Tag Archives: manure

Deep doo-doo

10000 tons manure

`To be SOLD by AUCTION, at One o’Clock on Monday, 20th July, 1830, at the North Strand Depot, in Lots agreeable to Purchasers. This is well worth the attention of Land-Owners.

NB A reasonable time will be given for the removal of same.

John Littledale, Auctioneer

Dublin Evening Post 6 May 1830

I wonder how they weighed it before offering it for sale.

A lesson to estate agents

The Derry Castle Estate and splendid Demesne, near Limerick, on the Bank of the Shannon, exceeding 4500 Acres, with its vast Lake.

MR GEORGE ROBINS is flattered by having received the instructions of the excellent Proprietor,

Michael Henry Head Esq,

to SELL (without any limit as to protecting price), by PUBLIC AUCTION, at the GRESHAM HOTEL, in SACKVILLE-STREET, DUBLIN, on THURSDAY, the 27th of AUGUST, at Twelve o’Clock, in One Lot,

The magnificent ESTATE, which is Freehold of Inheritance, and designated

THE DERRY CASTLE PROPERTY,

which, for its splendour and renown, stands high amongst the most favoured throughout Ireland. This circumstance is not a little refreshing, inasmuch as the writer is relieved from an attempt to do it adequate justice, and to content himself with a mere outline.

It may be well, first, to observe that, fortunately, the Estate is free from that fearful pest to agricultural improvement and the yeomen’s comfort — the middle men. All are yearly tenants; the tithe is commuted; and it is a fact of no small importance to know that the use of spirituous liquors is unknown throughout this vast district; the necessary consequence is a total absence of

POLITICAL DIFFERENCES, OR DISTURBANCES

of any kind. Having thus cleared the ground of the great difficulty that has but too frequently prevailed in the minds of

THE TIMID ENGLISH CAPITALIST,

it may be well to point out a few of its multifarious advantages.

The Mansion is of importance; it stands on an elevated position above the level of the water, and is entirely suited to a family of high pretensions, with corresponding offices within and without. This edifice and its noble demesne is on the

BANK OF THE FAR-FAMED SHANNON,

the finest river in the empire. In front is a

SPLENDID LAKE, EMBRACING ONE HUNDRED SQUARE MILES OF WATER

20 miles in length, adorned by several delightful islands, whereon are interesting ruins of ancient castles.

The whole comprehends about

FOUR THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED ACRES

of land, highly cultivated, and in the occupation of a happy and contented tenantry. The best illustration of this circumstance is the fact that the arrear is literally a mere bagatelle.

The mountain scenery, which forms a magnificent amphitheatre, is really of surpassing beauty; the cloud-capp’d mountains rising in majestic grandeur until they seem to approach the clouds — the mighty lakes like oceans of liquid silver — the valleys teeming in fertility — present a scene of such grandeur, beauty and variety, as quite to forbid the hope of conveying a just idea of it by description. The views are extensive and indescribably beautiful, extending over the rich surrounding country, and including

THREE WHOLE PROVINCES OF IRELAND,

and alone terminated by

THE VAST ATLANTIC OCEAN,
“Its mighty waters, ever rolling on
Their myriad countless waves.”

Nature has vouchsafed its kindness to a degree infinitely beyond comparison anywhere, and presents a scene well calculated to elevate and impress the human mind, and incline it better to estimate “THE PERFECT PARADISE BELOW”.

THE FISHERIES AND THE FIELD SPORTS

may safely challenge competition throughout the civilised world. Millions of water fowl congregate on the vast lake. It should be remarked that, independently of

THE IMMENSE ANNUAL REVENUE

from the Lands, there are

EXTENSIVE SLATE QUARRIES

of which the engineers’ report speaks most intelligibly: proving, past doubt, that for quality, extent, and situation, Mr Pennant’s favoured works, now producing

FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS PER ANNUM

are not at all superior. Copper and Lead Mines are also on this estate, which, if worked, would realise an immense income. Much more might, and perhaps ought to be said, in praise of Derry Castle. Mr Robins, however, prefers to entreat of the intended competitors to seek ocular demonstration. He knows full well that this hasty and imperfect sketch will not impress them with half the delight they are sure to find there.

To those who may still be sceptical it may be added that the vast renown acquired by this

PRINCELY TERRITORY

has rendered it indispensable to indulge the nobility and travellers visiting Ireland by throwing open wide the demesne two days in each week throughout the year.

To conclude — an immense additional income is within reach by those who have money at command, by building

FIFTY OR ONE HUNDRED VILLAS ON THE BANKS OF THE LAKE.

The estate is in the quiet, unpolitical part of Ireland, thirteen miles only from the city of Limerick.

Particulars and Plans, and a drawing of the Castle, are in progress, and may be had 28 days antecedently, at the mansion — of Mr Salmon, at his Offices, 44, Moorgate-street, or Mr David Daly, Solicitor and Receiver, Fitzwilliam-street, Dublin — at Messrs Pyne and Richards’s, George-street, Hanover-square — Gresham Hotel, Dublin — the Auction Mart — and at Mr George Robins’s Offices, London.

