Thomas Pakenham from Tullynally Castle talks about the archive held in Tullynally. The documents date from the 18th , 19th and 20th centuries and include maps, rent receiving books, and wage ledgers. The historic maps, some of which pre-date the Ordnance Survey maps, are beautifully executed and provide detail on the extent of landholdings and the conditions of the lands at the time. The written documents record the day to day running of the estate lands in Westmeath and offer a valuable insight into the social history of the time. They contain details on the size of individual land holdings, the cost of rent and the names of those who lived and worked on the estate lands over the years. The wage legers have details on the many different jobs that were required to keep the estate going and detail how staff numbers, jobs and rates of pay changed over the years.
The digitisation of these archives was funded by the Creative Ireland Programme from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and enables wider access for researchers and those looking into their family histories. The digitised material is available in the Local Studies Section of Mullingar Library.
This article was published on: 4th August, 2022
Filed under: Archives, Creative Ireland, News
Tags: archives, Mullingar Library, Thomas Pakenham, Tullynally Castle