Ryan of Inch Collection

Repository: UCC Library Archives Service

Identity Statement

TitleRyan of Inch Collection
Archive ReferenceIE BL/EP/R
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/ryan-of-inch-collection
Creation Dates1656-1964
Extent Medium27 Boxes

Context

Creator(s): Ryan family of Inch House, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

  • Administrative History ↴

    This archival collection was donated to UCC in 1997 by Mr. Arthur G. Ryan, having been for several years previously under the care of Mr. James Condon of Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The Ryan Papers as they exist today are very fragmented and represent only a fraction of the original collection. In 1985 Mr. Arthur G. Ryan sold his family home and emigrated to New Zealand. He disposed of all of his property in Tipperary and, recognising their importance, he entrusted what remained of his family papers to the care of Mr. James J. Condon who looked after them for 11 years. Unfortunately very little of the modern 20th century estate records had survived. For example there is not the volume of correspondence with the Land Commission which would be expected, nor are there any records relating to the dispersal of the estate. Balancing this however is a fascinating series of correspondence from the 18th century. These letters evoke the lifestyle and aspirations of Irish Catholic families who sought to make a life for themselves amongst the Catholic armies of Europe in the late eighteenth century
  • Archival History ↴

    This archival collection was donated to UCC in 1997 by Mr. Arthur G. Ryan, having been for several years previously under the care of Mr. James Condon of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Donation

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Ryan family of Inch House, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. ↴

    As the original order had been largely lost, for reasons of clarity the collection has been divided into 3 main sections. In all cases the original spelling of personal and placenames has been kept, and researchers will notice the wide variation of these. Unless otherwise stated all townlands etc. are in County Tipperary. Each item listed has been given an individual call number which should be cited by researchers wishing to view material from this archive.

    Section 1 ‘Land Ownership’ contains records such as Deeds of Title along with Wills and Settlements which would have had a bearing on the ownership of the Inch Estate. The earliest deed here is dated 1656 and the records continue up until the mid nineteenth century. The Ryans were part of a tightly knit circle of Catholic landowners with whom they intermarried over several generations. That situation is reflected throughout this section in the various Settlements members of the Ryan family acted as trustees to.

    Recorded here also in ‘C Estate Administration’ are the records generated during the day-to-day administration of Inch estate. Here are described the surviving leases, rentals and account books which provide a wealth of information for students of agrarian and economic history. Researchers interested in tracing their family history will find details of tenant’s names in the leases and rentals.

    Second 2 ‘Personal Papers’ contains the letters, diaries and memorabilia created by various members of the Ryan family over the last 200 years. One of the most fascinating characters to emerge is Don Jorge Rian or George Ryan (1748-1805). Sent to live with an uncle in Spain when 9, he accompanied his widowed aunt and her second husband to Peru aged 16, and in 1770 he was appointed Sergeant Major of the regiment of Militia of Guanta. In 1778 after the death of his brother John, George succeeded to the Ryan estates, and after some delays he returned to Ireland in 1780. His papers reveal his shock and disappointment at the condition of the house and estate, and in an inventory of stock he compiled on his return he records “ 8 unmercifull widows …………on my back”. In order to save on expenses he relocated his family to the Continent for several years, during which time he kept up a steady correspondence with family and friends at home. An equally interesting character is George’s sister, Mary Nash, and her letters to her brother, his wife and children paint a vivid picture of Ascendancy life in Britain in the late 18th century.

    In the 20th century a set of diaries kept by George Edward Ryan (1844 -1927) and his son Richard Cecil Ryan (1888 –1964) spanning the period 1925 –1957 detail the running of the estate and the home farm and contrast with the lifestyle of their ancestor, George Ryan the Peruvian Grandee. The diaries of Commander Richard Ryan in particular reveal the difficulties of making an estate like Inch profitable against a backdrop of political unrest and the repercussions of the Second World War.

    A constant theme running throughout this section is the importance the Roman Catholic religion played in the lives of successive generations of the Ryan family. In the 18th and 19th centuries this lead many of the family to seek careers abound often in the Catholic armies of Europe. In the 20th century adherence to Catholicism sat alongside a lifestyle largely indisguishable from the Protestant Ascendancy

    Records relating to the various families with which the Ryan’s intermarried and acted as trustees for are grouped at the end of this section, reflecting the tight social circle of the landed classes in Ireland. References can be found throughout this section to members of the Grehan family whose family papers are also preserved in UCC (IE BL/EP/G).

