Introduction to the MacGeough Bond Papers
Date published:
Details
The MacGeough Bond papers of around 2950 documents and around 100 volumes, 1678 and 1962 to 1977, are on the family's estates and houses in Co. Armagh (Drumsill, near Armagh City, and The Argory, near Moy, on the Armagh/Tyrone border), at Ballytrustan, Co. Down, at Churchtown, Co. Westmeath, and at Water Eaton, Fairford, Gloucestershire, and also on the political, professional and collecting activities of individual members of the family from around 1785, particularly Sir Walter Adrian MacGeough Bond of The Argory, a judge in Egypt from 1888 to 1916.
The archive was deposited in PRONI in two unequal instalments, separated by nearly sixty years (in 1931 and 1989 respectively). The first instalment consisted of over 250 documents and 12 volumes 1692 to 1861, mainly title deeds, leases, wills and case papers.
After the curious practice adopted by PRONI in its early years, all documents which were not strictly speaking originals (even though they were contemporary or near-contemporary manuscript copies) were separated from the rest and given a T (for 'Transcript') reference number. In this instance the original documents were arranged and listed in strict chronological sequence under D288, and the 'transcripts' under T524.
Because these two parallel lists are very detailed and the referencing system established by them has been extensively cited, the 1931 arrangement has not been disturbed. The 1931 deposit will be found at D288/1-D288/176 and T524/1-T524/71, and the 1989 deposit, which constitutes the bulk of the archive, at D288/A-H. In addition, and excluded from the foregoing calculations and description, there is among the Corr & O'Connor solicitors' archive MacGeough Bond estate and legal papers, 1748 to 1926 (D3012/2/2).