Bound hardback account book, embossed on the spine 'Limerick Rent Book 180-1824' in gilt lettering. The book contains accounts kept by Francis Arthur, merchant and developer of Limerick city, primarily of rents collected from tenants of properties in his possession, including Arthurs Quay, Francis Street, Patrick Street, Denmark Street, William Street, Market Alley, Market Stalls, Boherboy & Sexton Street, Georges Street, Mary Street, Robert Street, Coloony Street, Pennywell, Coonagh and Mary Field in Limerick together with stores and ‘two extensive & valuable tenements situate in Buckingham Square & White Street' in Cork city. The book also contains accounts of Francis Arthur's annual business income and outgoings and of insurances payable by him, lists of rents assigned by Francis Arthur to his son Patrick Edmond Arthur and his son-in-law Daniel Leahy upon their respective marriages; transactions with various private banks including Robert Shaw & Co; Curtis, Robarts & Co.; and Thomas and William Roche; accounts of various court cases in which Arthur was involved and legal matters relating to the death of his son-in-law Patrick Grene [Greene] and his son Patrick Edmond Arthur; statements concerning bonds, mortgages and dividends; statements concerning rent arrears and other debts due to Arthur; and business accounts of his son-in-law Daniel Leahy. The latter pages contain accounts of financial transactions with individuals and businesses in France, including Luke Callaghan of Paris, Monsieur Everard Surdobbel of St Omer and Dominick Morel & Fils of Dunkerque [Dunkirk]. The accounts conclude with a list of Francis Arthur's funeral expenses added to the book in a different hand.

The back of the book contains a handwritten copy of a conveyance dated 1822 between Francis Arthur of the first part; his daughter Ellen Arthur of the second part; and his son-in-law Daniel Leahy of the third part, in which Arthur transfers the entirety of his property to Daniel Leahy to create a provision for his daughters Ellen Arthur and Margaret Leahy and to create a fund for his own maintenance and support.

The book is paginated but the pagination is irregular. For the accounts part, mirrored pagination has been applied, that is the verso and recto sides of an opening bear the same page number. Pages 1a-4a are missing, as are pages 10b/11a, 31b-35a, 42a/43b (except for the topmost part), 48b/49a, 51b/52a and 70b/71a. About one third of page 61b/62a is missing, while pages 74b/75a and 96b-98a lack bottom halves. From page 147 each page is numbered individually; page 154 appears three times, and from page 155 to book reverts to mirrored numbering until its conclusion with page 165. The pages at the end of the book containing the copy conveyance have been numbered individually, from 1 to 74. The intervening pages between these two sections are blank, except for sketches by a young person. Similar sketches appear on other pages throughout the book and are probably of late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century origin.

The collection comprises primarily letters and copies of letters by members of the Monsell family or individuals associated with them. Of particular note is a letter book kept by the shipping merchant William Monsell (P2/1/1), which contains copies of some 1,200 items of mainly business correspondence, giving a unique insight into Limerick as a maritime mercantile city in the early eighteenth century. Of equal interest is the fragment of a diary (P2/1/12) kept by his grandson, the Reverend Samuel Monsell (1743-1818), Precentor of Ardfert from 1791 to 1811, which provides an extraordinary account of the private life and innermost thoughts of a Church of Ireland clergyman struggling to stay on the path of virtue.