The Burgess papers

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screenshot from the Burgess Paper - scanned copy with library marks

The Burgess Papers is a collection of 26 volumes typed between 1939 and 1956.  It contains information on people of Athlone, buildings of the town, deeds, occupations, etc.  Dr Burgess had ease of access to Church of Ireland records, and while there are a few references to members of the RC religion, many are lacking.  Information dates from c.1571-1881 and has been assembled from deeds, directories, almanacs, newspapers, parish records, tombstone inscriptions etc.  Good indexing is used throughout and there is a list of abbreviations at the start of the Dictionary. 

For information on Dr John Buchanan Burgess, See Westmeath Authors.

Contents of the Burgess Papers (all links are pdf documents):

  • Vol 1: The Dictionary of Athlone Biography to 1871 in 2 volumes. These give details of inhabitants of the town and property owners, listed in alphabetical order.
  • Vol 2: The Streets, Buildings and Occupants of Athlone, 1700-1943
  • Vol 3: Know your Town - information on a variety of topics, e.g. breweries, bridges, mills etc
  • Vol 4 Occupations , Vol 5 Notes of persons in Athlone, Vol 6 Residents of places
  • Vol 7 The walls of Athlone - Miscellaneous articles, such as the Burning of Athlone and information on the Quakers.
  • Vol 8 Athlone Directories - Information from Fiants, patent rolls, surveys and Irish Directories
  • Vol 9 Town returns 1571-1900 - Lists if those serving on Corporations and as Town Commissioners, compiled from fiants, directories and newspapers.
  • Vol 10 Westmeath Independent - Extracts from the newspaper dating from 20/6/1846 to 22/12/1866- includes names and trades of occupants of Athlone.
  • Vol 11 The sieges of Athlone - Includes the Sieges of Athlone by R. Langrishe but perhaps more importantly Athlone in the 17th century, by GT Stokes. Also includes articles on Bealin, Clonmacnoise, Lough Ree etc. 
  • Vol 12 Newspapers - Extracts from Athlone newspapers dating from 6/11/1833 to 31/7/1861.  Including Athlone Independent, The Athlone Sentinel, The Athlone Conservative Advocate, the Athlone Mirror and the Westmeath Herald, from the British Museum. 
  • Vol 13 Kilkenny West and Bunowen - Surviving records of Kilkenny West and Bunowen parishes.  Also included are the vestry minutes of Bunowen with an extensive list of landowners.  Records of burials, copied by the rector are the only copies in existence as the originals were destroyed in the fire in the public records office in 1922.
  • Vol 14 Willbrook Church (Moydrum), Methodist Church (Athlone) and Drumraney Church. - Contains records from the above churches including ‘A Book for Registering ye names of Those Who Preach in Willbrook Church. 1756’. 
  • Vol 15 St Mary’s Athlone Vestry Minutes 1750-1888 - Well indexed with some interesting snippets.
  • Vol 16 The Register for the parish of St Mary, Athlone 1747-1849 - Marriages, baptisms and deaths for the parish from 1747-1849. Extensive index with person, place, occupation etc
  • Vol 17 The Register for the parish of St Mary, Athlone   1747-1849 - Not quite a carbon copy of volume no. 16 so worth consulting both, as there are some amendments in pencil to no. 17.
  • Vol 18 The Register for the parish of St Mary, Athlone   1849-1890 - A continuation from the previous two volumes, containing baptisms, marriages, and burials.  Also includes confirmations  and burials in Cornamagh.  Once again an extensive index is included. 
  • Vol 19 St. Peter’s Church, Athlone - Contains the surviving records of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland parish.  Also contains lists of clergy and churchyard inscriptions and ‘Mason’s Parochial Survey’ 1819. 
  • Vol 20 St Mary’s Church, Athlone, Inscriptions - Slim volume, includes church and memorial inscriptions 1634-1931. 
  • Vol 21 Parish of Kiltoom and Camma - Lists of baptisms, marriages and burials.  Also clergy and other offices in the vestry. 
  • Vol 22 Notebook 2 - Inscriptions from the Franciscan Abbey in Athlone.  There is also a list from Ballyloughloe (Mount Temple) and Kilcleagh (Castledaly/Moate).
  • Vol 23 Athlone Deeds 1 - Copied from the Registry of Deeds Index books 63,66,68-70.  Entries are entered by Burgess chronologically.  Shorter numbers are Burgess’ own, the longer number is from the Registry of Deeds. 
  • Vol 24 Athlone Deeds 2 - containing Athlone deeds 1720-1828
  • Vol 25 Athlone Deeds 3 - 1836-1861.  Like the previous two volumes, there is a very good index. 
  • Reference Index

Further readings:

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