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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.

The collection comprises papers relating to C Company 2nd Limerick City Battalion Mid Limerick Brigade 1917-1924 and includes narrative accounts of the Brigade activities during the War of Independence and information on the reorganisation of the Limerick Brigades during and following the Civil War. The collection is unusual as the anti-Treaty IRA was considered to be an illegal organisation and their records as a consequence were usually kept secret.

This collection contains manuscripts of five of Michael Curtin’s six novels and correspondence relating to his career as a writer.

The archive contains a selection of letters and notes written by Republican Prisoners imprisoned in Limerick Jail and the Curragh Internment camp between 1922 and 1923 during and following the Civil War. They comprise in the main thank you-notes for parcels delivered to or sent to them by Annie McGowan, her daughter Sarah and her son Timothy.

This small collection contains routine correspondence and accounts created and generated by Maxwell, Weldon & Co. on behalf of their clients, mainly pertaining to probate, death duties and other testamentary matters.

This collection is a comprehensive record of the life and work of Maurice Walsh, a figure who has a distinctive place in Irish literary history. At its core are multiple working drafts of his fourteen novels, five short story collections and other works which provide a window into Walsh’s creative process and the evolution of his narratives. They also highlight the breadth and versatility of Walsh’s literary output which extended from novels and short stories to plays, poetry and journalism. Of particular interest are drafts of his perhaps best-known novel, Blackcock’s Feather (P7/2/1/3/1-7), his short story ‘The Quiet Man’ (P7/2/2/1/3/1-5), later made into an Oscar-winning film directed by John Wayne, and the collection of short stories featuring the immortal character of Thomasheen James (P7/2/2/2/1-11).

The Maurice Walsh Papers also feature the author’s extensive correspondence with literary agents, publishers, broadcasting companies and film producers which provides interesting insights into the life of a professional writer. It reveals among other things the controversy concerning the sale of the film rights which proceeded the production of Trouble into Glen, Walsh’s only novel successfully adapted for film (see P7/1/3/1/2 and P7/1/3/2/1). The dispute, which involved Walsh’s American literary agents, Brandt and Brandt of New York, and his principal publishers on this side of the Atlantic, Chambers, resulted in his refusal to assist in the making of the film and soured his view of the movie business for life. Another interesting set of correspondence dates from 1940, when Walsh made a significant foray into politics by collaborating with Seán O’Faoláin in the writing of an article entitled ‘Ireland in a Warring Europe’. Published in The Saturday Evening Post, the article was a defence of Irish neutrality and generated much reaction. The surviving letters from Joseph Connolly, the censor, indicate the extent to which he tried to avoid undue alterations to the text and the keenness of the authorities that the piece should appear in print (P7/1/2/4/1-4).

The volume of correspondence includes much evidence of Walsh’s popularity. The royalty statements from his publishers and agents tangibly prove his success as a writer, and the letters from admirers (P7/1/2/3/3/1-7) give his audience a human face. One of the more unusual expressions of his fame was the establishment of ‘The Ancient and Honorable Society of Walshians’ in Montana in 1933 (P7/1/2/3/2/1-5).

With the exception of some official documents and a small number of photographs, the collection contains little in relation to Maurice Walsh’s personal life. The best insight into this aspect can be found in a short autobiographical note published in an unidentified work (see P7/2/7/5/5), which also shows Walsh’s gentle but brimming humour. Described by his friends as ‘quiet, easy-going, lazy-seeming’, Walsh’s reticence made him, perhaps, the true embodiment of ‘The Quiet Man’.

This collection offers insights into Lorna Reynold’s academic career, her work as a poet and translator of poetry and her personal life. Material relating to her academic career is perfunctory, consisting in the main of academic certificates, correspondence of mainly administrative nature and extensive research notes primarily on English literature for teaching, talks and academic papers. Material relating to her literary career includes manuscript and typescript drafts of her poems and short stories, many of which were published in newspapers and other publications, typescript drafts of a play, Swear Not by the Moon, and book reviews.

Undoubtedly the most interesting part of this collection is to be found among the records of Lorna Reynolds’ personal life, which incorporate some 800 items of correspondence with her lover Kate O’Brien. Uniquely, both sides of this correspondence survive from November 1946 to July 1949, after which only Kate O’Brien’s side remains. The letters reveal the intense nature of the relationship between two highly creative, strong-minded and extremely intelligent women and the many clashes and fallings-out their respective personalities inevitably generated. While Kate seemed to thrive on and be invigorated by this intensity, for Lorna, weighted down by her academic duties and a difficult domestic situation, it proved too much and her feelings for Kate receded, but their friendship continued until Kate’s death. Another interesting series of letters are those from Darina Silone née Laracy to Lorna Reynolds, which reveal on the one hand Darina’s marital unhappiness and its consequences, and on the other her devotion to her husband Ignazio Silone and her determination to preserve his legacy.

