Rare Jacobite manuscript presented to the Limerick Museum

Rare Jacobite Manuscript Presented to the Limerick Museum. Dr Zara Power (Limerick Museum Assistant Curator), Dr Matthew Potter (Limerick Museum Curator), Kevin Fitzpatrick (Heavey Technology Limerick) and Dr Loïc Guyon (Honorary Consul of France) standing by the manuscript.

A three-metre-long precious rare Jacobite manuscript roll created between 1699 and 1701 has been presented to Limerick Museum

Last March, Ken Bergin, Head of Special Collections at the University of Limerick’s Glucksman Library, drew Dr Loïc Guyon’s attention to a rare manuscript being put on sale in London.

Ken Bergin knew that Dr Guyon, Honorary Consul of France, Associate Professor and Head of the French Studies Department at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, would have a particular interest in this manuscript created in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, by Limerick-born James Terry (1660-1725).

In 2019, Dr Guyon launched the Limerick Wild Geese Festival, an annual event (now in its 6th edition) commemorating the Flight of the Wild Geese and celebrating the long-standing friendship between Ireland and France.

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Dr Guyon is also the Director of the Sarsfield Homecoming Project, a project he launched in 2020 with the aim of locating and repatriating to Limerick the remains of Irish national hero Patrick Sarsfield who died in the service of France in 1693.

James Terry was one of the thousands of Jacobite soldiers who left Ireland for France, led by Sarsfield, following the signing of the Treaty of Limerick in 1691. Like many of those soldiers (who became known as the Wild Geese), James Terry entered into the service of the exiled king James II who had been granted the use of the palace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye by his cousin the king of France Louis XIV.

While many of the Wild Geese soldiers, including Patrick Sarsfield himself, continued the fight against William of Orange and his allies on the continent, James Terry stayed in Saint-Germain and quickly rose to the rank of King James II’s principal herald. His role consisted of keeping records of the noble titles granted by King James and also verifying the credentials and nobility claims of Irish, English and Scottish aristocrats, many of whom were thrown into turmoil by the upheavals that followed James II’s removal from the British throne.

When James Terry was able to ascertain the entitlements of a particular noble family, he would generally reproduce their genealogy on a sophisticated and ornate manuscript roll bearing their illuminated coats of arms. This is what happened after Terry was able to confirm the claim made by Frenchman Julien Campain that he was related to the Campions, an English noble family from Kent.

“When I saw the manuscript and learned about its history, I was immediately struck by its significance“, says Dr Guyon, “This is one of only two such manuscripts created by Limerick-born James Terry that has survived to this day and it is the most beautiful and best preserved of the two. I immediately thought that it had to be put on display in Limerick, but the challenge of course was how to find the €15,000 needed to purchase it”.

Dr Guyon then approached Michael Heavey, the owner of Heavey Technology, a Lucan-based company with a branch in Limerick.

“A loyal sponsor of the Limerick Wild Geese Festival since 2020, I knew how passionate Mick Heavey was about Irish history and in particular about the history of the Williamite War in Ireland, so if there was someone who could purchase that manuscript it had to be him. It took only a few minutes for Mick to say yes!”

Not only did Michael Heavey agree to acquire the manuscript but he also accepted for it to be put on permanent display at the Limerick Museum. “Heavey Technology are proud to be associated with the acquisition of a significant historical item linking the history of Limerick, Ireland and France from the era of the Wild Geese in the late 17th century”, said Michael Heavey.

The three-metre-long precious manuscript roll created between 1699 and 1701 is to be presented by Heavey Technology to the Limerick Museum during a sold-out event organised on Friday, 4 July, as part of this year’s Limerick Wild Geese Festival.

The manuscript will subsequently be put on display at the Limerick Museum for everyone to see. Dr Matthew Potter, Curator of the Limerick Museum, said, “Limerick Museum is proud and privileged to accept the donation of the James Terry Manuscript from Heavey Technology. It will go on public display in our museum as the most important single Wild Geese-related artefact in the Museum’s collection”.