NOT TO BE MISSED

AVAILABLE IN THE GSNT LIBRARY – in the IRISH SECTION

HISTORICAL - GENEALOGICAL - ARCHITECTURAL NOTES

After Hugh Weir gave up teaching he got himself involved in the sale of farm machinery.  This necessitated travelling throughout Ireland up to 74,000 miles each year and in the process he visited, observed, absorbed the fine houses with deep historical backgrounds. 

Bank strikes and the prohibitive cost of petrol put an end to a possible career in business, Hugh concentrated his interests to the County in which he lived – Clare.  The result of this is a magnificent book on  houses, which he believed to be of historical, genealogical or architectural interest, or which were recorded on small scale Ordnance Survey maps and were standing at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The book is in alphabetical order by house name; it is not like other house books that have big colourful pictures, with a small caption giving the location of the house. 
This book is much more than that, to give you an example of an entry:-

Abbey House, Killaloe
The house by the twelfth century Franciscan Abbey built by Donal More O’Brien; now the Church of Ireland Diocesan Cathedral (Eng).

Associated families, etc
Church of Ireland, Hawkins, Martin, Mayne, Scanlan

Townland
Shantraud (Killaloe)

Location
At the S end of the Royal Parade, Killaloe and to the E of Abbey Street

Present condition
House:     Standing. Inhabited.
Demesne: A number of mature trees.  Well kept garden.
               Utility buildings in good order and regular use.

Features
A two story, three bay, hip-roofed, “L” shaped, Wyatt windowed house, with a one-storey, mainly glass, porch protecting the central front door, facing east over the river Shannon.  There is a garden planted with exotic flora to the east and south of the house and a farmyard a short distance to the north.  A twentieth century addition squares off the house to the north-east.  An upstairs window pane is inscribed Peg Martin 24th December 1824.  The centre of the drawing room window opens as a French window and a conservatory adjoins the south end.

History of the House

This house was according to local lore, reputedly (but recently considered to be
unlikely by expert opinion) designed by James Gandon (1743 – 1823), the
Dublin neo-classical architect who laid out the Four Courts, the Banks of Ireland,
portico, and other famous Dublin buildings circa 1770, as the Church of
Ireland rectory for the Reverend J. D. Burke, who later became Archbishop of
Tuam. Leased from the Bishop of Killaloe by Captain Michael Martin J.P. from
1820 – 1860, it was later exchanged for the present Deanery, then Martin property.
The Captain and his nephew, County Coroner Dr James Martin, who died
from cholera, did much to alleviate suffering during the great famine in the
1840s. In 1887, the Misses Mayne owned one thousand, eight hundred and
ten acres in County Clare. They were the daughter of William Heny Mayne
Esq., J.P. who died in 1876, by his wife Elizabeth Murray. The original two storey
porch was made from old church furniture and was there until the mid twentieth
century.
Some entries have more information some less, but you can see from the
above what a wonderful source of information this book is. More importantly
the list of associated families which includes owners, landlords, tenants and
even in some cases guests‖ .
Each entry has a pen/pencil sketch of the house, at the back of the book there
are some photographs of houses and the best is the INDEX.

This book is out of print – very hard to find in second hand book shops unless
you are real lucky.

Be sure to have a browse through this book if you have Irish connections.