From A Compendium of Irish Biography, 1878
« Lambert Simnel | Index | Sitric the Blind »
Sirr, Henry Charles, Town-Major of Dublin, was a prominent actor in Irish affairs for many years. He was born about 1756, became a wine merchant, and in 1796 received the appointment of Town Major of Dublin, in which capacity he rendered important services to the Government, as the seizure of the Press newspaper, and the capture of Lord Edward FitzGerald in 1798, and Robert Emmet in 1803. He was a man of undaunted bravery, overbearing in his manners, and was equally feared and hated by the people at large. Lord Castlereagh thus eulogizes him: "The services Major Sirr has rendered to the King's Government since I have been in office are such as to make me feel it an incumbent duty to bear testimony, in the strongest terms, to his merits... He has been constantly employed confidentially by Government on every occasion which called for great personal exertions, discretion, and courage. .. The metropolis was peculiarly indebted for its tranquillity to the unceasing activity of Major Sirr." He latterly held the post of police magistrate. He was a connoisseur in the fine arts. Major Sirr died 11th January 1841, and was buried in St. Werburgh's churchyard, Dublin, near the vault where rest the remains of Lord Edward FitzGerald, whom he had made prisoner and mortally wounded forty-two years previously. His papers, which contain much valuable information relating to the events of the times in which he lived, are preserved in the Library of Trinity College.
Sources
72. Castlereagh, Viscount: Memoirs and Correspondence, edited by the Marquis of Londonderry. 12 vols. London, 1848-'53.
146. Gentleman's Magazine. London, 1731-1868.
Gilbert, John T., see Nos. 110, 335.
331. United Irishmen, their Lives and Times: Robert R. Madden, M.D. 4 vols. London, 1858-'60.
« Lambert Simnel | Index | Sitric the Blind »
From a sad, comfortless childhood Giles Truelove developed into a reclusive and uncommunicative man whose sole passion was books. For so long they were the only meaning to his existence. But when fate eventually intervened to have the outside world intrude upon his life, he began to discover emotions that he never knew he had.
A touching story for the genuine booklover, written by an Irish bookseller under the pseudonym of Ralph St John Featherstonehaugh.
Annals of the Famine in Ireland
Annals of the Famine in Ireland, by Asenath Nicholson, still has the power to shock and sadden even though the events described are ever-receding further into the past. When you read, for example, of the poor widowed mother who was caught trying to salvage a few potatoes from her landlord's field, and what the magistrate discovered in the pot in her cabin, you cannot help but be appalled and distressed.
The ebook is available for download in .mobi (Kindle), .epub (iBooks, etc.) and .pdf formats. For further information on the book and author see details ».
Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger
This book, the prequel to Annals of the Famine in Ireland cannot be recommended highly enough to those interested in Irish social history. The author, Mrs Asenath Nicholson, travelled from her native America to assess the condition of the poor in Ireland during the mid 1840s. Refusing the luxury of hotels and first class travel, she stayed at a variety of lodging-houses, and even in the crude cabins of the very poorest. Not to be missed!
The ebook is available for download in .mobi (Kindle), .epub (iBooks, etc.) and .pdf formats. For further information on the book and author see details ».
Henry Ford Jones' book, first published in 1915 by Princeton University, is a classic in its field. It covers the history of the Scotch-Irish from the first settlement in Ulster to the American Revolutionary period and the foundation of the country.
The ebook is available for download in .mobi (Kindle), .epub (iBooks, etc.) and .pdf formats. For further information on the book and author see details ».
Join our mailing list to receive updates on new content on Library, our latest ebooks, and more.
You won't be inundated with emails! — we'll just keep you posted periodically — about once a monthish — on what's happening with the library.
