Sherlock and O'Brien Papers.
Estate and family papers of the Sherlock and O'Brien family, 1735 -1952. Consists largely of estate papers relating to family property holdings in Rahan (King's County), Dublin, Limerick and, to a lesser degree, Sligo. Papers include deeds, leases and agreements, rentals, accounts, maps and surveys, correspondence and testamentary material.
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| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
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| Notes: | The Sherlock and O’Brien family were, along with the Ball family who are also represented in these papers, one of the most important Irish Catholic philanthropic families of the first half of the 19th century. One of a growing class of wealthy Catholic merchant families, they contributed to the substantial growth of Catholic charitable institutions dedicated to poor relief and education and to the establishment of indigenous female religious communities in Ireland during the period.
Denis Thomas O’Brien was a successful linen and cotton merchant and Catholic politician from Dublin. A prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce he was a supporter of the repeal movement and Catholic emancipation (as was his son John who was a supporter of Daniel O’Connell). O’Brien took part in the Catholic Committee from at least 1773 and represented St Audeon’s in the Catholic Convention. The benefactor of an array of charitable institutions and religious orders he and his family were early supporters of the Poor Clares and the Presentation Sisters along with a number of schools, orphanages and refuges. Buying Rahan Estate, Tullabeg, in 1803 he took the unusual step of passing the majority of his estate to his unmarried daughter Maria O’Brien, who, along with her sister-in law Anna Maria O’Brien, made an enormous contribution to the development of Catholic educational and charitable insitutions in Ireland in the first decades of the 19th century.
Having already established an orphanage on Hendrick St., Dublin which was transferred to the Poor Clares in Harolds Cross in 1806, Maria O'Brien built a school at Killina, Rahan, to provide education for local children before inviting the Presentation Sisters to take over its running and establish a community on the estate. The O’Briens also provided an endowment that saw the establishment of the Jesuit St. Stanislaus College, Tullabeg – the second foundation of the Jesuit order in Ireland following the establishment of Clongowes Wood in 1814.
In 1805 John O’Brien, the youngest son of Denis Thomas O’Brien married Anna Maria Ball of the equally important Ball family of Catholic merchants in Dublin. A prosperous silk merchant, John Ball, like Denis Thomas O’Brien was a member of the Catholic Committee, representing St. Nicholas Within at the Catholic Convention in 1792 and was the first Catholic grand juror in 1793. Ball and his wife Mable Clare Bennett had five children: Nicholas Ball (1791–1865), judge and MP; Cecilia ball (1782-1854), a nun and later superior of the Ursuline Convent in Cork; Anna Maria Ball (later O’Brien) (1786-1871); Isabella Ball (later Sherlock) (1787-1867), mother of David Sherlock MP (1814 –1884) and grandmother to his son David (1850-1940), barrister and peat industrialist; and significantly Frances Ball, later Mother Frances Mary Teresa Ball (1794-1861), founder of the Loreto sisters in Ireland.
The Ball/O’Brien family represented one of the most important of the burgeoning network of wealthy Catholic philanthropic families who contributed to the growth of charitable religious institutions in Ireland in the early 19th century. One the most foremost lay Catholic philanthropists of her day Anna Maria O’Brien was a close friend of both Mary Aikenhead and Archbishop Daniel Murray, credited with having introduced the pair and of having been a catalyst in the foundation of the Irish Sisters of Charity by Aikenhead in 1815. Working closely with the order she had a role in establishment of St.Vincent’s Hospital in 1834. With property in King’s County, Dublin, Limerick and Sligo, on the death of John O’Brien and Anna Maria O’Brien the estate passed to John Sherlock and then his nephew David Sherlock Jr. barrister and peat industrialist who died in 1940. Physical description: 4 boxes more |
| Arrangement: | Fonds |
| Access: | Items MS 50,814/1/4, MS 50,814/3/5 (i), MS 50,814/29 and MS 50,814/30 require conservation and are not available for consulation. |
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Sherlock and O'Brien Papers.
| In Collection: | Sherlock and O'Brien Papers. |
|---|---|
| Description: | Estate and family papers of the Sherlock and O'Brien family, 1735 -1952. Consists largely of estate papers relating to family property holdings in Rahan (King's County), Dublin, Limerick and, to a lesser degree, Sligo. Papers include deeds, leases and agreements, rentals, accounts, maps and surveys, correspondence and testamentary material. |
| Language: | English |
| Extent: | 4 boxes |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Call Number: |
MS 50,814
(Manuscripts Reading Room) |
| Access Conditions: | Items MS 50,814/1/4, MS 50,814/3/5 (i), MS 50,814/29 and MS 50,814/30 require conservation and are not available for consulation. |
| Rights: | Reproduction rights owned by the National Library of Ireland. |