Family members of a 19th century Mayor of Waterford are presenting a silver ornamental cradle which was given to their ancestor over 140 years ago to the Waterford Treasures Museums.
The cradle centrepiece was presented to Mayor Ivie Mackesy and his wife Hester Maria Strangman on the birth of their baby daughter in 1879 and will today by accepted by the current Mayor, Joe Conway, for display in Waterford city's suite of museums.
According to family member Heather Peare Elliott, the gift to the museum "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 silver piece depicts a mother holding a baby as well as three female figures, representing Faith, Hope and Charity.
It is inscribed "presented by the Corporation and Citizens of Waterford to commemorate the birth of a daughter, Hester Olive, during his year of office".
The ornament will be displayed in the mayor's Treasury Exhibition in City Hall, part of the Medieval Museum in Waterford's Viking Triangle and Mayor Conway said the council and city are "very grateful" to the family who are presenting the cradle.
Acting curator Rosemary Ryan said the occasion represents 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".
