TerenceDooley The mortgagepapers of St Patrick'sCollege, Maynooth,1871-19231 Introduction On 1 January1871, under the terms of the Irish Church act of 1869,2 St Patrick's College,Maynooth, received a capitalsum of£369,040 in compensationfor the withdrawalof the annual parliamentary grant of £26,360 that had been set under theMaynooth act of1845.3 Much to thedelight of the then president, Rev C. W. Russell,4the trustees would 'no longer[be] subject to officialcontrol, nor liable to be madethe occasion of unseemly exhibitions in Parliament'but would have the powerto independentlyadminister the entireproperty, 'subject to one sole condition,the equitableone of applyingthe proceeds[of endowment] to the properpurposes of the trust'.5In otherwords, the capitalsum investedwould have to providean annual returncomparable (at least)to the previousannual grantin orderto safeguardthe financialrunning of the college,of whichthe trustees,the only legally constituted religious corporation in Ireland,were now thelegal proprietors.6 Backin October1870, the trustees had alreadyresolved that the bulk of the lumpsum shouldbe investedin 3 percent stock or consols'unless a betterand equallysecure investment should be available'.7But thenfollowed a periodof uncertaintywhen the trusteesbecame concernedabout possible legislative restrictionsthat they might be subjectto in regardto how and wherethey invested the lump sum. After prolonged investigationby their legal representatives,it was ascertainedthat the trusteeswere not legallyobliged to investin governmentstock or bankstock of the Bank of Englandor theBank of Ireland.This was deemedfortunate, as Indiastock and realsecurities in anypart ofBritain or Irelandseemed a moreenticing option.8 Thus, after the money was receivedin March1871, almost £150,000 was investedin India 4 per centand 1 1 would like to thankMonsignor P. J.Corish forallowing me to quote fromthis archive.Thanks also to Ms PennyWoods, Ms Celia Kehoe and Mr Paul Hoaryfor being so patientand cooperativeduring all my visitsto the Russell Libraryof St Patrick'sCollege, Maynooth. 2 32 & 33 Viet.c.42. 3 The lump sum also included an additional£3,236 in interestadded because of the delay in payment;P. J. Corish,Maynooth College1795-1995 (Dublin, 1995), p. 29; see also JohnHealy, Maynooth College, 1795-1895 (Dublin, c. 1899). 4 CharlesW. Russell (1812-80)was born in CountyDown. He enteredMaynooth in 1826 and was ordained in 1835.He became presidentof the college in 1857,having servedas professorof EcclesiasticalHistory since 1845. He was a prolificwriter, a trusteeof the NationalLibrary, a foundingmember of the Historical ManuscriptsCommission but, P. J.Corish points out, is 'best rememberedfor his role in the conversionof JohnHenry Newman'; Corish, MaynoothCollege, p. 483. 5 Reportof thepresident [of St Patrick'sCollege] 1875-76,p. 12. 6 Ibid.; Corish,Maynooth College, p. 179. 7 Trusteesjournal, 19 Oct. 1870 (MCA, B2/1/1). 8 Financialreport for the year ended 31 March1874, p. 7. 106 This content downloaded from 149.157.1.188 on Wed, 8 Jan 2014 06:44:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions MORTGAGE PAPERS OF ST PATRICK'S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH, 187I-I923 5 percent stocks, and £116,000 in a varietyof other 3 percent stock. However, the bursar'sreport for 1871-72 suggested that investment in India stockwas of a 'temporarycharacter' and thatin the near futurethe trusteeswould have to considertheir conversion into other securities. The financecommittee agreed thatIndia stocksuited only the immediateexigencies of the college:annual dividendswere veryfavourable, but the factmat the stockwould only be redeemableat par (atbest) in 1880suggested to them that they needed to be sold beforethe period of redemption so as to avoid'running the risk of loss fromthe depreciationof value'.9 Therewas one otherenticing investment avenue to be explored- mortgage loansto Irishlandlords. From about 1853, as theIrish economy developed and the spectreof the GreatFamine diminished, landlords had borrowedextravagantly. Irishland had once again become safe collateral:many tenant farmers were prosperingas a resultof the rise in agriculturalprices, they were paying their rentsin fulland on time,and - exceptduring a temporarydownturn in theearly 1860s - lendinginstitutions and privatefinanciers were confident that the good timeswere going to continuelong intothe future.10It was notlong, therefore, beforethe trusteesbegan to contemplatethe financialadvantages of lending moneyto Irishlandlords. In April1871, the trusteesoffered almost £91,600 at 4.25 per cent to GeorgeArthur Hastings, the seventhearl of Granardof Newtownforbesin CountyLongford.11 (A secondloan of £2,200 was givento Granardto paythe legal costs of acquiring the first loan.) There are a numberof possiblereasons why the trustees perceived Granard to be an idealcandidate: he was a RomanCatholic, which was in itselfunusual amongst the Irish aristocracy; he possessedthe necessary elitist social credentials; he was a knightof the Order of Malta;and he had builtup a close relationshipwith many of the leading ecclesiasticsof his time.The financecommittee was delightedwith this transfer ofinvestments from stocks to land: Such advantageousopportunities for investment on land rarelyoccur and fortunatelyfurnish us withthe means of disposing of all ourIndia stock at a profitof £3,160 on costof purchase. the securitytendered is aboveall 9 Bursar'sfinancial statement for year ended 31 Mar. 1872 (MCA, B3/10/2). 