| Summary: | The collected papers of the O’Donel family of Newport, county Mayo, contain material from the mid seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Consisting largely of estate papers from the family’s land holdings across north Mayo, the collection includes deeds, leases, rentals, correspondence, financial papers and maps. The bulk of the material stems from the late eighteenth century onwards, when Sir Neal O’Donel consolidated the family’s land-ownership status by purchasing the Medlicott estate of Burrishoole. Other areas owned by the family included the baronies of Erris, Achill and the Abbey of Cong. There is a significant amount of correspondence relating to estate management and tenant affairs during the years of the Great Famine, 1845-1850. From the mid-nineteenth century the family’s fortunes went into decline, with much of their land being bought by the Encumbered Estates Court in the 1850s.
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