Irish Distillers, today donated the records from the Power family’s Oylegate estate to Wexford County Archive.
"The papers include valuable information that details the history of the Power family’s contribution to life in the county," Gráinne Doran, Archivist at Wexford County Archive said.
The renowned Power family – of whiskey fame – chose to settle in Oylegate in 1838, building their family seat at Edermine House.
During these early years, the Power family provided much needed employment at their John’s Lane Distillery in Dublin to generations of fishermen working the River Slaney, the whiskey-maker highlighted in a statement.
The Edermine Estate papers are believed to be comprised of rentals and land sales correspondence.
Doran added: "We have no doubt this material will be a primary source for historians, local and family researchers, and students from primary to third level, for generations to come.”
Edermine Estate Papers
The historic papers were reportedly found among the records of whiskey production at John’s Lane during the cataloguing of the Irish Distillers archives, now preserved at Midleton Distillery.
“We realised that these records weren’t telling the story of our whiskey but instead told a unique story about the lives of families, living and working in Wexford, for whom other records may not have survived," Carol Quinn, archivist at Irish Distillers explained.
"We felt strongly that they should be publicly accessible and open to family history researchers which led us to reach out to Wexford County Archivist, Grainne Doran, and offer the transfer of these archives into the Wexford County Council’s care."
Quinn highlighted that the Power family no longer lives in Oylegate.
In 1966 the historic distillery of John Power & Son amalgamated with two others; John Jameson & Son and the Cork Distilleries Company, to form Irish Distillers which now operates as the Midleton Distillery in Co. Cork.
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