| Description | Diary of Martin Joseph ffrench, younger son of Thomas 2nd baron ffrench, who started this diary at 70, having retired as Resident Magistrate at Cashel, County Tipperary the previous year. It records the daily routines of himself and his wife Kate, and their family, as well as correspondence received by them both, as well as noting anniversaries of his relations and friends, many of whom were closely connected with landed estate families in County Galway. It also includes much detail about his interaction with the clergy, and the education of his two sons, Charlie and John, by the Jesuits. It also includes detailed accounts of two repeal meetings in Caltra, County Galway in January 1843 which was chaired by his father with himself acting as Secretary. Enclosures include material relating to the school certificates of John, his younger son, at St. Gall's Jesuit College. |
| Administrative History | The Hon Martin Joseph Blake was born in 1813, the younger son of Thomas, second baron ffrench. The baronecy had been created in 1798 for Rose, Lady ffrench, widow of Charles ffrench of Castleffrench, who had been created a baronet in 1779. She was succeeded by her son Thomas, firstly second baronet and, after her death in 1805, second baron ffrench. The family were heavily involved in banking and other financial matters, as well as being supporters of Daniel O'Connell's repeal movement. Thomas second baron's chairing of repeal meetings in Caltra and Athlone in 1843 resulted in him being stripped of his Resident Magistracy, and his two sons, Thomas and Martin, suffered the same fate for their involvement. The family had to sell off the estate in 1851 as a result of financial pressures and the famine, and in 1856 the Hon MJ Blake was appointed resident magistrate for Cashel, County Tipperary, a post he held until his 69th year when he retired to Dublin. He was later make a resident magistrate there. His bother Thomas, 3rd Baron ffrench, died in 1892 and Martin Joseph became briefly, 4th Baron ffrench, until his death in 1893 when the title passed to his eldest son Charles. |