Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills (George D Kelleher Deposit)
TitleBallincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills (George D Kelleher Deposit)
ReferenceIE 627/U7
Date
1910-1915 (c1890-1971)
Production date 1890 - 1971
Scope and ContentThe collection consists of three receipts, four photographs, one sketch, and one newscutting relating to the gunpowder mills. All but the last item are stamped on the reverse with George D Kelleher’s name. The receipts relate to transactions between The Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills Company (incorporated with Curtis’s & Harvey Ltd, Cannon Street House, London), and Daniel Murphy, Coolroe, Ballincollig, Co Cork, as follows:
U7/1 Memorandum of receipt dated 29 March 1913 from The Mills to Daniel Murphy, Coolroe, Ballincollig, in the amount of £6, in respect of ‘1 Old Corrugated Iron Powder Shed’. With red one penny stamp.
U7/2 Receipt dated 29 May 1914 in respect of payment by Daniel Murphy, Coolroe, of Five Pounds, ‘being Six Months Rent due for grazing of Land in the Powder Mills’. With red one penny stamp.
U7/3 Memorandum of receipt dated 3 June 1915 from The Mills to Daniel Murphy, Farmer, Coolroe, Ballincollig, acknowledging receipt of £5 Stg ‘being six months Rent due for grazing of Land in the Powder Mills. With red one penny stamp.
U7/3 a and U7/3b Receipts, one dated 25 May 1910, the other 25 May 1911, issued by The Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills Co ('incorporated with Curtis's & Harvey Limited, 3 Gracechurch Street, London, E.C.'), to Daniel Murphy, Coolroe, for £5 for half-year's rents for grazing powder mill land. Each with red one penny stamp.
The four photographs present are stamped with the donor’s name, and evidently show parts of the old Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey, Essex. The photographs may have been of use in the archaeological assessment of the Ballincollig site. The prints are monochrome. They depict the following:
U7/4 Worker and charcoal burner at Royal Gunpowder Mills. [c1895] (16.5cm X 12cm)
U7/5 Yard (by stream or canal) with stocks of wood (for charcoal making). Footbridge in left foreground, factory building towards background. [c1890] (21.5cm X 16.5cm)
U7/6 Powder boat (after restoration) on river/canal. Swan in foreground, vehicles on further bank in background. [1966] (21.5cm X 16.5cm)
U7/7 Ruin of wooden mill building (Incorporating Mill). Brick base, wooden walls (much fallen away), and inside a large circular stone on metal base [for crushing]. A note states that it was taken by Mr Pearson, Fire Brigade Officer, in 1957. (21.5cm X 16.5cm)
U7/8 is a print of a technical sketch showing interior plan of wooden building with stairs, containing two machines, each with two large circular pieces over a cup-like metal base, similar to that shown in U007/7. Undated. (35cm X 19cm)
U7/9 is a page from the Evening Echo newspaper of Saturday January 25, 1958, containing the following item: ‘Around the South in 1859, The Explosion at the Ballincollig Mills; The Battle of Bridges, by John T Collins’. The article includes an account of ‘a dreadful explosion’ at the Mills on 6 August 1859, ‘by which five workmen lost their lives’.
The collection sheds some light on the history of the Gunpowder Mills and documents some buildings and features from an industrial archaeology perspective.
U7/1 Memorandum of receipt dated 29 March 1913 from The Mills to Daniel Murphy, Coolroe, Ballincollig, in the amount of £6, in respect of ‘1 Old Corrugated Iron Powder Shed’. With red one penny stamp.
U7/2 Receipt dated 29 May 1914 in respect of payment by Daniel Murphy, Coolroe, of Five Pounds, ‘being Six Months Rent due for grazing of Land in the Powder Mills’. With red one penny stamp.
U7/3 Memorandum of receipt dated 3 June 1915 from The Mills to Daniel Murphy, Farmer, Coolroe, Ballincollig, acknowledging receipt of £5 Stg ‘being six months Rent due for grazing of Land in the Powder Mills. With red one penny stamp.
U7/3 a and U7/3b Receipts, one dated 25 May 1910, the other 25 May 1911, issued by The Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills Co ('incorporated with Curtis's & Harvey Limited, 3 Gracechurch Street, London, E.C.'), to Daniel Murphy, Coolroe, for £5 for half-year's rents for grazing powder mill land. Each with red one penny stamp.
The four photographs present are stamped with the donor’s name, and evidently show parts of the old Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey, Essex. The photographs may have been of use in the archaeological assessment of the Ballincollig site. The prints are monochrome. They depict the following:
U7/4 Worker and charcoal burner at Royal Gunpowder Mills. [c1895] (16.5cm X 12cm)
U7/5 Yard (by stream or canal) with stocks of wood (for charcoal making). Footbridge in left foreground, factory building towards background. [c1890] (21.5cm X 16.5cm)
U7/6 Powder boat (after restoration) on river/canal. Swan in foreground, vehicles on further bank in background. [1966] (21.5cm X 16.5cm)
U7/7 Ruin of wooden mill building (Incorporating Mill). Brick base, wooden walls (much fallen away), and inside a large circular stone on metal base [for crushing]. A note states that it was taken by Mr Pearson, Fire Brigade Officer, in 1957. (21.5cm X 16.5cm)
U7/8 is a print of a technical sketch showing interior plan of wooden building with stairs, containing two machines, each with two large circular pieces over a cup-like metal base, similar to that shown in U007/7. Undated. (35cm X 19cm)
U7/9 is a page from the Evening Echo newspaper of Saturday January 25, 1958, containing the following item: ‘Around the South in 1859, The Explosion at the Ballincollig Mills; The Battle of Bridges, by John T Collins’. The article includes an account of ‘a dreadful explosion’ at the Mills on 6 August 1859, ‘by which five workmen lost their lives’.
The collection sheds some light on the history of the Gunpowder Mills and documents some buildings and features from an industrial archaeology perspective.
Extent11 items
LanguageEnglish
Persons keywordBallincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills, British Army
SubjectIndustrial Archaeology
AccessHard copies: Accessible to Readers by appointment. Access restrictions apply to some collections. Digital object/copy: see Download Media and/or Digital Reference
RightsLicensing information available on request by email to archivist@corkcity.ie Copyright Cork City and County Archives, Cork City Council, unless otherwise indicated. All Rights Reserved.
Levelfile
RepositoryCork City and County Archives