PS — The title is clear, concise, and intelligible.

Dublin Evening Mail 7 August 1840

It is possible that Robins was brought in, with his purple pen, after earlier ads failed to attract a buyer. In March 1840 the Limerick Reporter carried an ad that concentrated on the estate’s earning potential.

FEE SIMPLE ESTATES.

To be sold, the
NOBLE DEMESNE AND ESTATES
of
DERRY CASTLE,
With Mansion House, and suitable Square of Offices; Extensive Old Plantation of  Valuable

TIMBER

Generally of above 100 years’ growth, situate on that part of the River Shannon

Which forms that Beautiful Expanse of Water, called

LOUGH DERG.

Above 20 Miles long, and 4 broad, on which STEAMERS and TRADING VESSELS ply between Limerick and Shannon Harbour, giving this Estate all the advantages of the

SHANNON AND CANAL NAVIGATION,
And Trade between Limerick and Dublin.

THE HOUSE stands in a most commanding position with respect to this Magnificent LAKE, with most picturesque Mountain Views, and overhung by ranges of nearly 100 Acres of young plantation along the adjoining slopes, planted from 20 to 30 years’ since, by the late Michael Prittie Head, Esq. It is impossible adequately to describe the

BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY

The town and harbour of Killaloe is distant about 3 miles, Nenagh about 9, and Limerick about 12 miles, by land or water.

The Mail Coach Road, from Dublin to Limerick, runs through the detached part of the Estates, called Burgess.

MANURE

Of a most Peculiar and Valuable quality (and the quantity inexhaustible) is obtained from Lough Derg, for the entire Estate, at all seasons.

It is a BLUE SHELLY MARL, which is dredged from the bottom of the Lake into boats by the Tenantry, for which Quays and Harbours are arranged. It has been analysed, and was found to contain 50 per Cent of CARBONATE OF LIME, with other valuable properties set forth in the Analysis.

The more elevated divisions of these Estates abound in

SLATE QUARRIES

So long celebrated as SUPERIOR to any in EUROPE, and are now in full operation, with the splendid outlay of capital by the IMPERIAL SLATE COMPANY, in whose employ several hundred men are permanently engaged to the great advantage of the proprietor of the Estates, who participates in the income under the deeds of contract.

The specimens of COPPER and LEAD MINES afford every reason to believe that, if properly brought into operation, they may become

A RICH SOURCE OF WEALTH.

The MOUNTAIN COMMONAGE comprises about 550 Acres, which has

GREAT CAPABILITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT,

having regard to the MARL raised from the LAKE, being far superior to lime, and an

INCALCULABLE SOURCE OF WEALTH TO THESE ESTATES.

The extensive ranges of

YOUNG PLANTATIONS

Outside the Demesne, along the elevated Divisions of the Estate, are also of GREAT VALUE, comprising large sections of

OAK, LARCH, FIR, &c &c

The thinnings of which would materially tend to the improvement and growth of the Timber.

THE OLD AND YOUNG PLANTATIONS

Are estimated at considerably above £10000.

The Estimated PRODUCTIVE RENTAL VALUE of the Estate, exclusive of the Mansion, Offices, &c may be set down by way of General outline, at £3000 per annum, with the ADDITIONAL INCOME to be derived from the vast outlay of capital by the Imperial Slate Quarry Company, to a proportion of which Mr Head is entitled.

Mr Head had arranged with the principal incumbrancers to the amount of about £30000, to allow their demands to remain outstanding at 5 per cent interest, being disposed to pay off other claims by instalments; but some creditors becoming pressing, he has at length decided upon selling the entire Estate, or a competent part, to pay off the Incumbrances, and a purchaser may, if so disposed, avail himself of

LEAVING ABOUT SAID £30000 OUTSTANDING

to suit his convenience.

Any further particulars will be explained by Michael Henry Head, Esq, Derry Castle, Killaloe.

David Daly, Solicitor, No 26, Fitzwilliam-street, Dublin, is Receiver and Land Agent of the Estates, and has all Rentals, &c and will give every information, furnish statements of title, and receive propositions from purchasers, and under Mr Head’s sanction, will at once conclude a contract for sale.

Te title is perfectly clear, concise, and intelligible, and all seaarches ready for inspection.

The Estates contain 4347 statute Acres, and the young plantations 74800 Trees, exclusive of the old plantations in the Demesne.

February 21

Limerick Reporter 20 March 1840

Neither ad was successful; the estate was not sold until 1844.

The Derry Castle and Burgess estate, county of Tipperary, was knocked down to Francis Spaight, Esq, of Limerick, for £39500 at the Chambers of Master Goold, on Tuesday. The highest bona fide offer for this property at the sale last May was £37500, and it was then bought in at £38000. The estate comprises 3000 acres of land, with mansion house, and offices, on the most picturesque and frequented part of the Upper Shannon, near Killaloe.

