Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Harbour engineer to the Fisheries Commission, from June 1825 until 1830 when the duties of the commission were transferred first to the Board of Inland Navigation and then, in 1831, to the new Office of Public Works.  The post of harbour engineer, to which Donnell was appointed, was a new one, created in order to relieve ALEXANDER NIMMO [1]  ALEXANDER NIMMO [1] of some of his many responsibilities.  Donnell inspected Nimmo's piers and harbour works in hand, cancelling some projects and modifying others. Donnell was married to Catherine Hussey of Waterstown, near Naas, Co. Kildare, with whom he had five children, Mary Anne, Catherine, Priscilla, Anne and Nicholas. Catherine was the daughter of Nicholas Hussey and his wife Mary (possibly nee Kavanagh).  As Donnell's wife Catherine was one of only two daughters, Donnell inherited the rights to half of the Waterstown property through his wife. He also lived at 9 Caroline Row, Dublin which is mentioned in his will. He died, probably at Waterstown, on 26 April 1831. A death notice for him can be found in the Cork Constitution, 3 May 1831.



References

Information relating to Donnell's family history was kindly contributed by William Mitchell, Bluffton, SC, a descendant (by email, April, 2017). All other information is from Noel P. Wilkins, Alexander Nimmo, Master Engineer, 1783-1832: public works and civil surveys (Irish Academic Press, 2009),  passim.