A meticulous conservation project has begun to safeguard one of Ireland’s oldest surviving paper documents, The Guardian writes, dating back to the medieval period.
The document in question is an ecclesiastical register, approximately 650 years old, that once belonged to Milo Sweteman, the archbishop of Armagh from 1361 to 1380. Experts at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) are now working to repair its fragile pages as part of a broader initiative to preserve vital historical records from the medieval period. The register, which contains drafts and copies of legal papers, letters, receipts, and wills, offers a fascinating glimpse into the ecclesiastical workings of the time.
Sarah Graham, the head of conservation at PRONI, explained the rarity of such documents, noting that paper of this age is incredibly scarce in Ireland. “Paper that pre-dates 1450 is particularly rare,” she said, adding that the material used in the Sweteman register likely came from Italy and Spain, regions that the archbishops frequently visited. This discovery came from research into the document’s watermarks, shedding light on the trade of paper in medieval Europe.
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast.Albert Bridge / CC licence
The Sweteman register is not the first to undergo this meticulous conservation process. The register of Archbishop John Swayne, dating from 1418 to 1438, has already been completed, with a digitised copy and translated summary now available online. This project is part of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland, an effort to reconstruct the nation’s historical archive, which was largely destroyed in a fire during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
Henry Becher (1664-1738), TCD in 1683 aged 19, son of Thomas Sherkin Island, 1705, witness to 1717 deed with Emanuel Moore. Henry Becher was Thomas Becher’s eldest son. He married Henrietta Owen in 1698. His heir was John Becher. Henry died in 1738.
Henry Beecher, (1759-1780), 1779, Creagh/Creaford, Skibbereen. 1765 11 July Cork City Newspapers. “To be Let, part of the estate of Henry Becher(aged 5) during his minority. Lands of Gortadrohid, Ardnagreena on harbour of Baltimore etc. contact Michael Becher guardian. 1779 Hibernian Magazine Dec 1779 “Henry Becher of Creaghtford to be a J.P. of the Peace for the Co of Cork”. 1780 Hibernian Chronicle 25 Dec 1780 “Died Thursday last, Henry Becher at Creagh near Baltimore.” The guardian Michael Henry Becher [1735-1778 was his uncle & my 4 x Great Grandfather. He was married to Catherine French. Poor Henry is the one who died after a shooting accident on his 21st birthday.
John R. Beecher, Hollybrook, Skibbereen, listed 1856, sitting Skibbereen 1861. 1856 Ballydehob Presentment sessions. May have married Catherine Jermyn only child of Henry and Mary of Aughadown, 1805 he assigned property to Richard Hungerford and Becher Fleming to provide £225 pa should she survive him.
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John Townsend Beecher, 1760, Anne Grove, 1755 Faulkner’s Dublin Journal 22 Feb 1755 “17 Feb Married last Thursday John Townsend Becher Esq To Miss Donovan, d Rev. Morgan O’Donovan, Magistrate, Ballinacalla, with £5000. Died 1761, at her lodgings near South Gate, Mrs Beecher, relict of John Townsend Beecher of Ann Grove”. Possibly, 1771 Limerick Chronicle 10 Oct 1771, “Thursday last at Cork Colonel John Becher of Hollybrook to Miss Bab. Townsend of Skibbereen.”Michael Beecher, 1777, Creagh, Skibbereen, member Atlantic Society literary society. Subscriber of 1766 ‘The History of the Irish Rebellion’, Cork, 1766. 1778 Dublin Hibernian Journal Aug 24 1778, “Died-Near Bandon Michael Beecher of Creagh Esq.” 1789 Cork Evening Post 12 Jan 1789, ‘Last Sat George Pigott Rogers Esq. to Mary Twogood Becher, dau of the Late Michael Becher of Creagh, Esq’. Michael Alleyne Richard Beecher (1839-, 1875, Ballyduvane, Clonakilty, Resident, £130, 1870, 2,101 acres, listed 1916. Landed proprietor, widower 1901. 1884, signed a protest against the dismissal of Lord Rossmore, Head of Orange Order, Monaghan. Sampson T.
