Introduction to the Rosse Papers
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The Rosse papers are the papers of the Parsons family, baronets, Barons and Viscounts Oxmantown and Earls of Rosse, of Birr Castle, Birr (alias Parsonstown), Co. Offaly. They run from around 1540 to 1991.
Although PRONI has microfilmed (MIC512 and MIC564) well-defined sections of the archive, and has in addition photocopied (T3498) bits and pieces from all over the place, what really matters about PRONI's holdings is its comprehensive list of the papers, which forms a major part of its 'Register of Irish Archives'. This list includes a good deal of calendaring and to that extent is a document in its own right.
But, essentially, it is a guide to the originals which are in family possession in the Muniment Room at Birr Castle. Researchers wishing to access these originals should write to the present (and 7th) Earl of Rosse.
PRONI's work on the archive at Birr Castle began in 1979 and in essence is a continuation of work begun, and left unfinished at around 1700, by the Historical Manuscripts Commission in the 1870s. In 1992, PRONI was asked to draft the entry on the Birr Castle archive for the second edition of the Directory of Irish Archives (Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1993). The text which follows is broadly speaking what has appeared in the Directory, and represents an attempted bird's eye view of a large, rich and complex accumulation of papers.