10 Fora moredetailed discussion,see TerenceDooley, The declineof the big house in Ireland:a studyof Irish landed families 1860- 1960(Dublin, 2001), pp. 79-111; see alsoL P. Curtisjr., 'Encumbered wealth: landlord indebtedness in post- FamineIreland' in AmericanHistorical Review, lxxxv, 2, (April,1980), pp 332-67;W. E. Vaughan,'An assessmentof the economic performance ofIrish landlords, 1851-81' in F. S. L. Lyonsand R. A. J.Hawkins (eds),Ireland under the Union: varieties oftension (Oxford, 1980), pp 173-99;James S. Donnellyjr., The land and peopleof nineteenthcentury Cork: the ruraleconomy and theland question(London, 1975). 11 George ArthurHastings, seventh Earl of Granard(1833-89) K. P. succeededto thefamily title and estatesas a minoron thedeath of his grandfather,George, in 1837.His ownfather had died in 1836.He wasknighted bythe Order of Malta, a vice-administratorofConnaught, an officerof the 9th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade anda memberof the senate of the Royal University ofIreland. He marriedfirstly Jane, daughter and co- heiressof Hamilton Morgan of Johnstown Castle in CountyWexford. They had twodaughters before his wifedied prematurely. He marriedsecondly, the Hon. FrancesMary Petre, eldest daughter of the12th BaronPetre and they had six sons and two daughters. He diedon 25August 1889. His wifelived until 1920; Burke'speerage and baronetage (105th ed., London, 1970), pp 1153-4. 107 This content downloaded from 149.157.1.188 on Wed, 8 Jan 2014 06:44:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ARCHIVIUM HIBERNICUM exceptionand the annualincrease of thecollege revenues consequent on thisoperation would be considerable.12 The conclusionof the committee reflected the prevailing optimism in landvalues - thesecurity was 'aboveall exception'.In thelong term, it was tobe an optimism thatwas severelymisplaced, but in the meantime,the success of the existing mortgagesfavourably impressed the trusteesas the preferable(and potentially mostprofitable) form of investment for the future. By 1875, all ofthe India stock and overhalf of the 3 percent stock had been sold,realising £200,500, of which £183,100was re-investedin mortgageloans. This now broughtthe total investmentin thesame to almost£274,000 (Table1).13 In October1873 Blayney TownleyBalfour14 of Townley Hall in Louthhad received£25,000; in December 1873Myles William O'Reilly15 of Knockabbey,also in Louth,had received£6,000; in February1874 Alexander John Robert Stewart16 and his eldestson, Alexander GeorgeJohn Stewart, of Ards in Donegal (and Portglenonein Antrim)had received£55,000; in June1874 Valentine Lawless, Lord Cloncurry17 of Lyons in Kildare,had received£45,000, followed by two further loans of £25,000 each.18 Mortgageloans, according to the collegepresident, Rev C. W. Russell,were 'chieflyfor the purpose of transferring a portion of the college capital from a less profitableto a moreprofitable investment'.19 By 1874 the collegewas receiving £11,720in income frominterest on these loans and just over£2,700 from stocks.20The trustees,while realising the necessity of wise investment in orderto keepthe college running, were also keento providefree places or scholarshipsto less well-offcandidates for the priesthood. Thus, in 1875*he president pointed out thatthe re-investment of£40,000 government3 per cent stock in mortgageloans at 4.25 per centto LordCloncurry had represented'a favourableopportunity of effectingthis desirable result'.21 12 Financial reportfor the year endedp Mar. 1872,p. 6. 13 Reportof thepresident, 1875-76, pp. 30-31. 14 BlayneyBalfour was born in 1799 and succeeded to the familyestate at Knockabbeyin CountyLouth in 1856. In totalhe owned around 7,000 acres, primarilysituated in Louth and Meath, with lands also in Westmeath,Armagh, Tyrone and Down. He had been educated at Harrowand Oxfordand was a former governorof the Bahamas; JohnBateman, The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland(4th ed., London, 1883),p. 23. 15 MylesWilliam O'Reilly (1825-80) was describedas havingdescended from a branch'of the ancientMilesian