Limerick Civic Trust has presented a cache of previously unseen historical papers relating to Limerick to The Glucksman Library at the University of Limerick on behalf of the Pery Family.
The recently discovered papers provide rich insight into the social, political and economical landscape of Limerick City and County from the 1500’s to 1800’s.
The papers were discovered by Sylvia Countess of Limerick in Sussex recently. They had been put aside by her father-in-law in 1962 after he had presented other papers of historical importance to the National Library.
While much of the papers document the life and times of the Pery family which has links with Limerick going back to the early 17th century, they also provide context and evidence to many of the military actions during that time. Two volumes of handwritten correspondence between Edmund Sexten, who was Mayor of Limerick in 1535, and the authorities in Dublin and London provide a wealth of information about the activities of prominent families like the Sextens, Thomonds, O’Briens and Fitzgeralds. A forbear of the Pery’s, Edmund Sexten became the representative of the Tudor monarch and a major local beneficiary of the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538.
The newly discovered material includes:
- Transcripts made by Edmond Sexten the younger (1594-1636) of correspondence by his grandfather who was Mayor of Limerick in 1535
- Historical notices of the Sexten family and the city of Limerick from 1600’s
- Abstracts and copies of records relating to the Sexten, Casey and Stackpoole families from late 1600’s
- Book concerning County Limerick circa 1638
- Edmund Pery’s Account and Commonplace book from 1671-1729
- Tenement Valuation of the Estate of the Earl of Limerick in Counties Limerick, Cork and Clare in 1884
The Account and Commonplace book of Colonel Edmund Pery from 1671 and 1681 provides more amusing insights into the daily concerns of that time. It includes a lengthy section on how to look after your horse and recipes and tips on how to get curly hair, get rid of unwanted hair, make cucumbers last the winter and keep wine fresh.
The Glucksman Library at University of Limerick will now archive and digitize the papers so that they are available to the public.
On presenting the papers to the Glucksman Library, Edmund Pery, the Earl or Limerick, said, “We felt it was important that these papers are made available, at no cost, to anyone who has an interest in them and hope they support the research and work of historians and students. The Glucksman Library is the most obvious place to look after them given they are 100% about the city and county of Limerick. I would like to thank the Limerick Civic Trust for their encouragement and facilitation in bringing them back to where they belong.”
Gobnait O’Riordan, Director, Glucksman Library, said, “The Glucksman Library is delighted to receive these early manuscript records of the Pery family in Ireland from the Earl of Limerick and his family. It is our intention to catalogue and digitise the material. It will then be made available to all researchers in the UL Digital Library in an open access environment. The University of Limerick is grateful to the Pery family and to the Limerick Civic Trust for bringing these manuscripts to Limerick”
Limerick Civic Trust has a long-standing relationship with the Glucksman Library and previously presented its Oral History Archive to the Library in 2015.
David O’Brien, CEO, Limerick Civic Trust, said “As part of our mandate to create a better understanding of our heritage,we carry out a lot of research on unpublished material. These papers are fascinating and provide another layer to Limerick’s rich and colourful past. We’re thrilled that they are going to the Glucksman Library to be protected, preserved and made accessible to everyone.”
The highlights of the collection are:
Manuscript 1
The manuscript comprises primarily transcripts made by Edmond Sexten the younger (1594-1636) of letters and petitions (mostly in English, with some items in part or fully in Latin), which his grandfather Edmond Sexten the elder (1486-1555) had collected in order to defend himself against allegations that ‘my seruice to the kinge majestie is deemed … not to be such as did deserue the bountifull remuneration of his heighnes unto me’ and to prove that ‘my seruice was freely doone without receauinge wages or hire of the king majestie as others dothe’. (As a background note, Edmond Sexten the elder held the office of Mayor of Limerick in 1535 and was the first mayor of native Irish extraction
Manuscript 3
Abstracts & Copys of Records, Relative to the Sexten, Casey, & Stackpole Familys.’ The manuscript comprises abstracts and copies of seventeen documents relating to the Sexten family; eight relating to the Casey family; and two to the Stackpole family. The earliest reference is to the 16th century
Manuscript 4
Account and commonplace book of 172 pages, bound in coarse leather, kept and compiled by Colonel Edmund Pery (d. 1721) between 1671 and 1681. The first part of the book contains brief memoranda of financial transactions, mainly monies lent to and borrowed from various individuals. In addition to accounts, the book contains ‘A Collection of Several things fit to be knowne’. These include notes on weights and measures; a list of foreign coins and their value in pounds, shillings and pence; various conversion tables; and a list of the countries of the known world and their acreage. There are several pages of explanations of terms of scientific nature, particularly relating to geography, topography, astronomy, physics, and mathematics.
Manuscript 7
Hardcover tenement valuation book with index of the estate of the Earl of Limerick for counties Limerick, Cork and Clare, dated 8 August 1884. The right hand pages have been numbered consecutively from 1 to 147, while the left-hand pages bear no pagination. The entries have been arranged first by county and then by ward or townland, as follows. For County Limerick: Abbey Ward; Castle Ward; Custom House Ward; Dock Ward; Market Ward; Shannon Ward; Glentworth Ward; Irishtown Ward; South Suburb Ward; and Knockainy. For County Clare: Kilkishen; Cloontra; Cloghera; and Quin. For County Cork: Kilmacleine; Ballyclogh; Mallow; Blackrock Ward; Caherduggan; and Bawncross.
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