- (To
view please click on the image to enlarge).
- The Images were transferred
to
digital format by local photographer Oliver Byrne.
- Above are 6 of the pages mentioned in the text below.
Transcription
The Illuminated Address has been described
as Carlow's mini-Book of Kells. The Address is in 8 page book format,
hand-bound. All the work has been done by hand in vivid calligraphy on
Vellum of which 6 pages have been illustrated above for your pleasure.
The surrounding designs are also extraordinary and all completed by
hand in 1867. It was presented in Jan. 1867 to William Clayton
Browne-Clayton of Browne's Hill from the Inhabitants of Carlow on the
occasion of his marriage to Caroline Watson Barton. To mark the
wedding day Carlow town was decked in floral decorations.
The
Illuminated Book was part of the Browne family archive and it was
among several hundred documents recently handed over to Michael
Purcell of Carlow. Michael and Robert have become friends following
research carried out by Michael in his role as researcher in his House
and Land History agency. The Book and much of the archive have been
handed over by Michael into the custody of County Librarian Tom King.
The book has now been digitalised and will be on display in the
library along with other documents from the archive in April 2007.
Robert has requested that the book should be returned to his custody
for the time being.
The
Browne family built and owned many houses in Carlow town and large
tracts of land in counties Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Wexford and Dublin.
Among the documents are dozens of Deeds relating to houses situated in
Tullow Street and the surrounding streets. The subject of the address,
William, was a Justice of the Peace and also served as High Sheriff
for the County. The Browne family were the leading Gentry family in
Carlow for over 300 years. Robert Browne had come to Ireland with
Oliver Cromwell's Army and he settled in the Carlow area in 1650.
The following is an account of the Brownes early days in
Carlow, the document outlining the event was found recently by
Michael Purcell among the family papers:
"When King James II came to the throne of
England in 1685, Mr Browne suffered great hardships and loss. His
house was occupied by his enemies and his family imprisoned. His land
and stock sequestered and plundered and still worse might have
happened only for the intervention of a worthy and respectable Roman
Catholic gentleman of the name of Allen from Pollerton near Carlow
town. Upon their release Robert built a roomy Mansion close to the
Tullow Gate in Carlow town."
Readers will be interested to know that
the "roomy Mansion" referred to above is now Lennon's Cafe
Bar
(121 Tullow Street, Carlow).
The present head of the family is Robert
Browne-Clayton who resides in England, he is the great grandson of
William Clayton Browne-Clayton
|
The Names: |
|
(Page 5 & 6 of the document) |
|
|
|
|
|
A. Bettesworth Perry, Rector of
Carlow |
|
William Jackson. |
|
John J. Brown, M.A. Clerk |
|
William Boake. |
|
Bernard O'Neill, Administrator. |
|
William H. Boake |
|
Joseph Cox. |
|
Henry Vaux. |
|
Arthur Fitzmaurice J.P. |
|
William Pallin. M.R.C.V.S |
|
Thomas O'Mara, M.B. |
|
Edward Hopkins. |
|
R. Todd Huston, F.R.C.S.J. |
|
Zac. W. Moreton |
|
Charles McDowell, A.B., L.R.C.S.J. |
|
William Graham & Son. |
|
William Salter, L.A.C. |
|
William Gale. |
|
Thomas Stoyte. |
|
Peter Belton |
|
Robert Malcolmson, Solr. |
|
James C. Bell. |
|
James Palmer |
|
William Henderson. |
|
Edward L. Jameson. |
|
Thomas Lacey. |
|
Richard Wilson. |
|
Arthur Barrow. |
|
Sarah Carroll, Carlow Sentinel. |
|
Robert Hmphreys. |
|
Thomas Price, Carlow Post. |
|
James Byrne. |
|
Patrick Burke, T.C. |
|
William Brennan. |
|
Robert Lawler, T. C. |
|
Patrick Kinsella. |
|
Matthew F. Tynan, T.C. |
|
James Nolan. |
|
Matthew W. Rowe. |
|
Martin Maxwell. |
|
Joseph Lynch. |
|
J. C. Deighton. |
|
Edward Croghan. |
|
Geo. Woods. |
|
William Whitmore. |
|
F. M. Spong. |
|
Edward Byrne. |
|
Matthew Byrne. |
|
Thomas Richardson. |
|
|
Source: Michael Purcell
c2006
The copying of these images is
strictly forbidden without the express permission of the owner of these
images
