29 - Attested Copy of the Last Will and Testament of Daniel Courtney, Naval Pensioner

29

Attested Copy of the Last Will and Testament of Daniel Courtney, Naval Pensioner

2 pp; manuscript

Certified copy of the Last Will and Testament of Daniel Courtney, executed on 16 April 1903. The testator appoints Michael Murphy, Solicitor, as his sole executor and trustee, directing him to manage his estate to pay his wife, Margaret Courtney, an annuity of twenty-five pounds (£25) for life, paid in monthly or other instalments after accounting for rent, rates, and taxes. The will grants discretionary powers to the trustee to provide special allowances for Margaret in the event of illness or necessity, and mandates that her eventual funeral expenses be defrayed entirely from the estate.

Subject to these primary lifestyle charges, the document dictates that upon his wife’s decease, the residual property and capital (up to £100) is to be paid directly to the Superior or Guardian for the time being of the Capuchin Convent, Rochestown, Cork. This bequest specifies that the funds must be used for public masses celebrated in Ireland at an offering of five shillings per mass for the repose of the souls of the testator, his wife, his relatives, and his friends. Should the residual capital sum exceed £100, Courtney directs that any surplus be devoted by the Rochestown Guardian toward the physical improvement of the Convent Church, the attached seminary or schools, or the enhancement of the teaching provided therein, strictly as a charitable object of public benefit. The final clause notes that the text is an attested true copy signed by the testator and witnessed by Michael Murphy (Solicitor, 41 South Mall, Cork) and Patrick Harris (Solicitor’s Assistant, 56 Tower Street, Cork).

ISAD(G) 2nd edition