Mayor Joe Conway welcomed the Peare Mackesy family to City Hall on Friday to accept a magnificent silver cradle centre piece given to their ancestor who was Mayor of Waterford in 1879.
Mayor Conway said: "I am delighted to unveil this lovely piece of historic civic silver that Waterford Corporation gave to Mayor Ivie Mackesy on the joyous occasion of the birth of a baby girl to him and his wife. We are very grateful to the family who are presenting it today."
Speaking on behalf of the family, Heather Peare Elliott said: "We are delighted to have Mayor Conway unveil our gift of the silver piece for display in the Mayor’s Treasury exhibition complementing other Mackesy displays in Waterford Treasures. This fulfils the wish of our parents, Oliver and Roma Peare that the cradle, which they were honoured to have in their care since the family vacated Lady Lane in the 1960s, be returned to Waterford where our grandmother, whose birth it commemorates, was born."
The Peare Mackesy family with Mayor Joe Conway.
Alderman George Ivie Mackesy was presented with the piece in 1879 during his term as Mayor, to celebrate the birth of a daughter to him and his wife Hester Maria Strangman.
George was a medical doctor and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and a member of the famous Mackesy family who produced distinguished doctors and members of Waterford Corporation, portraits of whom hang in the Bishop’s Palace and in the Irish Wake Museum. Their home in Lady Lane is marked with a blue plaque.
The beautiful silver centrepiece shows a mother holding a baby and three female figures representing Faith, Hope and Charity. On top is a gilded cradle inscribed ‘Presented by the Corporation and Citizens of Waterford to commemorate the birth of a daughter Hester Olive during his year of office.’ Hester Olive grew up and married William Francis Peare of the important Waterford motor garage and their grandchildren have now generously donated the piece into the safekeeping of Waterford Treasures who have added it to the Mayor’s Treasury exhibition in City Hall.
Acting Curator Manager of Waterford Treasures Rosemary Ryan adds: "This occasion is a celebration of the enormous contribution of the Mackesy Peare family to Waterford and the silver piece is a magnificent addition to the Mayor’s Treasury exhibition. I would like to thank Heather, David and Nigel, for their generosity to Waterford."
The Mayor’s Treasury exhibition is open seven days per week at the Medieval Museum in Waterford City. The museum is open seven days per week, for further details see www.waterfordtreasures.com
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