Aughadown (Erasmus Smith) School. 1866 Invoice From John Copithorme, Skibbereen for School Supplies. School Closure 1885 for Outbreak of Scarlatina. 1909 Letter from Mrs. Alldritt teacher (Nee Elizabeth Frances Beamish, Dunmanway) seeking payment of her Salary to her Husband.
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English School Summary School Name Aghadown, Whitehall County Cork
Property Documents Correspondence 1866-1887, 1888-1919 Architectural Plans 1812 Date of Sanction 1828
Notes Patron Rev. H. H. Beecher Grant £ Salary Discontinued 1919 Other Place Names
School Name Baltimore County Cork
Property Documents Correspondence 1882-1918 Architectural Plans Date of Sanction 1883
Notes Patron Rev. J. Jones Grant £ Salary Discontinued 1916 Other Place Names
School Name Bandon County Cork
Property Documents Correspondence 1867-1882 Architectural Plans Date of Sanction 1821
Notes Patron Grant £ Salary Discontinued 1882 Other Place Names
1670 Indenture Captain Samuel Jervois and His Wife sell for £60 the entire Gneeve (Old land measurement a twelfth part of a townland which can vary in size.: https://www.dippam.ac.uk/eppi/documents/11941/page/282490 ) of Leap parrt of Cappanabohy
670 Indenture Captain Samuel Jervois and His Wife sell for £60 the entire Gneeve (Old land measurement a twelfth part of a townland which can vary in size.: https://www.dippam.ac.uk/eppi/documents/11941/page/282490 ) of Leap parrt of Cappanabohy
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1670 Indenture Captain Samuel Jervois and His Wife sell for £60 the entire Gneeve (Old land measurement a twelfth part of a townland which can vary in size.: https://www.dippam.ac.uk/eppi/documents/11941/page/282490 ) of Leap parrt of Cappanabohy
Samuel Jervois, 1654. Close family connection with Barnstaple Devon. Received land debentures for being a Cromwelian Officer bought other lands. Built Brade House, Leap. Appointed a Commissioner for Transportation 1655 reappointed 1656 to identify those locally suitable for transportation. There are papers extant for the period whereby the church clerk of Castlehaven was to identify local Catholics in particular sons and heirs suitable for transportation. Married Martha Salmon, daughter of Captain Joseph Salmon, Glandore castle. Freeman and Burgess of Clonakilty, Sovereign 1679. Fled to Chester 1688 he reported his income then at £120 per annum. He returned to Brade, 1693, died 1693.
Obtaining letters patent from Charles II, his extensive landholdings were erected into the manor of O’Donovan’s Leap, or the Manor of the Leap, in 1684.
He was also appointed Registrar of the Admiralty in Ireland by James II.
O’Donovan was the son of Daniel Mac Murtogh O’Donovan, Lord of Clan Loughlin. A Protestant, he married in 1686 Elizabeth Tallant, daughter of Oliver Tallant, and they had three children; Jeremiah, John, and Anne.
O’Donovan Lands:
1616. Surrender and Regrant. Patent of James 1 of England.
Court of Pie Powder Reserved to Donnell O’Donovan for Fairs, Ascension Thursday and Townlands Listed from Castledonovan to Castlehaven, Caheragh, Glandore, Squince, Brahalish in Durrus. Manor of Castledonovan Power to Hold Court of Leet and Baron, Friday Market at Rahine, Tuesday market at Drimoleague.
Alexander O’Driscoll, 1799, Skibbereen, Middle man, 1831, Superceded 1810-30
Alexander O’Driscoll, Dismissed 1820, Norton Cottage, Skibbereen (two of same name at time), Ancestor Alexander married daughter of McFineen Dubh O’Sullivan, son of Tim ‘The Gauger’, sister Mrs Freke of Baltimore Castle.
Genealogy of O’Driscoll family from Ederscél, 942 AD, with sketch of vanished Castlehaven Castle by Edith Somerville.
From Father Woulfe’s History o West Cork, 1948.
The O’Driscolls are probably among the most ancient of West Cork families. They are probably pre-Celtic tracing their origins from among the first people to come to Ireland possibly fro Iberia.
West Cork History 