Statesman and Dublin Christian Record
16 August 1844

 

 

The vast utility of internal navigation

As a manifest proof of the vast utility and advantage of internal navigation, the present price of land carriage to Banagher, which is that particular part which the Canal is to extend to in its Westerly progress, is 2s 4d per hundred weight, or 2l 6s 8d the ton, but the freightage and tonnage by the Canal cannot exceed thirteen shillings, which in some articles, either sent to or from the capital, must reduce the price upwards of forty per cent.

From this calculation we suppose the tonnage to be three halfpence a mile and the freightage a penny, but there will be many loadings that will not be rated or charged at so high a price; as for instance, lime, stones, flag and slate, which are to pay but a halfpenny, fuel a farthing, and dung, marl, and gravel for manure, entirely exempt from any charge.

Of what infinite use it will be to the manufactures of this kingdom in the article of fuel only, may be evinced by the price of Kilkenny coal being reduced more than one-half, and corn, flour, with an infinite variety of other matters, being sent much cheaper to this city. The profits resulting will enable this useful design to be still extended, by forming collateral branches, with all the navigable rivers in the central counties, and perhaps making communication with the remotest part of this kingdom.

Saunders’s News-Letter 24 October 1785

More manure

Carthach O’Maonaigh has kindly provided more information about the Dublin [and Wicklow] Manure Company and I have updated my posting to include that.

The Dublin Manure Company [updated]

Consulting Chemist:
Professor CAMERON, MD, MRIA
Secretary:
J G DAWSON
Offices:
20 USHER’S QUAY
Works — SEVENTH LOCK, ROYAL CANAL

The Company manufacture Superphosphate, Urate, Corn, Grass, Potato, and Blood Manure. These Manures are made from the best materials (which are purchased in the cheapest markets), and sold at the lowest remunerative price.

BRAZILIAN GUANO, sold only by the Company, at £9 15s per ton, is the best Guano for general purposes offered to the Public.

That is from the Freeman’s Journal of 12 June 1861. In a Comment [see below], Ewan Duffy asked:

Any idea where this was located? Neither of the historic OS maps online show anything in the vicinity of the 7th Lock/Liffey Junction.

I replied:

No, but perhaps Liffey Junction abolished it. It’s right in the middle of the period spanned by the two online maps, alas.

Later, I searched the Freeman’s Journal at the British Newspaper Archive for 1860 to 1880. The only ads for the Dublin Manure Company were in 1861. In December of that year the National Manure Company was being set up in Ringsend and featured someone who was “late of” the London and Dublin Manure Companies. After that there was just a single mention, in Shipping Intelligence in 1868, of the Dublin Manure Company; that could be an error, and I suspected that the company didn’t last into 1862.

However, Thom’s for 1868 listed the company offices at Usher’s Quay and the Chemical Works still at 7th Lock on the Royal [I wonder how it fitted in amongst the railway lines]. Slater’s 1870 had the Dublin and Wicklow Manure Company, offices 4 College St, works Dublin and Wicklow; later it said that the works were at Ballybough Bridge. There were no manure works listed at 7th Lock in that year.

Carthach O.Maonaigh very kindly pointed me to an article on the website of the Marino Historical Society, “Ref: 62 – Vitriol and Manure Works Fire – Ballybough Bridge – March 3rd 1890”, about a fire at the Dublin and Wicklow Manure Company’s works at Ballybough Bridge. I don’t think there is a direct link to the article but you’ll find it by searching the page for “manure”. The site is shown on the OSI Historic 25″ map here.

Carthach writes:

From what I recall hearing from my grand-parents, who lived in  the Ballybough area, this firm moved from the Royal Canal site when it joined with a similar business, The Wicklow Manure Company, located on the Murrough, Wicklow Town, to a site between Ballybough Bridge and Annesley Bridge sometime in the 1880s. Whilst jobs in the business was welcomed by the local community you can visualise their reaction to the strong smell that arose from the manufacturing end. The business closed in the early 1900s. The site was derelict for years before the Dublin Corporation bought it to build flats. An article was also published in the Journal of the Wicklow Historical Society in 2012 or 2013 about the firm in Wicklow Town.

I can’t find a site for the Wicklow Historical Society, its journal or the article in question, alas, but if anyone knows of one I’ll add a link.

We still don’t know exactly where the 7th Lock works were or how they fitted in with Liffey Junction; more information welcome.

Wasting sewage

An inquest has recently been held in Limerick, on the bodies of three seamen; and the jury gave a verdict, founded on the evidence of seamen and medical men, that the deaths had been caused by drinking the water of the Shannon, which the drainage of gas works and the common sewage had rendered poisonous. We trust that this unfortunate event, will induce the authorities of Limerick to take measures for applying sewage to the legitimate puspose of manuring the ground, instead of allowing a valuable material to go to waste, and to poison the waters of their river.

The Artizan July 1846

Plasticine

Why, when speaking of the branded product Plasticine, did [do?] Irish teachers insist on using the Irish word marla? Even that word was, according to Terry Dolan’s Dictionary of Hiberno-English [Gill & Macmillan, Dublin 2004; new ed forthcoming], derived from the English marl.

At least in the nineteenth century, marl was a valuable manure or fertiliser and, on Lough Derg, Mr Head of the Derry Estate introduced a system of dredging it from deep water. Read about it here.