Irish Private Banks - Early Financial Instruments

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Here are two interesting examples of bills of exchange related to Ireland. The first was drawn by the Galway private banker, Walter Joyce in 1806, and bears the crest and title of the bank.

The second example is a transaction between merchants and issued in 1800 in Cork. This example has an attractive vignette and reads:
24 months after date, pay to the order of George Drevar, one hundred and six pounds eleven shillings and eight pence value received.

The bill is drawn by Henry Sadleir (a Cork Merchant) on Barrington & Burton (Cork Merchants) in favour of George Drevar (Dublin Merchant). The period of credit is surprisingly long.

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24 months was a very long time for a bill of exchange!

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Here is a bill of exchange which is probably the earliest known surviving financial instrument with an Ireland association. The bill for £140 sterling was drawn in Dublin in 1664 at ten days sight by Thomas Willis in favour of Owen Fenton, an agent for Mary Countess Dowager of Thomond. It is drawn upon the London-based scrivener banking house of John Morris & Co, located in Cornhill, at The Flying Horse.

This bill suggests that the upper echelons of society in Ireland employed the services of banks in London and other European financial centers prior to the establishment of a banking system in the country.

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Attached is a statement of notes held by the Irish Treasury in April 1760. The totals come from F.G. Hall’s book, ‘The Bank of Ireland, 1783-1946’, which provides interesting background to the banking crisis of 1759-1760 affecting the Dublin-based private banks. The crisis came at the end of a tumultuous decade in which confidence was undermined by several bank failures.

Banks which failed or ceased trading are highlighted in orange while the three surviving banks are highlighted in green. The three surviving banks continued in business for many years going through several partnership changes. It can be seen that the Irish Treasury suffered significant losses resulting from these bank failures in the 1750’s as did the general public. This greatly undermined confidence in the use of paper money at the time.

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This early example of a bill from 1745 is drawn upon the Dublin private banker James Dexter, by William Armstrong, of Mealiffe, Co. Tipperary in favour of Mr. Edward Bullen at thirty one days sight. This type of financial instrument can be considered a forerunner to the modern day cheque. The Armstrong family were of Scottish origin and resided at Moyaliffe Estate (Mealiffe) in Co. Tipperary for more than 300 years.

https://longwaytotipperary.ul.ie/moyaliffe/