though each coffee house was full of rumours as to who would be his supporters, it was quite clear that against the powerful influence of Smyth and Pery, he had no chance of success. Ladies took a warm interest in these elections, and did not fail to mingle in discussions even at the Oyster Clubs, as to the relative merits of the respective candidates. With such aids and exertions, it was no difficult matter to foresee in whose favour fortune was most likely to declare. Accordingly, on the 1st of August, 1768, Mr. Charles Smyth was again elected, and with him Mr. Edmond Sexton Pery; whilst on the same day, Mr. Silver Oliver and Mr. Hugh Massy were elected members for the County of Limerick." I Gough's in Quay-lane, was the fashionable coffee house.-O'Keefe, and after him Fitzpatrick, kept the Royal coffee-house in the same lane.-There was also a celebrated coffee-house at the corner of Palmerstown, in old Francis-street. This is made plain by a rather characteristic letter written by Mrs. Julia Vereker to her father, which shows a curious state of society at this time in Limerick :— 'MY DEAREST SIR, You are very happy about the Bill having past, but for my share I wish every thing had remained as it was-how dreadfull it must be, for a year and a half together, to have every body in hot water, and their purses open for that time, to the ruin of all Trade, for the people will get such a habit of drinking and idleness, that they never will be good for anything afterbut I keep my mind to myself. I delivered the letter to Tom as you desired. He gave an entertainment at Graves's to about twenty gentlemen; all the rest of the Town was at an oyster Club at Gough's, I amongst the rest. Mr. Billy Pery and Mr. Mounsell were making great interest for Mr. Pery in the City, and Sir Henry Harstongue in the County, so I think you should loose no time, tho' you may be sure when solicitations were going about, we were not Idle, but every one seems to expect you down immediately. Mr. Pery I hear, leaves Dublin to-day; they talk as if he had a very bad chance, for they say none of the traids will take for him. Mr. Mounsell asked Mr. Ingram for his vote for Sir Harry in the County; and Mr. Ingram told him he would not promise it till he saw you. Mr. Mounsell said, he believed you would not interfere in the County, upon which Mr. Ingram said, that he did not doubt but you would set up for the City, and Tom Smyth for the County; when Mr. Ingram told me this, I said, that he might do you a great deal of ingery by speaking in that manner, as for him I have not spoken a word to him this fortnight, nor do I think I ever will, for he behaved in a most villanous manner to Tom Vereker, I suppose you have heard of it, as it made a great noise in Town, and every one speaks of him as he deserved; he is a vile incendiary, and a most dangerous companion I find Tom Vereker has wrote a long letter to you, so I may shorten mine. I hope soon to have the pleasure of seeing my dearest Father. To-morrow's post will let me know, I suppose when. Adieu, my dear Sir, and believe me to be Your sincerely affect.. We give the above as it is in the MSS. of the writer, and as illustrative of the habits and manners of the times. 3 Sir Henry Hartstonge's candidature for the county was postponed to 1776, when he and the Right. Hon. Silver Oliver were returned. Among the supporters of Mr. Smyth in 1768, was Edward Lloyd, Esq. of Eyon, who writing to offer him his vote and interest says, he saw an account of the passing of the Octennial Bill in the Munster Journal, a venerable broad sheet, with which, and its immediate successors, several curious associations are connected, that throw light on the journalistic and dramatic history of the day. The Munster Journal was said to be the oldest Journal in the province of Munster. The proprietor was Mr. Andrew Welsh, ancestor of the respectable family of Welsh of Newtown House, county Clare, and a gentleman of enterprise and ability. Mr. Welsh also published the Magazine of Magazines, which appears to have been a reprint of Exshaw's London and Dublin Magazine, with a Limerick title-page. The Munster Journal was succeeded, about 1787, by the Limerick Journal, of which Mr. Edward Flinn was the proprietor; this Journal enjoyed the patronage of Lord Clare, to whom the owner of it was agent, and reaped a harvest by the publication of the Castle Proclamations. Mr. Flinn who was a Catholic, resided in Mary-street, opposite Quay-lane; Athlunkard-street not having been made for many years afterwards. His fellow-citizens and neighbours in Mary-street were Mr. William Goggin, the great Chap Book and Ballad Printer, whose shop at the corner of Quay-lane, was known by the sign of Shakespear. Alderman Andrew Watson, the successor of Mr. John Ferrar, in the proprietorship of the Limerick Chronicle, had his office and residence near the office of the Limerick Journal, whilst "Charley Keating," as he was familiarly called, who rejoiced Soon after this election-namely, on the 10th of August, Lord Viscount Townshend, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, arrived