Manuscript Location

New York Public Library, Schwarzman Building - Manuscripts & Archives Division

Place of Origin

Ireland ➔ Castlebar

Date of Composition

ca. 1796

Description

Inscribed "Mrs. Fitzgerald" on the front cover, this book is written on 101 leaves, with some recipes continuing on the versos. Little in this collection strikes a modern reader as distinctively Irish. With the exception of Barrin Brack, all of the approximately 150 late-eighteenth century recipes could be found in printed English cookbooks of the same period. The book comprises a wide range of recipes, with meat dishes, puddings, pickles, cakes, and fruit preserves particularly well represented. Given that some of the recipes feel old-fashioned for the last decade of the eighteenth century, and given that the book is in a number of different hands, it seems a reasonable surmise that the book may have been inaugurated some years earlier than indicated by the inscription on the back flyleaf: Castlebarr 24th Dec. 1796.

The book includes attributions to Mrs. Corry; Mrs. Johnston; Mrs. Creamer; Mrs. Hamilton; Mrs. Maddon; Mrs. Ward; George Leeche; and Mrs. Price.