Limerick Plantation – Cordesville – Berkeley County

— Limerick Plantation 1939 © Library of Congress —
(Prints & Photographs Division HABS SC,8-CORD.V,1--3)

Basic Information

• Location – Cypress Barony, Huger Creek, eastern branch of the Cooper River, Huger, St. Thomas and St. Denis Parish, Cordesville, Berkeley County
  

  Located off SC 402 on Limerick Plantation Lane
  

• Origin of name – Michael Mahon named the plantation after his hometown of Limerick, Ireland (3, p. 44).
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Privately owned

— Limerick Plantation Oak Avenue © Gazie Nagle —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Timeline

• 1683 – Earliest known date of existence (3, p. 44)
  

  Landgrave Thomas Colleton was granted Cypress Barony (3, p. 44).
  

• Prior to 1692 – Landgrave Thomas Colleton died in Barbados and Cypress Barony's title went to his son, Landgrave Peter Colleton (3, p. 44).
  

• ? – House built

  At some point in the early development of Limerick Plantation a house was built and was later lost to fire (4, p. 178).
  

• 1709 – The Lords Proprietors granted Landgrave Peter Colleton permission to sell the property. The property was divided and sold to three individuals who each took out new grants to insure their ownership rights. Michael Mahon purchased 3,500 acres and named his plantation Limerick for his hometown in Ireland (3, p. 44).
  

• 1713 – Michael Mahon conveyed the property to Daniel Huger. Huger added to the size of the plantation. Huger also built a large two-story cypress house with fourteen fireplaces at Limerick and made the plantation his residence (3, p. 44) (4, p. 178).
  

• 1754 – Daniel Huger passed away and Limerick went to his oldest son, Daniel Huger II (3, p. 44).
  

• ? – In keeping with family tradition, Limerick passed to Daniel Huger III after his father, Daniel Huger II, died (4, p. 176).
  

• ? – Daniel Huger III did not own Limerick long as he sold the plantation to neighbor Elias Ball. The Ball family retained ownership of the property for over 125 years (3, p. 44) (4, p. 176).
  

• ? – Elias Ball II inherited the plantation from his father (4, p. 176).
  

• ? – Elias Ball II died childless and left Limerick to his nephew, Isaac Ball (4, p. 177).
  

• ? – Isaac Ball's son, William James Ball, was the next in the family line to own Limerick (4, p. 177).
  

• 1891 – William James Ball passed away and the plantation was sold out of the Ball family (4, p. 177).
  

• Early 1900s – The E.P. Burton Lumber Company owned Limerick Plantation (1, p. 20).
  

• Circa 1945 – House burned (1, p. 21)
  

• 1970s – A brick ranch-style house was constructed (1, p. 21)
  

Land

• Number of acres – 12,000 in 1683; 3,500 in 1709 (3, p. 44)
  

• The Huger family cemetery is located at Limerick Plantation (3, p. 44).
  

• Primary crop – Rice (1, p. 21) (2)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

References & Resources

1. Cooper River Historic District National Register nomination
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 2002
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

2. Information contributed by Ramona Grimsley, Digital Projects Librarian for Berkeley County Library.
   

3. J. Russell Cross, Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley (Columbia, SC: R.L. Bryan Company, 1985)
    Order Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley

4. John Beaufain Irving, A Day on Cooper River (1842) (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010)
   
   

5. Library of Congress:
   – 1939 Photos
   – Drawings of house