in Limerick, and was received with great hospitality. The triumphant party were in the best spirits and met his Excellency in the most cordial manner. The Smyth, Perry, and Vereker families vied with each other to do him honor. He was entertained at a grand banquet, in the Mayoralty House; the chair was ably filled by Thomas Vereker, Esq., who was Mayor this year, and the freedom of the city was presented to Lord Townshend, in a gold box. At this time the local trades were in rather a flourishing condition, and Limerick exhibited unquestionable symptoms of progress. Every profession and every branch of trade were represented, whilst commerce employed in the dignity of "Seneschal of Parteen"-had a small ware shop at the opposite corner. Andrew Cherry, the comedian, and author of the "Soldier's Daughter," and the " Travellers," to which Dibdin wrote the songs, &c., served his time as an apprentice in the printing-office of the Limerick Journal. Cherry often printed the play bills for his own poor strolling company; and underwent many trials, having been reduced to the verge of starvation on some occasions. In "Familiar Epistles" to Edward Jones, Esq.,* who succeeded Mr. Richard Daly, the successor of Mr. Heaphy, as Patentee of the Theatres Royal of Limerick, Cork, and Dublin, (after Daly had realized a profit of £5,000 a year by them)-Cherry's plays are thus uncomplimentarily referred to by the Satirist : "There is a burning chauldron's blaze It is related of Cherry, that, having been offered an engagement by a manager who had previously forgotten to pay him, he wrote: Sir,-You have bitten me once, and I am resolved you shall not make two bites of A. CHERRY." Cherry was one of the leading comedians at Covent Garden Theatre for several years; his portrait was painted by De Wylde, and printed in the Monthly Memoir. Mr. John Gubbins, a successful portrait painter, also served his time in the Limerick Journal office. The following from Ferrar's Directory of 1769, is a list of the fifteen corporations which were in that year in existence, with the names of the masters and wardens of each guild : MASTERS AND WARDENS OF THE FIFTEEN Thomas Pincheon Thomas Farquhar Thos. Burrowes CORPORATIONS. Jacob Bennis TOBACCONISTS Thomas Mason John Byrum Thomas Brehon } SURGEON BAR- Wardens WEAVERS Master BUTCHERS Wardens SHOEMAKERS George Fivens Master Wardens } Master Wardens Master } TALLOW Wardens Master Raleigh James Jacob Rinrose Wardens HATTERS Master Phillip Dollard } Wardens BREWERS Thos. Bourke Familiar Epistles to E. Jones, Esq, by John Wilson Croker.-Edition, 1806. twenty-six first-class merchants, principally Catholics, who at length enjoyed ample means, if not freedom, political and social.' On the 20th of January, 1767, Standish O'Grady of Mount Prospect, afterwards Chief Baron, was born.2 An Analysis of the various trades, professions, &c. in the city at this time is interesting. We classify them alphabetically: 2 This remarkable man and distinguished judge was appointed Attorney-General on the 10th of June, 1803, vice the Hon. John Steward, resigned; a Privy Councillor same date; October 19th, 1806, he was appointed Chief Baron of the Exchequer, vice Lord Viscount Avonmore, deceased. On a large stone chimney-piece in the old Town Fish House pulled down in September this year were the following dates and cyphers, with three coats of arms : Further improvements were projected in the year 1768, and a spirited subscription was raised by "a Company of Undertakers" to make the Shannon navigable.1 In this year the Rev. Mr. Dean Hoare being Rector of Killeedy, designed and built a handsome house on the glebe grounds for the Incumbents. The house is in the North Liberties and commands a fine view of the Shannon, Salmon-weir, King's Island, Corbally, &c. &c. 1 This Company was incorporated by Act of Parliament, and a sum of £10,000, in pursuance of the Act, was subscribed as follows: Sir Henry Hartstonge, Bart. £1000 500 500 Anthony Parker, Esq. 500 William Maunsell, Esq. 500 Thomas Maunsell, Jun. Esq. Richard Maunsell, Esq. 500 1000 250 Eaton Maunsell, Esq. 250 John Tunnadine, Esq. 250 John Thomas Waller, Esq. 250 John Dowdall Hammond, Esq. 250 Andrew Welsh 250 John Martin, M.D. 250 James Guthrie, Merchant 250 Phil. Roche John, Merchant Stephen Roche John, Merchant Edmond Sexton, Merchant 500 500 250 James Browne, Merchant 250 Thomas Casey, Merchant Thomas Mark, Merchant ... There were several lodges of freemasons in these times, the names of the Masters and Wardens of which are set forth in the Directory, and the places of meeting. Peter's Cell was a favorite place of residence with professional men, and in that locality Madame O'Dell had a fine residence and gardens; the town walls affording a shelter to the fruit trees, and in the garden was a spring well which supplied the neighbourhood with water. This well belonged to the ancient Abbey of St. Francis, and is at present closed off from the highway by the wall of a tan-yard. 1769. Names of the Jury (in the county of Limerick) to try an issue of great importance between