If Walls Could Talk: Long-forgotten family left their mark on Limerick

WHEN Mrs Frances O’Farrell died at Laurel Hill Cottage, Victoria Terrace, South Circular Road, aged 80 in 1860, her obituary in the Limerick Reporter revealed fascinating details about her now long-forgotten family.

In 1805 Frances’ uncle, James O’Sullivan funded the construction of a new entrance to the city on the Dublin Road from Park Hill to Baal’s Bridge.

To carry out the work, he drained a large area of swamp. The Limerick Gazette reported that ‘the new road being opened into Clare Street makes that avenue into this city one of the finest in Europe, and we have to thank James O’Sullivan, merchant, who at his own expense, of £500 purchased those wretched cabins at Pennywell.

The public who enjoy the delightful new road to Castleconnell must remember Mr. O’Sullivan.’ He also built, on Clare Street a ‘fashionable range of houses.’ By 1807, he was described as a ‘slitter and sole leather merchant’ and also had for sale 65 crates of crown glass, English kiln tiles, and fire brick, an indication perhaps of the buoyant building trade in the city. His business premises were situated on Clare Street.

However, James’ prosperity was not to last, and he was declared bankrupt in 1818. A few years later, he died in much reduced circumstances at Garrykennedy, County Tipperary, in the house of his son-in-law. His daughter, Teresa died of cholera at the family home on Clare Street in March 1849.

The range of houses on Clare Street became known as O’Sullivan’s Houses. In 1840 no. 6 underwent an extensive renovation including ‘plasterwork of the interior, kitchen raised one foot and reflagged, the brickwork at the front of each house to be pointed, coloured and drawn, iron balconies to be put to each drawing room window, the interior to be painted and papered, the walls enclosing the front areas to be replaced by iron railing.’

The notice, in the Limerick Chronicle, advised prospective tenants ‘who wish to unite comfort and economy to be assured they will find it in their interest to reside on the street, which will be lighted with gas, and watched at night, the houses were heretofore, the abode of some of the most respectable of our fellow citizens including Rev. Dr. Young and Walter Fisher.’ O’Sullivan family members seem to have retained and lived in nos. 10, 11, and 12, the latter being home to Jeremiah O’Sullivan. Most of the houses built by James O’Sullivan were demolished from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Frances O’Farrell’s brother, Henry O’Sullivan was long known for his ‘commercial integrity, entrepreneurial spirit, and sincerity of friendship.’ Her son, Rev. Henry O’Farrell spent nine years in Italy studying, returning in 1842, and devoting himself to alleviating the distress of the poor during the famine. Henry served as treasurer of the Thomondgate Relief Fund and worked to raise money for soup kitchens. In February of that year, he received donations from some of the leading merchants of the city including William Gabbett of North Strand and Thomas Myles of Hartstonge Street. Henry’s success at raising funds continued later in that year when the Rev.

In Pictures: Out and about at the Limerick Person of the Year awards

William Lewis donated £20 to the relief of the poor of Killeely, part of which came from his son in Smyrna (now İzmir, Turkey) on the Aegean Coast of Greece. Donations such as these provide an insight to the difficult years of the famine for the urban poor of Limerick.

In 1851 Henry O’Farrell was appointed Roman Catholic Chaplain of the Boherbuoy auxiliary workhouse. He quickly gained a reputation for challenging the authorities about the conditions that children in particular endured in the workhouse. For instance, in July 1852, an investigation into its management concluded that ‘the officer of the workhouse neglected to supply clean linen to the “inmates” and allowed dancing to be carried on between paid officers and inmates.’

Henry provided a detailed account of the conditions of the workhouse ‘I heard a rumour sometime in May that the children had been left without a change of linen since Christmas. I observed that the children were very dirty, full of flea bites, their necks soiled, I noticed a great itch on many of them, and their bedding was covered in vermin.’

In 1854, Henry O’Farrell assumed the role of President of the Limerick Young Mens’ Society and delivered public lectures on topics ranging from the life and times of St. Patrick to the story of Sarsfield. The Young Mens’ lecture rooms were situated on Charlotte’s Quay. By the 1870s, Henry had been appointed parish priest of Cratloe. He died in 1888 and is buried in Kilquane Graveyard, Parteen, County Clare.

The inscription on his headstone reads ‘Pray for the soul of the Rev HENRY O FARRELL P.P. Cratloe who died 22 Jan 1888 aged 76 years, a staunch friend of the poor sick and dying in appalling years of Famine and Cholera.’

The O’Farrell family’s association with Laurel Hill Cottage appears to have come an end shortly after the death of Frances O’Farrell when the house was acquired by the Ebrill family. According to Mark Humphrys (https://humphrysfamilytree.com/) ‘John Ebrill died at Laurel-hill Cottage in July 1863. William Ebrill settled at the renamed Summerville Cottage from 1874. He lived there until his death in 1892. His family continued to live there for decades.

By the time the 1901 census was recorded Summerville Cottage is listed as having 14 rooms, 7 windows in front of house, and 7 out-buildings. In 1911 census, it is listed as having 18 rooms, 7 windows in front of house, and 5 out-buildings. Summerville Cottage was demolished sometime in the c.1960s.’

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