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Permanent Retention
  • Arrangement ↴

    A DEEDS OF TITLE

    B WILLS, SETTLEMENTS AND ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS

    1 WILLS
    1.1 RYAN FAMILY WILLS
    1.2 WILLS OF ASSOCIATED FAMILIES
    2. MARRIAGE SETTLEMENTS AND ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS
    2.1 RYAN FAMILY SETTLEMENTS
    2.3 SETTLEMENTS OF ASSOCIATED FAMILIES

    3. TRUSTS
    3.1 RYAN FAMILY TRUSTS
    3.2 TRUSTS ADMINISTERED BY MEMBERS OF THE RYAN FAMILY

    C ESTATE ADMINSTRATION
    1. LEASES AND TENANCY AGREEMENTS

    2. RENTALS

    3 EVICTIONS

    4. LAND SALES AND TRANSFERS

    5 ACCOUNTS AND FINANCIAL RECORDS
    5.1 ACCOUNT AND STOCK BOOKS FOR INCH ESTATE
    5.2 OTHER FINANCIAL RECORDS

    6. ESTATE CORRESPONDANCE

    7 INCH ORATORY

    8 GAME RECORDS

    9 MAPS AND SURVEYS

    10. CASTLE FOGARTY ADMINISTRATION

    11. MEMORABILIA

    2 FAMILY AND PERSONAL RECORDS

    1 JOHN RYAN (D. 1723) AND FRANCES RYAN (LATER CREAGH)
    1.2 MEMORABILIA

    2. DANIEL RYAN (D.1773)

    3. JOHN RYAN (D.1778)

    4. GEORGE RYAN (DON JORGE RIAN) AND MARY ANNE RYAN

    4.1 RECORDS OF SPANISH SERVICE
    4.2 CORRESPONDENCE
    4.3 PUBLIC OFFICE
    4.4 MEMORABILIA
    4.4 LETTERS TO MARY ANNE RYAN

    5.MAJOR DENIS MULRYAN (D.1803)

    6. FRANCES WOULFE NÉE RYAN (D.1783)

    7 DANIEL RYAN (1787 – )
    7.1 LETTERS
    7.2 AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

    8 PHILIP RYAN

    9 GEORGE RYAN 1791–1879
    9.1 CORRESPONDANCE
    9.2 DIARIES
    9.3 AWARDS
    9.4 RELATING TO PUBLIC OFFICE
    9.5 LETTER FROM CATHERINE WHITE, WIFE OF GEORGE RYAN

    10.1 LETTERS
    10.2 DIARIES
    10.3 AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
    10.4 LETTERS OF LILY RYAN NÉE SHERLOCK

    11 JOHN F. RYAN D.1884
    12 MAJOR CHARLES RYAN (1854 -1899)

    13 MARY (MOLLY) RYAN (1875–1960)
    13.1 LETTERS
    13.2 DIARIES
    13.3 RELATING TO HER PROPERTY
    13.4 GENEALOGICAL RESEARCHES

    14 RICHARD RYAN (1888 –1927)
    14.1 LETTERS
    14.2 DIARIES
    14.3 GENEALOGICAL RESEARCHES
    14.4 KATHLEEN RYAN (1887 –1973)
    15 GENERAL

    3 RECORDS OF ASSOCIATED FAMILIES
    1. BENNETTS OF THOMASTOWN, CO. OFFALY

    2 CRUISE FAMILY OF BELGARD CASTLE, CO. DUBLIN

    3. EVANS

    4. FOGARTY

    5. HARROLD AND NASH FAMILIES

    6. LENIGAN OF CASTLE FOGARTY

    7. MATHEW FAMILY

    8. POWER/POWER LALOR OF LONGORCHARD

    9. PURCELL OF LOUGHMOE

    10 ROCHE / ROCHE JOHN

    11. SHEIL

    12. SHERLOCK

    12 THERRY

    13 WHYTE

    14 OTHERS
    14.1 MARIA EDGEWORTH
    14.2 GENERAL

    4 PHOTOGRAPHS

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions Available by appointment with the Archives Service to holders of UCC Readers tickets.
Conditions Governing ReproductionBy request to the archivist.
Creation Dates1656-1964
Extent Medium27 Boxes
Material Language ScriptEnglish/Spanish/French
Finding Aids Descriptive list Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

There are no Allied Materials

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NoteCarol Quinn
Rules/ConventionsISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottawa: International Council on Archives, 2000.
Date of DescriptionsMay-01