The Lorna Reynolds collection reveals the remarkable personality, strength of character and outspokenness of its creator, and her unyielding insistence on the rights of women to enjoy the same personal freedom and independence as men. On a broader scale, the collection builds an exceptional picture of the Irish academic, cultural and artistic circles in the twentieth century, circles in which Lorna Reynolds moved and played a seminal role.

The main portion of this collection consists of wills, accounts, correspondence and statements from the mid- to late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries relating to the family’s financial affairs, mostly arising from the will of the 1st Earl of Limerick and the dramatic reduction in rents at the turn of the century, which necessitated the sale of holdings through the Land Commission Court in the early 1900s. There is a small but interesting series of leases of property in Limerick City (P51/3/1/1-3 and P51/4/1-2) and a comprehensive set of documents (P51/3/2/1-28) relating to a dispute over title to St George’s Church at No. 1 Mallow Street, Limerick, which was demolished to make way to the Provincial Bank of Ireland, designed by James and George Richard Pain (for a ground plan of the bank by the Pain brothers, see P51/3/2/11).

While much of the early material relating to the Earls of Limerick and their antecedents is deposited in the National Library of Ireland, some interesting early documents can also be found in this collection. Of particular note is a compilation of manuscript transcripts of letters and petitions (P51/1/1) by Edmond Sexten the elder (1486-1555) and his grandson Edmond Sexten the younger (1595-1636) concerning among other things their disputes with Limerick Corporation. The document is written in secretary hand, but a more easily legible version can be found in P51/1/2. Also worth noting is a compilation of abstracts and copies of early deeds relating to the Sexton, Casey and Stackpole families (P51/1/3). A wonderful example of the emergence of the Age of Enlightenment can be found in P51/2/1 in the shape of a commonplace book, in which Colonel Edmund Pery kept notes between 1671 and 1681 on weights and measures, foreign coins, chronology, geography, astronomy, orthography, pronunciation and usage of English, significance of colours, instructions concerning the keep of horses, recipes for ink, boot polish etc., gardening activities and meteorological predictions.

A shortcoming of this collection is its limited scope. There are no rent rolls, no estate correspondence and no personal correspondence of family members. The building of Dromore Castle remains unrecorded, except for a scrap book (P51/5/4/1) compiled in 1868-1869 to contain sketches by the architect Edward William Godwin and rare photographs of Dromore Castle taken at various stages of its construction and a sketch of fireplace tiles by Godwin (P51/5/4/2). The only item of personal nature in the collection is an album of photographs, sketches, and signatures collected by May, Countess of Limerick during house parties (P51/6/3/2/2).

It should be noted here that the material deposited in the National Library of Ireland dates primarily from 1371 to 1806. A significant gap of the nineteenth-century material therefore exists, both in terms of estate and personal documentation.

Bound volume of names of club members and a related note.

This collection contains a diverse range of records relating to the Lilburn family of Limerick city. The first part contains material created and generated by the accountancy firm of Metcalfe, Lilburn and Enright, illustrating the growth and development of the company from the 1920s to the 1970s. The client files show the practice to have been the leading Protestant accountancy firm in the city, with clients such as Adare Tobacco Manufacturing Company established by the fourth Earl of Dunraven in the early 1900s. The second part consists of personal records of the Lilburn family, predominantly relating to the education and hobbies of Hugh Lilburn and his son Stewart Lilburn. Of particular note is a set of personal account books which provides useful insights into middle class household economy from the 1920s to the 1970s. Also of interest are the minute books of the North Munster branch of the Irish Hockey Union from 1901 to 1941. The third part comprises records of the Limerick Presbyterian Church, mostly created by Stewart Lilburn in his role as Honorary Secretary in the 1960s and 1970s. This part also contains a copy of Hugh Lilburn’s book Presbyterians in Limerick (1946) and a subsequent reprint (1959). Together, these three parts provide a valuable cross-section of all aspects of the lives of three generations of a well-to-do Protestant middle-class family in twentieth-century Limerick.