THE WYNNES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY SLIGO, WITH 12,982 ACRES
This family claims descent from a distinguished chieftain of the 12th century, Rhirid Flaidd, Lord of Penrhyn, Merionethshire, within the ancient kingdom of Powys, who took the surname of Blaidd, or the wolf, from his maternal ancestor, Blaidd Rhudd, or the Bloody Wolf, Lord of Gest, near Penmorfa, Gwynedd, whose standard bore a wolf passant on an azure ground.
LEWIS GWYNNE AP CADWALLADER AP RYDDERCA AP DAVID, of Bala, wedded Sidney, daughter of Robert Wynne, of Maesmochnant, Denbighshire (of the Gwydir family), and had issue,
OWEN;The elder son,
Cadwallader;
Catherine; Margaret.
OWEN WYNNE (c1620-70), the first who settled in Ireland, High Sheriff of counties Leitrim and Roscommon, 1659, married Catherine, widow of James Hamilton, son of Sir Frederick Hamilton, and daughter of Claud, 2nd Baron Hamilton of Strabane, by Lady Jane his wife, fourth daughter of George, Marquess of Huntly, and the Lady Henrietta Stewart, daughter of Esmé, Duke of Lennox, by which lady (who married 3rdly, John Bingham, of Castlebar) he had issue,
James, killed at Malplaquet;The second son,
LEWIS, of whom hereafter;
Owen (1665-1737), MP, Lieutenant-General in the army;
John;
Catherine; Lucy; Dorothy.
LEWIS WYNNE, married Rebecca, daughter of John Bingham, and was father of
OWEN WYNNE (1687-1756), of Hazelwood, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1723, Leitrim, 1724, MP for Sligo Borough, 1713-56, who wedded Catherine, daughter of John ffoliot, and had three sons,
James, m Susanna, daughter of Sir A Shaen Bt;The second son,
OWEN, of whom we treat;
John, died unmarried 1778.
THE RT HON OWEN WYNNE (1723-89), of Hazelwood, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1745 and 1758, MP for County Sligo, 1749-76, Sligo Borough, 1776-89, espoused, in 1754, Anne, sister of Robert, Earl of Farnham, and had issue,
OWEN, his heir;Mr Wynne was succeeded by his eldest son,
John;
Henry;
Robert, of Rathmines Castle;
Richard (Rev);
William, barrister, MP;
Catherine.
OWEN WYNNE (1755-1841), High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1819 and 1833, MP for County Sligo, 1778-90, Sligo Borough, 1790-1800, who married, in 1790, the Lady Sarah Elizabeth Cole, eldest daughter of William, 1st Earl of Enniskillen, and had issue,
JOHN ARTHUR;The eldest son,
William Willoughby (Rev);
Anne; Sarah Frances; Elizabeth; Florence.
THE RT HON JOHN ARTHUR WYNNE JP (1801-65), MP for Sligo, 1830-32, 1856-60, Privy Counsellor, Under Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, High Sheriff for counties of Sligo and Leitrim, married, in 1838, the Lady Anne Wandesforde Butler, daughter of James, 1st Marquess of Ormonde KP, and had issue,
OWEN;The elder son,
James;
Sarah; Grace Florence.
OWEN WYNNE JP DL (1843-1910), of Hazelwood, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1874, Leitrim, 1880, married, in 1870, Stella Fanny, youngest daughter of Sir Robert Gore-Booth Bt, and had issue,
MURIEL CAROLINE LOUISA;Mr Wynne, the last of his family in the direct male line at Hazelwood, was succeeded by his eldest daughter,
Evelyn Mary; Madeline Mary; Dorothy Adelaide.
MURIEL CAROLINE LOUISA, MRS PERCEVAL, of Hazelwood, who wedded, in 1892, Philip Dudley Perceval, second son of Alexander Perceval, of Temple House, County Sligo, and had issue,
DOROTHY SOPHIE PERCEVAL, born in 1903.
HAZELWOOD HOUSE, near Sligo, County Sligo, is a large Palladian mansion on a peninsula in Lough Gill.
It was designed by the German architect John Cassels and built in 1722 of cut and polished limestone, in an Italian style, with a four storey facade and two lateral curving wings.
The hall door is reached by climbing a flight of stone steps leading onto a spacious platform which offers fine scenic views of the mountains of Leitrim and of North County Sligo.
The Wynne family were seated at Hazelwood (or Hazlewood) House for three centuries, during which time all the heads of the Wynne household, with only one exception, bore the name of Owen Wynne.
The first occupant of Hazelwood House was Lieutenant-General Owen Wynne.
Hazelwood was the venue for numerous sporting and leisure events through the years, with yacht racing taking place on Lough Gill throughout the 19th Century.
Polo was another popular sport on the Hazelwood Estate; as was shooting, horse racing and rowing.
Owen Wynne died in 1910 at the age of 67 and with no male heir to take over the estates, so too came the end of the Wynne's occupation of Hazelwood House.
After the death of Owen Wynne in 1910, Owen's daughter Murial and her husband, Philip Dudley Percival, lived in Hazelwood House, selling off the livestock and machinery until they left Hazelwood House in 1923.
They still owned extensive lands, including a large estate centred around Lurganboy Lodge, near Manorhamilton in County Leitrim.
Generations of the Wynne family lived in succession in the house.
From 1923 until 1930, Hazelwood House remained empty, after which a retired tea planter called Berridge lived in the house, carrying out repairs and renovations until the house and lands were sold to the Irish state in 1937.
During the 2nd World War and until 1946, Hazelwood House was occupied by the Irish Army; after which the Irish Land Commission put the house up for sale.
Under the terms of the sale however, the buyer was to demolish the house,level the site and remove all the materials.
Later in the same year (1946), Hazelwood House was sold to St Columba's Mental Hospital, who spent some £4,000 repairing the building, using it for a number of years as a home for mental patients.
In 1969, an Italian company called Snia bought Hazelwood House and built a factory to the rear (South) of the house.
Snia had employed up to 500 people producing nylon yarn.
Like many businesses during the recession of the early 1980s, Snia hit on hard times and the factory closed down in 1983.
Four years later, in 1987, the factory and Hazelwood House were sold to the South Korean company Saehan Media who produced video tapes until 2005, when, due to a downturn in business as a result of the digital revolution, Saehan Media, too, closed down with the loss of over 150 jobs.
Foresthaze Developments purchased the estate in 2006, though fell into receivership in 2013.
In 2015, the estate was purchased by David Raethorne, with plans for a whiskey distillery and visitors' centre on the site.
The Lough Gill Whiskey Distillery opened in December, 2019.
Hazelwood House itself remains boarded up and in poor condition.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland holds the Wynne Papers.
First published in August, 2011.
Something in the Wynne family to watch out for is in the marriages of the three Patrick Cullen's of Skreeny of Leitrim. Whilst the very first Burke's editions have them the right way round the later ones have the other two the wrong way round. I have the wills of the relevant Owen Wynne and Cairncross Nesbitt to prove this. Patrick Cullen 1 is not known but the College of Arms suggest an Elizabeth Moore. Patrick Cullen 2 married Margaret Nesbitt in 1747 the daughter of Cairncross Nesbitt. Patrick Cullen 3 eloped with Judith Wynne, which cost her the inheritance she was due, being cut off with shillings. Quite why this error occurred is not clear.
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