Ambrose Cuffe, Plaintiff, and James 1 Sir Henry Hartstonge, of Bruff, Bart. 7 Michael Furnell, of Ballyclough, Esq. Hewson, Defendant, of a plea of trespass: 24 William Bennett, of Ballincallow, gent, Each of the Jurors is attached separately by his pledge. STANDISH O'GRADY, Sheriff. Jo. Doe. Rd. Roe. Some trades and occupations which a century ago were in being, have ceased to exist with alternating phases of fashion. A theatre was built in Cornwallis-street in 1770, under the auspices of Mr. Tottenham Heaphy, at a cost of £600, which sum was contributed by twenty-four gentlemen, who had free tickets.2 Consideration for the poor went hand in hand with these improvements; and in 1771, the Pery Charitable Loan Fund was established for the relief of tradesmen by loans of three guineas to each, to be paid in instalments of 1s. 4d. per week. Mrs. Pery, until her death, was the chief patroness of this Institution, which in times of very great distress, contributed to the relief of a large number of distressed artizans. In this year, the Hon. Dean Crosbie revived the Craven and the Widow Virgin charities, the latter for the distribution of a certain quantity of bread on Christmas day to the poor of St. Mary's parish, for which purpose a house in Quay-lane had been bequeathed in 1732, by the Widow Virgin. In this year, too, an Act of Parliament was established for the Locks on the Grand Canal; and to the great joy of the citizens of all classes, the navigation of the canal was opened to Newtown Bog. Though improvements were thus actively going forward, distress and misery had not altogether disappeared from among the people, and on the 12th of May in the same year, the great mills on the north bank The peruke makers are all but extinct-whilst the chairmen, whose usual stand was at the Exchange, have become beings of the past. William Hamilton was a fashionable wig maker of the day, in Mary-street-his charge per week, for dressing the wig of a wealthy customer was the moderate sum of 1s. 2d. 2 This was a celebrated theatre in its time. The box entrance was in the street now called Cornwallis-street, and the pit passage was at the corner of Play House Lane. Mr. Edward Gubbins, a coach builder, occupied the front of the theatre as a workshop and showroom for carriages. For a long time, the holders of box tickets were obliged to go through Mr. Gubbins' kitchen, to their places in the boxes. Celebrated actors, viz., Garrick, Mossop, Barry, Ryder, &c., all acted in the old theatre. More recently George Frederick Cooke, Kemble, Macklin, Mrs. Siddons, Miss Farren (afterwards the Countess of Derby) acted here also; and in comic operas, Mrs. Billington, Miss Brett, and Mrs. Creswell frequently appeared in Love in a Village-Miss Stephens, the vocalist, at a later period, also sung here to crowded houses. Ned Williams, Richard Jones, Johnson, and others who are satirized by Wilson Croker in his Familiar Epistles to Edward Jones, Esq., were also actors in this theatre, the successive managers of which, were Mr. Heaphy, Mr. Richard Daly, an excellent light comedy actor, and Mr. Frederick Edward Jones. The amateurs also played in this theatre, and drew crowded houses-among them were Sir Mathew, (then Mr. Mathew) Barrington, Mr. John M'Auliff, Mr. Pierce Brett, Mr. George Hogan, Mr. Thomas Gromwell, Mr. Hewett, Mr. Andrew Tracy, Mr. John Gubbins, Mr. William Glover, &c. The three last mentioned are alive in 1864. The amateurs played in support of the public charities, particularly the House of Industry, and the receipts were considerable. Near the theatre was the principal hotel of Limerick, which was a well conducted establishment, and in this hotel (the house though dilapidated is still in existence, about the lower part of Cornwallis-street, and is recognisable by its stone-front and flight of steps), Mrs. Siddons is said to have lodged during her visit to Limerick. The other leading actors generally lodged in the house of a Mr. Williams in the same street. It was from this theatre that George Frederick Cooke, the celebrated comedian, went out one night, his head full of the fumes of a little keg of whiskey to which he had been paying attention, and arrayed in the broad-brimmed hat and whimsical dress of Petruchio, which character he had been playing, stumbled into the house of some poor people, from which the wail of woe was dolefully issuing, chaunting as the inmates were in full chorus over a dead body. Plunging sword in hand into the midst of the group, Cooke advanced towards the bed, on which the corpse of an old woman lay, and suiting the action to the word-exclaimed, "How now, ye secret, black, and midnight hags, what is't ye do ?"* The result may be imagined, it cannot be described. James Vaughan, whose sister Miss Vaughan, was the heroine of a memorable trial in Ennis, for abduction, in which she acquitted herself with the utmost honour, should not be forgotten among the amateur corps of the old theatre. 3 Walker's Magazine: The bog of Newtown is now in a great measure reclaimed-and the land of fair quality. * Knight's Dramatic Table Talk. |