17th century naval document given to library

AN EXTREMELY rare 17th century shipping document signed by King James II and English diarist Samuel Pepys was yesterday presented to the National Library of Ireland by the Dublin Port Company.

The ship’s pass dating from 1687 is one of only four known examples of such 17th century passes in the world, and was originally acquired by the Dublin Port and Docks board in 1924.

The vellum parchment, slightly smaller than an A3 sheet of paper, was intended to provide safe passage for the merchant ship Mary of Cork,which was bound for the Canary Islands.

The Spanish-controlled islands were, at the time, major exporters of sugar and Malvasia, a fortified white wine also known as Canary, which was extremely popular in its day.

Historians believe the ship, which was registered in Cork but sailed out of Dublin, may have been trading in such foodstuffs, in return for products such as salted Irish beef.

The ship’s pass was issued at the Court of Whitehall in London on September 29th, 1687, and was signed by King James II, who was the lord high admiral, and Samuel Pepys, in his capacity as secretary of the admiralty.

The ship left Dublin later that year, manned by a crew of five and captained by the extravagantly named Zachary Peebuchet. Of the latter, lamentably, nothing else is known.

The Canary Islands held a very strategic position along the trade route between Europe and the Americas, and there is a view that the Mary of Corkmay have been trading with the New World via the islands.

In April 1688, the ship’s pass was returned to Ireland, where it was entered into the registry of the High Court of Admiralty of Ireland.

The pass was purchased and framed in 1924 by the Dublin Port and Docks Board to display in its offices on the north bank of the river Liffey estuary, where the International Financial Services Centre is now located.

It was presented yesterday to the library by the Dublin Port Company’s chief executive Enda Connellan, and will soon be put on display in the library’s department of manuscripts.

Mr Connellan said the company was delighted to be able to present such an interesting and rare historical document to the library.

“This will ensure that it is appropriately conserved and displayed. In its new home, it will also be more accessible to the public,” he said. Keeper of manuscripts at the National Library of Ireland Colette O’Flaherty said the library was extremely appreciative to come into possession of such an interesting artefact.