13. ffolliott, Rosemary [Poole].
The Pooles of Mayfield and other Irish Families. With a Preface by Basil M. O’Connell.
Dublin, Hodges and Figgis & Co., 1958. 4°. Frontispiece-Portrait of Joanna Meade Townsend, 294 pages with XIII plates showing 53 portraits and illustrations. The Volume contains over eighty “Pedigrees” [Genealogical Tables with Family Trees connecting to two thousand persons from families like: Allen, Baldwin, Barry, Becher, Bowdler, Boyle, Browne, Brydges, Capenhurst, Chavasse, Clayton, Conner of Connerville, Corker, Courthope, Cummins, Daunt, Davies, Dunscombe, Field, FitzGerald, Fleming, ffolliott, Freke [Capt. John ffreke of Knocknameel with a complete Pedigree starting with Robert Freke of Shroton] / , Fowle, Hayman, Hewitt, Holmes, Hull, Hungerford, Jellett, Langton, Latham, Lucas, McCall, Meade, Moore, Morgan, Morris, Morrison, Nevill, Nisbett, Newton, Poole, Riggs, Rogers, St.John, Sarsfield, Somerville, Stannard, Symes, Synge, Townsend, Townshend, Travers, Turner, Vaughan, Waring, Wynn and others], List of Subscribers and a comprehensive Index with reference to over four hundred surnames are also included. Original Hardcover with the rare dustjacket. Original blue cloth with only very minor traces of external wear and overall in excellent condition (minor staining to the binding). Interior unbelievably clean and bright with no markings. No.488 of only 500 numbered copies. This extremely rare publication is a key-publication of Irish Genealogy and has set new standards of genealogical research. In the Obituary for Rosemary ffolliott, the Irish Times wrote in 2009: “In 1958, when she was 23 years of age, Rosemary ffolliott compiled “The Pooles of Mayfield”, a history of Settler Families in the Cork area. The publication of this Munster gentry, which some who appeared in it described as “the Dead Sea Scrolls”, initiated a career in the difficult field of Irish genealogy, made the more arduous by the destruction of records at the Four Courts. Her dedication to a discipline that had been considered vague, imprecise and colourful, had an acknowledged effect in raising the standards of genealogy in Ireland. Her research methods were meticulous and she is remembered as a genius in the use of the Registry of Deeds in Henrietta Street. In 1966 she became a Fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, the first woman to be recognised in this way.” The publication is an important source for the History of Family-Connections for the two Irish Country-House-Libraries we currently have on offer: “The Richard Meade Collection (Ballymartle)” and “The Danile Conner – Collection (Connerville and Manch House)”. Both families are mentioned as subscribers to this publication [″H.L.Conner, Esq. – Manch House, Ballineen, Co.Cork” and “Mrs. G.W.Meade – Pitch Place Farm, Thursley, Surrey / Captain J.A.Meade – Chatley, Metchosin, British Columbia / Mrs. Meade – Templenoe House, Fermoy, Co. Cork”]. Especially the many portraits of members of the Meade-Family,as well as the family-connection to the Townshend / Townsend-Family in Castletownshend, near Skibbereen, make this an invaluable source for Irish Genealogy.