Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers Rare Books & Collectors' Sale December 9th & 10th, 2020

150 IMPERFECTIONS NOT STATED info@fonsiemealy.ie fm 837 Medical interest: Manuscript Page, 29cms x 23cms, printed text in Latin, with MS additions in English. Invitation to a Dr Faulkner to attend a lecture on surgery given by a Dr Hervey, on Monday 11 April (year not speci fi ed), at 5 o’clock, followed by dinner at 5.30 - together with a reminder to the recipient to pay his fees and annual subscription. The letterhead bears the arms and motto of the Royal College of Physicians in London, of which Dr Arthur Brooke Faulkner was elected a fellow in 1808 (in which year 11 April did fall on a Monday). Arthur Brooke Faulkner (1779-1845) was the youngest son of Hugh Faulkner of Wellbrook and Seville Park, Co. Tyrone, and Castletown, Co. Carlow. Having been appointed physician to the forces, he served on the sta ff in Spain, Holland, Sicily and Malta. While he was in Malta there was an outbreak of the plague, and by his vigorous exertions in enforcing quarantine he limited its spread. On his return to England in 1815 he was knighted for his services. The speaker at the lecture he attended in 1808 appears to have been Dr Thomas Hervey (1751-1824), the pioneer of smallpox vaccination. (1) € 40 - 70 Co. Kerry Archive Mahony (Pierce), M.R.I.A. of Woodlawn and Kilmorna, Co. Kerry (1792 - 1853). A collection of 12 letters, concerning Mahony family a ff airs, a by-election in Co. Waterford & estate development. Synopsis of the letters as follows: (1) From the Earl of Fingall, Twickenham, 27 January 1817. Regrets that Mr. Mat Donelan has failed to honour a bill for £300 owing to Mahony. (2) From Florence Mahony, Killarney, 3 March 1818. A complicated letter, mentioning many names, regarding his attempts to get a deed signed, and the evasive tactics used against him. (3) & (4) FromWilliam Meredith, Tralee, 7 April 1818, and A. [Alicia] Meredith, Dicksgrove, 14 May 1818. William Meredith of Dicksgrove, Farranfore (1771-1849), JP, was High Sheri ff of Kerry in 1803. He married in 1801 Alicia, daughter of Richard Orpen of Ardtully (died 1821). “The Merediths were highly regarded as landlords in this area: they were never absentees and gained much admiration for their help and fair dealing”(V. Bary, Houses of Kerry , p. 98). William writes that “The Ventrys want very much to buy the 1/6 part of the town and lands of C[astle] Island, and for every reason, & it’s being so unpleasant a kind of property, I am determin’d to sell it if I can get near the value for it.” Hopes for £5,000 - “It will give me Happiness & Peace for the Rest of my life, & not be Tormenting my friends, I mean yourself.”Urges Mahony to expedite the sale if he can. Alicia writes that she has done everything in her power to persuade her husband to sell o ff some property. “As to Charles Herbert I thought he knew better than to suppose he’d have a notion of purchasing any property - like the snail he wishes to live within himself.” Hopes William“will no longer hesitate about disposing something to get rid of those sharks … his fi ne demesne neglected by his frequent absence, for let a mistress do her utmost she cannot inspect everything like the master - besides I have too much inside doors to attend to now.” (5) From C. Mahony (Cornelius Mahony, Pierce’s elder half-brother), Doon, 14 June 1818. Has mislaid the copy of the process Pierce had sent him and requests another as soon as possible. “Tell David his mare is in great condition but she has a slight mange … I am very much distressed for grass so that a dairy man is going to law with me and will give me neither nor butter.” (6) From Denis Richard Moylan, Cork, 4 September 1818,. Implores Pierce to settle with his brother-in-law Kenifeck who owes him money. “Surely you will not refuse giving him a sure acquittal & allow him & his Family one moment of Comfort & Care … the man who was wholly instrumental in securing so prodigious a Fortune for you.” (7) From David Mahony (Pierce’s younger brother), Dungarvan,24 October 1818. Writes mainly of legal matters - a bill for £75 that is due, one Callaghan who is in trouble for debt, and Harry Duggan who is accused of selling cattle that were alleged to be the property of another. Continues: “I was sorry to hear of the row between Con [Mahony] and [Daniel] O’Connell … O’Connell is now in a most awkward position, and leave him so. The public will judge.” (8) From Philip Mahony (Pierce’s elder half-brother), Paris, 10 March 1818. Begs Pierce to adopt a more e ffi cient way of paying his allowance, which is always long overdue, causing him great hardship. “To use a Vulgar expression, I am obliged to eat the calf in the cow’s belly. In the Name of God obviate this all this evil and restore me my peace of mind in this respect.” (9) & (10) From Nicholas White, Kilkenny, 11 December 1829, and Gore’s Grove, 27 December 1829, regarding the impending by-election for Co. Waterford. In the general election of 1826 Henry Villiers-Stuart, supported by Daniel O’Connell and the Catholic Association, had dramatically defeated the anti- Emancipation sitting MP Lord George Beresford, winning one of the two seats for Waterford County. However, in June 1829 Stuart resigned his seat in disgust at O’Connell’s abandonment of the forty-shilling freeholders, which disfranchised some 85% of the county’s electorate. In the ensuing by- election campaign Beresford stood again, announcing that he now accepted Emancipation and wished to bury the hatchet with his opponents. He was opposed by the O’Connellite candidate John Barron but supported by many Catholics, and when the election fi nally took place in March 1830 he won the seat comfortably. In the fi rst letter, White describes his meeting with Lord George, and his fear that Barron (who is put forward by his brother Pierce George Barron) will prove troublesome: “There should be a close watch kept upon the tenants of all the Roman Catholic Gentlemen who promised to support Lord George Beresford, as I have reason to think they have been (more or less) tampered with already. This ought to be quickly put a stop to. I intend going to the County of Waterford in a week or ten days, and will use every exertion in my power to put a stop to this system.” In the second letter, he writes of his impending visit to Mr O’Shee at Gardenmorris, who, though a Catholic, is a con fi rmed supporter of Beresford. (11) From C.W. Williams, City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, 2 April 1833. Writes of the a ff airs of the company and asks Mahony to use his in fl uence to help get the relevant bill passed by parliament. (12) From G. Drummond, Gunsborough, 16 February 1839. Pierce Mahony had bought Gunsborough in 1834, and in 1837 was recorded as being about to erect a new mansion there. He was a progressive landlord and did much to improve the lives of his tenants (V. Bary, Houses of Kerry , p. 135). He also bought Riversdale House, Listowel (which he rebuilt and named Kilmorna) and Leslie Lodge. Drummond was his agent for all three places, and in this letter writes in great detail (some 1,600 words) of the progress he has made in fencing, planting trees, sowing crops and raising stock. * Pierce above, was the son of Pierce Mahony (1750 - 1819) of the Castle, Newcastle, Co. Limerick, andWoodlawn, Co. Kerry, by his 2nd wife Anna Maria, daughter of John Maunsell of Ballylerood House, Co. Limerick. He married in 1815, Jane, only daughter of Wm. Kenifeck of Seafort, Co. Cork. Their great-grandson Pierce Gun O’Mahony was Cork Herald of Arms at the time of the disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels. As an Archive, w.a.f. (1) € 300 - 400 835 Letters to a Kerry Barrister and Landowner, 1817 - 1839