Bennett's of Ballinacurra Descriptive List (Ref. B609)

B609/

B609/9/A/54 Diary, 1934. Bennett records many health problems this year, and his handwriting deteriorates. On 16 February he hired WH Ireland as skipper of ‘Myth’. In March, two neighbouring farms – Mr Forde’s at Castleredmond and T Coppinger’s at Ramhill – came up for sale, Bennett noting ‘it never rains but it pours’. He purchased the latter. On 3 May he suffered a ‘haemorrhage’, and admitted himself to Elpe’s private hospital, Dublin. He had improved by July, when Timothy West of Midleton College accompanied him sailing in Scotland. On 30 September he went to see the Blundell’s new house, converted from Midleton Estate Office.

B609/9/A/55 Diary, 1935. On 11 March Bennett travelled to London, where he received medical treatment from Sir Maurice Cassidy. He returned home on 21 March [the final entry; Bennett died 18 June 1935].

B609/9/A/56 John H Bennett, Personal Memorandum Books, 1889-1931 [1878]. Small notebooks containing jottings by Bennett on various subjects, including his business, the farm, the experimental plots, barley inspections, work- related visits, housekeeping, sporting interests, meetings with friends, his cars, and other subjects. These rough notes may have been drawn on when writing up his diary and letters and reports. There is some overlap in time between some of the notebooks. One book appears to be a sketch book and contains a number of sketches in addition to jottings. Other sketches may subsequently have been removed, however, as several pages are captioned with the name of a scene and the date 30 July 1878, although no picture is present. Some loose pages of similar notes also present. Thirty-three volumes. or animals of each type shot, Bennett’s total, total for the party of shooters, and remarks. Remarks often include names of other shooters and their exploits, comments on dogs, the weather, and unusual birds. Bennett often writes a lengthy note of summary at season’s end. The varieties of game to which columns in the log are given are as follows: Cock; Snipe; Partridge; Green Plover; Golden Plover; Pheasants; Duck; Wigeon; Teal; Rabbits and Hares, and ‘Various’. This last column came to include rabbits and hares, but other creatures listed include curlews and other non-game birds, and pigs. Common locations for shooting were around Ballymacoda, Carrignavaar, Clonmult, Corkbeg, Dungourney, Garryvoe, Rathcoursey and Youngrove. His most usual companion was Digby Welland, with others including W Beale, E Hallinan, and G Waters. His best season was in 1907- 08, when his total bag came to 368. In 1915 he notes that his resumption of shooting is ‘shaded with sorrow’ by memories of happy days shooting with his son, who was killed that year in the Great War. There was no shooting from 1920-21 to 1922-23 owing to the Troubles in Ireland. On 20 March 1923 Bennett writes a note ‘in memory of a good friend and fellow sportsman William Goff Beale who was shot by Republicans as a B609/9/A/57 Shooting Log of John H Bennett, 1895-1934 (1890-1930). Record of game birds and animals shot by Bennett during hunting season. The volume records date and locality (with weather often noted), the number of birds

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