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Balbriggan, County
Dublin:
An 18th century traveler described Balbriggan as "... a small village situated
in a small glin ("glen") where the sea forms a little harbour – it is reckoned
safe and is sheltered by a good pier. The village is resorted to in Summer time
by several genteel people for the benefit of bathing."
Balbriggan owes its
rise from a small fishing village to a place of manufacturing and commercial
importance to the late Baron Hamilton, who, in 1780, introduced cotton
manufacture, for which he erected factories.
Nineteenth century
Lewis's Topographical Directory of Ireland, from 1837, refers to Balbriggan as
follows:
A sea-port, market, and post-village, and a chapelry, in the parish and barony
of Balrothery, county of Dublin, and province of Leinster, 15 miles (N. by E.)
from Dublin; containing 3016 inhabitants.
The inhabitants are
partly employed in the fishery, but principally in the manufacture of cotton;
there are two large factories, the machinery of which is worked by steam-engines
and water-wheels of the aggregate power of 84 horses, giving motion to 7500
spindles, and spinning upon the average about 7,400 lb (3,356.58 kg) of cotton
yarn per week. More than 300 persons are employed in these factories, to which
are attached blue dye-works; and in the village and neighborhood are 942
hand-looms employed in the weaving department. The principal articles made at
present are checks, jeans, calicoes, and fustians. The village is also
celebrated for the manufacture of the finest cotton stockings, which has been
carried on successfully since its first establishment about 40 years since;
there are 60 frames employed in this trade, and the average produce is about 60
dozen per week. There are on the quay a large corn store belonging to Messrs.
Frost & Co., of Chester, and some extensive salt-works; and in the village is a
tan yard.
The fishery, since the
withdrawing of the bounty, has very much diminished: there are at present only
10 wherries or small fishing boats belonging to the port. The village carries on
a tolerably brisk coasting trade: in 1833, 134 coal vessels, of the aggregate
burden of 11,566 tons, and 29 coasting vessels of 1795 tons, entered inwards,
and 17 coasters of 1034 tons cleared outwards, from and to ports in Great
Britain. The harbor is rendered safe for vessels of 150 tons burden by an
excellent pier, completed in 1763, principally by Baron Hamilton, aided by a
parliamentary grant, and is a place of refuge for vessels of that burden at 3/4
tide. A jetty or pier, 420 feet (128 metres) long from the N. W. part of the
harbor, with a curve of 105 feet (32 metres) in a western direction, forming an
inner harbor in which at high tide is 14 feet (4 metres) of water, and affording
complete shelter from all winds, was commenced in 1826 and completed in 1829, at
an expense of £2912 - 7s - 9d. At the end of the old pier there is a lighthouse.
The Drogheda or Grand
Northern Trunk Railway from Dublin, for which an act has been obtained, is
intended to pass along the shore close to the village and to the east of the
church. The market is on Monday, and is abundantly supplied with corn, of which
great quantities are sent to Dublin and o Liverpool there is a market for
provisions on Saturday. Fairs are held on the 29th of April and September,
chiefly for cattle. A market-house was erected in 1811, partly by subscription
and partly at the expense of the Hamilton family. The village is the
head-quarters of the constabulary police force of the county; and near it is a
martello tower with a coast guard station, which is one of the nine stations
within the district of Swords. Petty sessions for the north-east division of the
county are held here every alternate Tuesday.
The chapel of St.
George at Balbriggan, was founded by the late Rev. G. Hamilton, of Hampton Hall,
who in 1813 granted some land and settled an endowment, under the 11th and 12th
years of the reign of Geo. III., for the establishment of a perpetual curacy;
and an augmentation of £25 per annum has been recently granted by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners the from Primate Boulter's fund. In 1816 a chapel
was completed, at an expense of £3018 - 2s - 2d, of which £1400 was given by the
late
Board of First Fruits,
£478- 15s - 2d., was raised by voluntary subscriptions of the inhabitants, and
£1139-7s., was given by the founder and his family. This chapel, which was a
handsome edifice with a square embattled tower, and contained monuments to the
memory of R. Hamilton, Esq., and the Rev. G. Hamilton, was burned by accident in
1835, and the congregation assembles for divine service in a school-room until
it shall be restored, for which purpose the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have
lately granted £480. There is a chapel belonging to the Roman Catholic Union or
District of Balrothery. At Balbriggan, there is also a place of worship for
Wesleyan Methodists. A parochial school and dispensary are in the village.
Balbriggan Eustace Family
Patrick Eustace, widower of Balbriggan, age about 81 (born about 1793),
groom and coachman died January 23, 1874 of old age and debility, certified.
Margaret (her X mark) Eustace of Balbriggan was present at the death which was
registered in Balbriggan District, Balrothery District on January 28, 1874.
Source: GRO.
Edward Eustace, was born
about 1811, farm laborer. Sometime before 1858, he married Mary
_______ born about 1829. Edward Eustace, farm laborer, age about 75 years,
died 1 February 1886 at Courtlough from old age. John (his X mark) Eustace, his
son was present at the death which was registered Feb. 6, 1886. Mary Eustace age
about 67 years died 18 Feb. 1886 from bronchitis. John (his X mark), her son was
present at the death which occurred at Courtlough and was registered February
27, 1886. Edward and Mary Eustace were the parents of:
1. Mary
Eustace, born about 1858, County Dublin;
2. John
Eustace, born about 1861, County Dublin;
Source: GRO.
Margaret Eustace, a
housekeeper, widow, age about 74 years, (born about 1818) died 15 June 1892 at
Balbriggan from old age. Rosanne Eustace, her daughter was present at the death
which was registered 25 June 1892;
Source: GRO.
Roseanna Eustace, seamstress, age about 54 years (born about 1839),
spinster, died at the Balbriggan workhouse, Holmpatrick District, of breast
cancer on 11 July 1893. Edward McCormick, occupier of the workhouse was present
at the death;
Source: GRO.
Roseanne Eustace, national school teacher, age 52, (born about
1849), not married, Roman Catholic, was living at Chapel Lane, Balbriggan in
1901. Roseanne Eustace, age 64, (born about 1847) unmarried, ex-national school
teacher was living at Balbriggan urban in 1911 with her unmarried cousin Michael
White, age about 68, who was retired from the liquor business;
Source: GRO, 1901 & 1911 Census.
Mary Eustace, daughter of Edward Eustace, groom & coachman; born
County Dublin about 1858; spinster, age about 53 years in 1911 (1911
Census);
John Eustace, born about 1861 in County Dublin, bachelor, full age,
laborer, son of Edward Eustace, groom & coachman;
Married (1): 27 April 1888 at Skerries Parish (R.C.), County Dublin;
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Owens, full age, spinster, daughter of John Owens,
deceased, of Skerries, County Dublin. Elizabeth Eustace nee Owens age about 27,
died at Courtlough on 22 February 1890 of pneumonia, 7 days following the birth
of a daughter Margaret who also died;
Source: GRO;
Children of John Eustace and Elizabeth Owens of Courtlough, Balbriggan,
Co. Dublin:
1.
Edward Eustace, born
9 March 1889 at Courtlough; baptized March 10, 1889; baptismal sponsors were
Thomas Melia and Mary Anne Moulds. (Edward Eustace, age 22 years, occupation:
cow boy in 1911 census). Edward Eustace, full age, bachelor, laborer of
Blackhall, Balbriggan married Anastasia Curtin, daughter of Maurice Curtin of
Skerries, full age, spinster, no occupation, on 12 November 1919 at the Roman
Catholic Church of Balbriggan. The witnesses were John Eustace and Mary E.
Curtin; Source: GRO;
2.
Margaret Eustace,
born 19 February 1890 at Courtlough, Balbriggan: Margaret died soon after birth
on February 19, 1890. Her father John was present at the death which was
registered at Balbriggan on 25 February 1893; Baptismal Record.
John Eustace, widower, full age (born about 1861 in County Dublin), married (2): 1891 (need record Book 2 Page 377); married Anna McDonnell;
born about 1878 in County Dublin;
Source: GRO;
Children of John Eustace and Anna McDonnell of
Courtlough, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin:
1. Margaret Eustace, born 21 December 1892 at Courtlough, Balbriggan; Sponsors James McDonald and
Elizabeth McDonald;
Source: Baptismal Record; Mother is
listed as McDonald.
2.
Mary Anne Eustace;
born 1 September, 1894 at Balbriggan; died 23 January 1895 at Courtlough of
whooping cough (one month) and pneumonia (three days), certified.
3.
Mary, born 1896
(census 1911);
4.
Elizabeth Eustace;
born 17 July 1898; baptismal sponsors: John Carrick and Kate McDonnell; died
during first quarter of 1901.
5.
Joseph, born 13
November 1900, Mary Murphy, present at birth; alive in 1911 (Source: 1911
census);
6.
John Joseph, born 10
March, 1903; alive in 1911, (1911 census);
7.
Anne Eustace, born 15
June 1904 at Courtlough, died January 27, 1907 at Courtlough of rachitis, one
year, certified. Mary (her X mark) Eustace of Courtlough, (her aunt) was the
informant of the death which was registered February 26, 1907 at Balbriggan;
8.
Kathleen (Catherine Mary)
Eustace; born 18 September 1905 at Courtlough;
9.
Bridget Eustace;
was born 22 January 1907 at Courtlough, Balbriggan; died January 14, 1908 of
pertussis (three weeks) and exhaustion. Maggie Eustace, sister, was the
informant of the death which was registered January 20, 1908 at Balbriggan.
10.
Michael, born 13
March 1908 at Courtlough; Margaret Eustace, informant, alive in 1911, (1911
Census);
11.
Patrick Eustace; born
19 July 1909 at Courtlough; died August 27, 1909 at Courtlough of asthenia from
birth, certified. Mary (her X mark) Eustace, an aunt was
present at the death which was registered August
27, 1909 at Balbriggan.
Note: Census 1911 shows 11 children born (12
scratched out), 5 alive (6 scratched out). There were at least 13 births from
two marriages.
Mary Eustace,
age 53 (born about 1858), unmarried, sister to
John Eustace of Courtlough;
Source: 1911 census.
Mary Eustace,
widow of a laborer, age about 67 (born
about 1829), of Courtlough died 18 Feb. 1886 from bronchitis. John (his X mark),
her son was present at the death which occurred at Courtlough and was registered
February 27, 1886.
Margaret Eustace,
(daughter of John Eustace and Anna McDonnell), born 21 December 1892 at
Courtlough, Balbriggan; Sponsors James McDonald and Elizabeth McDonald; baptized
_________, full age, spinster, no occupation, of Courtlough, Balbriggan;
Married: 26 July 1914, at the Roman Catholic Church of Balbriggan;
James Marmion, (son of James Marmion, blacksmith), full age, bachelor;
The witnesses were Mary Eustace and Leo Wilson;
Source: GRO;
Edward Eustace, (son of John Eustace and Elizabeth Owens), born 9 March 1889
at Courtlough; baptized March 10, 1889, full age, bachelor, laborer of Blackhall,
Balbriggan; Married: 12 November 1919, at the Roman Catholic Church of
Balbriggan. The witnesses were John Eustace and
Anastasia Curtin,
daughter of Maurice Curtin of Skerries, full age, spinster, no occupation;
Source: GRO |
