Ireland was where the Annesley family
first achieved prominence (as seen in
the Introduction to this catalogue), and
it is to be expected that they came to
own much property here, in several
counties.
The listing of the Irish deeds in E6
provided especial problems. There are
several gaps in the history of the
properties, which means that the
histories of properties which can be
traced in the other parts of this
collection are not possible here.
Furthermore, the spelling of Irish place
names can lead to confusion. It was
therefore decided to arrange these deeds
by county, and, within each county, in
chronological order. Some deeds referred
to more than one county; these are
placed in 9D, but there are cross-
references with the other sections. As
for place-names, it was decided to
record them exactly as they were spelt
on the relevant document.
One important point should be made about
the history of the Irish lands. Francis
Annesley (I), the first Viscount
Valentia, seems to have divided up his
Irish estates among his children,
especially Arthur (I) and Francis (V),
the eldest sons respectively from this
first and second marriages. Arthur (I)
inherited the bulk of the estate,
whereas Francis (V), inherited lands
in Co. Down. When Arthur (I)'s grandson
Arthur (III) died without issue in 1737,
it seems that he bequeathed much, if not
all, of his Irish property to Francis
(V)'s son Francis (VI). During the next
two centuries, the properties were
gradually sold off. The Co. Down
property was sold in 1786, and almost
all the lands, except those in Co.
Kildare, were sold in the 1860s. The
Co. Kildare properties were eventually
sold by Arthur (XIII), the 11th Viscount
in 1912. The year 1737 should therefore
be remembered as being an important one
in the history of the property, when two
estates divided by Francis (I) were
re-united in Francis (VI).
It should also be remembered that
Francis Annesley (I) also left lands in
Ireland, at Ballysax, to his second
son, John (I). There are no deeds on
these in E6, except for those in
E6/1/12L above.
For some important other documents
concerning the Annesleys' Irish
estates, see E6/1/1L-3L, 7L-10L, 14L,
16L, 20L-21L, 33L and E6/2/E2/1. See too
E6/14/3D for deeds on Irish property
with no apparent links to the family.
In E6/7 here, sections 1D-9D below
concern properties bequeathed to Arthur
Annesley (I), which descended to
Francis (VI) in 1737, 10D to property
bequeathed to Francis (V), and 11D-14D
to properties which were almost
certainly in the line of Arthur (I), but
for which no records prior to 1737
survive.