The private papers of the Frizell family of Castlekevin are one of the more insightful private collections deposited in the Wicklow County Archives. From the vantage point of their estate near the village of Annamoe, the Frizells left behind ample documentary evidence of their lives in Wicklow, which spanned all the way from 1789 to 1922.  

Overall, the Frizells could be considered members of the middling gentry, whose land holdings were not extensive by the standards of the more well established titled families of the county. Nevertheless, it is middling-gentry types like this particular Anglo-Irish clan who were guaranteed a place at the local administrative table by virtue of their estates, Anglican faith, and public reputation for much of this 133 years period.  While the power base of such families was rapidly eroding by the democratic transformations of the late 19th century – households cut from a similar cloth as the Frizells effectively dominated the key civic offices of Wicklow for a great majority of the pre-independence era.  See descriptive list below: