscriptions and admitting over 100 new members, one third of whom were catholic clergymen; Mr M’Namara [McNamara] claimed that police in County Clare were ‘getting up a Paddy M’Kew plot’ and had brought in a number of ‘Pastotini prophecies’; [Nicholas Purcell] O’Gorman read a reply from Eneas MacDonnell accepting a salary of £300 and noting that he had been admitted as a member of the British Catholic Association; in a letter Maurice O’Connell of Kerry urged the association to mix moderation with fairness; [Daniel] O’Connell commented on this letter from his 97 year old relative and stated that if catholics ‘had joined Scotland when Charles Stewart’s army reached Carlisle … the present Royal family may have been read of in the Epitaphs at Hanover as those of the Stewards are in France’ [passage underlined in pencil]; O’Connell also denied the accusation in ‘The Courier’ newspaper claiming that the Catholic Convention had been engaged in the last rebellion noting that one of his relatives had loyally arrested a French Officer at Bantry Bay; [Richard Lalor] Sheil asked if the movement for catholic emancipation and the end of slavery in the Americas had not commenced with the French Revolution and he lauded France where Huguenots were admitted to positions of trust and profit; Sheil welcomed Mr Stewart of Waterford as a new member and urged the catholics of Waterford to oppose the Beresford interest; O’Connell welcomed a second letter from Mr Jevers of Paris, offering to spread the proceedings of the association throughout Europe but Mr O’Reilly wondered if Jevers was writing at the behest of the British government; O’Connell argued that if they had an adequate number of collectors the catholic rent would yield ‘fifty times as much’ and a letter from Mr Crane was read complaining of the ‘backwardness’ of the collection at Saint Mary’s; Morgan Connell of Bantry, [County Cork] in a letter, requested 1000 copies of the address which was ‘read from the altar’; the committee of grievances was asked to investigate a claim from Charles Church of M[ount]rath, [County Laois] that gunpowder was confiscated from a Mr Arnet; Mr Ronan repeated his charge against Delap, a police man in Waterford and was supported by Sheil who claimed that Delap was unsuitable to hold such a position as he had been acquitted of murder ‘on a point of law’ and despite objections from Mr Baron this matter was referred to the committee of grievances; O’Connell read [Patrick] Curtis’ [Catholic archbishop of Armagh] letter concerning education and noted that he held hopes and fears for the findings of the parliamentary commission on education [Commission of Education Inquiry]; Mr Devreux [Devereux] noted that the government had fraudulently promised Sir John Newport that liberal persons would be nominated to this commission and had appointed Mr Blake who was known to be hostile to the petition of the catholic hierarchy, [John] Leslie Foster a supporter of the Bible Society and [Frankland] Lewis whose wife was a collector for the Kildare Place Society; O’Connell suggested that he, Sheil and Mr Wolfe visit the Catholic Associations in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London to explain their objectives and claims; noted that £6000 catholic rent had already been collected and that funds were vested in a private security and government stock.

9 Dec 1824

1824

CSO/RP/1831/306

Letter from the Commissioners of the Board of Inland Navigation in Ireland, James Saurin, Henry R Paine, John Radcliff and [Major Benjamin Blake Woodward], Navigation Office, Dublin, to Henry William Paget, Lord Lieutenant, communicating their opinion that an application from the fishermen of Bantry, County Cork, for an extension of time to meet arrears owing to the Irish Fishery loan fund should be treated with leniency; noting that similar relief was given to the herring fishermen of Glandore and Baltimore to help prevent the practice of illicit trawling. Encloses petition from the fishermen of the town of Bantry to Paget, complaining of their inability to pay off debts to the loan fund because of ‘A total failure of the Fisheries on the coast’; asking that orders be given to the collector [Mr Woodhouse] to allow them an additional twelve months to settle their arrears, signed by four individuals. Also draft reply from Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, to David Sullivan, TimothySullivan and Thomas Smyth [fishermen of Bantry], indicating that the collector has been authorised to proceed against any person or persons who are refusing to settle their debt, but adjudged fit to pay.

7 Dec 1830-26 Aug 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/550

Petition of the fishermen of Bere Island, Bantry, County Cork, to Henry William Paget, Lord Lieutenant, seeking relief from the demands of the collector [Mr Woodhouse] who is seeking settlement of loan arrears; also requesting a renewal of the bounty previous given through the Irish Fisheries; complaining of communal hardship brought about by ‘a past unsuccessful fishing Season, an unproductive Harvest and in a word a General failure of Crop’, signed or marked by 20 individuals.

11 Feb 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/684

Letter from Maj William Miller, [Inspector General of Police in Munster], Fermoy, [County Cork], to Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, reporting that the stock of potatoes held by the general population across the province of Munster will suffice until harvest provided there is not ‘large scale’ exportation; expressing some reservation over supply in the barony of Iveragh, County Kerry, and observing that prices are on the increase in Kinsale and Bantry, County Cork; also noting that shipments of potatoes are going out to Liverpool from the port of Kinsale.

31 Mar 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/752

Letter from John Usher, churchwarden, parish of Whitechurch, Landscape, New Ross, County Wexford, to Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, complaining over difficulties in collecting the church tax due to a combination amongst the parishioners and seeking advise on how he might accomplish the task; noting that a petty sessions is unlikely to take place for some time in the barony of Bantry and stressing the necessity of a magistrate to enforce payment.

3 Mar 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/965

Letter from William Searight [Seawright], pro-secretary, Navigation Office, [11 Merrion Street, Dublin], to Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, reporting on an application from David Sullivan and Thomas Smith, fishermen of Bantry, County Cork, for relief; stating their main grievance relates to a decree brought by a person who was previously employed by the Fishery Board, but over whom the present board exercise ‘no Control’. Enclosing memorial of Sullivan and Smith, Bantry, to Henry William Paget, Lord Lieutenant, complaining of the aggressive pursuit of loans by the representatives of the Fishery Board and requesting an extension of time to settle arrears; referring to legal proceedings brought against Francis Banfield. Also enclosing letter from George Woodhouse, collecting officer, Dingle, County Kerry, to Searight, protesting that Sullivan and Smith are not connected with the matter of repayment of loans by the fishermen but act only to ‘embarrass the person employed in the collection of the Loan Fund’; pointing out that a decree referred to by the applicants was obtained by a Mr Croker, an ex-inspector of fisheries, and the balance of 5s 6d is due to him; also reflecting on the treatment of Banfield.

2 Apr 1831-21 Apr 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/1324

Memorial of George Moss, late corporal, Royal Artillery, Bantry, County Cork, to Henry William Paget, Lord Lieutenant, seeking appointment of his son, Isaac Moss, to a post in the coast guard service or to one of His Majesty’s revenue cutters; referring to other close family members in the military or naval forces and stating his son is 22 years old and ‘well used to the sea’.

17 May 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/1907

Copy letter from Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, [Chief Secretary of Ireland], Whitehall, [London, England], to Lord Bantry [Richard White, 1st Earl Bantry], acknowledging receipt of letter and stating that an investigation will be made into the matter complained of; stating that Bantry’s letter has now been forwarded to Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary, for consideration. Enclosing letter from Lord Bantry, [Bearhaven, County Cork], to Stanley, drawing attention to an application for the appointment of R Sullivan to the position of chief constable of police; indicating that he felt unable to recommend Sullivan, who made his claim on grounds of apprehending a murderer in the barony of Bear, because he had received information that the culprit was captured by three other men; requesting an investigation of the matter.

19 Jun 1831-27 Jun 1831

1831

CSO/RP/1831/2000

File of documents arising from a complaint over calling in additional policemen to assist in the collection of cess in the barony of Bere, County Cork. Includes letter from Rev Henry G Harris, magistrate, Berehaven Glebe, Castletown, [County Cork], to [Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Gosset, Under Secretary], complaining of the introduction of a band of strange constables into the district without the knowledge or authority of local magistrates; alleging that such a course of action was unnecessary in a district that is largely peaceful, and was the cause of ‘alarm & excitement’ amongst the people. Also includes letter from Alexander Eagan, Chief Constable, Bantry, [County Cork], to Maj William Miller, [Inspector General of Police in Munster], reporting that he and a party of constabulary gave aid to the high constable, Patrick O’Sullivan, in his collection of county cess; insisting that the collection could not have proceeded in such an orderly manner without the assistance provided by the men under his command; emphasising the ‘steadiness and good conduct’ of his police and stressing they met with no significant resistance. Also includes report from Miller to Gosset on the issue under consideration.

12 Jul 1831-19 Aug 1831

1831