Post & Letters from the Eighteenth Century.

Kelly of Turrock 1739.

The earliest letter we have in our collection (illustrated left) is from 22 March 1739. The letter was written by D. Kelly of Turrock (near Four Roads (Parish of Tisrara) in South Roscommon) to Thomas Dillon & Co. of Dublin. The Dillons were a Dublin merchant family. It begins "I expected the hogzead of claret & two dozen of old wine, here, before now". The Kelly's were landowners in the area and were descendants of the Kelly's of "Hy Many", once the premier dynasty in South Roscommon & East Galway. (To see a translation of this letter follow this link).

The Census of Elphin - 1749 (see below) p. 203, states that eight townlands in this parish were owned by the Kelly's in 1641 and thirty one of the name lived in the parish in 1749. Two were farmers, James in "Line Mallow" & William in "Kilvoney". "Turrock" is not given in the census returns. A number of other Kelly's were merchants and millers and a quite a few were "pumpmakers".

The letter (illustrated right) from 15 July 1746 is from James Kelly of Clonlyon and is also addressed to Thomas Dillon & Co. of the Inns Quay, Dublin. Clonlyon House or Castle was just outside Ballygar, in Co. Galway. It appears as a ruin on the 1837 Ordnance Survey map.

The Kelly's of Clonlyon were related to the Earl of Clanrikard. John Kelly married Honoria Burke of Portumna, daughter of the 9th Earl. She died in France ca. 1742. They had family. The Kelly's had supported the Jacobite cause in the 1690's but became Protestants in the 1740's. They held lands on both sides of the River Suck, in Galway (Athleague & Kilerorin) and Roscommon (Athleague & Tisrara). See more here.

The stamp on the front of the letter clearly shows FREE ELPHIN. It is also marked "Free Will Vesey" in manuscript.

James Kelly's signature (bottom right) on the 1746 letter.

(To see a translation of this letter follow this link. My thanks to Fin Corley for information on this family etc.).

Kelly of Clonlyon 1746.

Images are not to scale.

All material © Copyright Roscommon Historical Research.

The third example of eighteenth century postal history in our collection (right) is from 23 May 1750. The writer signs himself  "Edw. Elphin" and on the back "Bishop of Elphin".

The only Edward who was Bishop of Elphin at this date was Edward Synge (1691 - 1762) the man who is credited with the first census of Roscommon in 1749 ¹, the year before this letter was written. The letter is a general one about property leases written to his Lawyer Anthony Foster ² "at his [private] house in Mary-street, Dublin". It has an "albino" ELPHIN stamp on the lower right front. In the very legible and witty letter the Bishop tells of how "I frightened Hickes horribly about this lease ..." ³. He also wrote a very long letter to his daughter on the same day. ⁴ A very interesting and valuable addition to the information available on the Bishop.

The main Synge collections are in the National Archives (Elphin Census) and Trinity College (Letters to his daughter Alicia). Further information is contained in the "Wicklow Papers" in the National Library of Ireland.

Edward Synge of Elphin 1750.

Notes:

1. "The Census of Elphin - 1749" Edited by Marie-Louise Legg. Irish Manuscripts Commission. 2004.

2. Anthony Foster (1705 - 1779), Lawyer. Entered Trinity 1721, BA 1726. Kings Council. Became Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Practiced in King St., St. Stephen's Green, Dublin. Father of John Foster (later Lord Oriel), last Speaker of the Irish Parliament (1800). Had an estate in Collon, Co. Louth.

3. George Hickes & wife, Papists, tenants of the Bishop since 1740 in "Dingowan" or Matthew Hickes, Papist, doctor, in "Camoge".

4. "The Synge Letters" Edited by Marie-Louise Legg. Irish Manuscripts Commission. 1996.

We welcome additional material of this kind. If you have some please contact us.