Item 3 - Handwritten index to the contents of P21/3/2

Identity area

Reference code

IE 2135 P21/3/3

Title

Handwritten index to the contents of P21/3/2

Date(s)

  • c. 2000-2006 (Creation)

Level of description

Item

Extent and medium

2 pp.

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

The De Lavals were a notable Huguenot family who claimed descent from King Henry IV of France and held title to extensive seigneuries in Picardy. Like other Huguenot families, they had greatly benefited from the Edict of Nantes issued by Henry IV in 1598, which granted substantial rights to Calvinist Protestants in a strongly Catholic country. The Edict was bitterly opposed by the Catholic clergy and many French parliaments and was eventually revoked by Louis XIV in 1685. The revocation deprived French Protestants of all religious and civil liberties and subjected them to intense religious persecution. The Vicomte Henri Robert d’Ully de Laval was imprisoned at Laon in 1688 and his estates were declared forfeit. He was able to escape in September 1689, and eventually sought refuge in Ireland. He moved to Portarlington in 1695, where his rank and considerable wealth allowed him to establish a leading position in the community.

In 1808, the Vicomte’s great-granddaughter Deborah Charlotte Newcombe married Thomas Gilbert Willis, son of Thomas Willis, the Master of Portarlington’s most famous French school. Thomas Gilbert, who had taken Holy Orders in the Anglican community, was appointed Rector of Kilmurry Church, Limerick (now adjacent to the campus of the University of Limerick); his son Thomas was appointed Curate to the same church in 1832. Thomas Gilbert was also appointed Prebendary to St Mary’s Cathedral, and Master of the Diocesan School which he ran from his house in Thomas Street. He died in 1837 and was buried outside the west door of the Cathedral. Following his death, his widow opened a Day and Boarding School for Young Ladies in No. 5 Pery Square, while his son William continued to run the private school in Thomas Street. Thus, the strong tradition of education established by the Willis family in Portarlington was successfully extended to Limerick.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Handwritten index to the contents of P21/3/2.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

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Language of material

  • English

Script of material

    Language and script notes

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    Finding aids

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    Notes area

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Original number

    P21/10

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        Archivist's note

        Papers arranged and described by Anna-Maria Hajba in December 2008 and revised in July 2021.

        Accession area