Jenkinstown House

THE BRYANS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KILKENNY, WITH 8,209 ACRES

The immediate ancestor of this family,

JOHN BRYAN, of Kilkenny, was younger brother of James Bryan, of Bawnmore, and son of John Bryan, of Bawnmore (whose father, Lewis Bryan, had a grant from Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, of Whitewalls, alias Bawnmore, County Kilkenny, and died in 1568).

He married Anna, daughter and heir of Henry Stains, of Jenkinstown, County Kilkenny, and was father of

JAMES BRYAN, of Jenkinstown, County Kilkenny, 1673-4, father of

PIERCE BRYAN, of Jenkinstown, who wedded Jane, daughter of George Aylmer, of Lyons, County Kildare, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
George, of Portland Place, London; father of GEORGE, successor to his uncle;
Aylmer, Brigadier in the French Service;
Pierce;
Alice; Rose; Mary.

The eldest son,

JAMES BRYAN (1719-1805), of Jenkinstown, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his nephew,

GEORGE BRYAN (1770-1843), of Jenkinstown, who wedded, in 1794, Maria Louisa, Comtesse de Rutaut, daughter of the Comte de Rutaut, of Lorraine, and left at his decease a daughter, Mary, and a son and successor,

GEORGE BRYAN (1796-1848), of Jenkinstown, who espoused, in 1820, Margaret, daughter of William Talbot, of Castle Talbot, County Wexford, and had issue,

GEORGE LEOPOLD;
Augusta Margaret Gwendaline, m Edward Joseph, 2nd Baron Bellew.

The second surviving son was GEORGE LEOPOLD BELLEW BRYAN, of Jenkinstown.

George Bryan was succeeded by his only son,

GEORGE LEOPOLD BRYAN JP DL (1828-80), of Jenkinstown, MP for County Kilkenny, 1865-80, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1852, who married, in 1849, the Lady Elizabeth Georgina Conyngham, daughter of Francis Nathaniel, 2nd Marquess Conyngham KP, and had one daughter, Mary Margaret Frances, who died in 1872.

Mr Bryan was succeeded by his nephew,

GEORGE LEOPOLD BELLEW-BRYAN JP DL, 4TH BARON BELLEW (1857-1935), of Jenkinstown, Lord-Lieutenant of County Louth, 1898-1911, who assumed the surname of BRYAN in lieu of BELLEW, by royal licence dated 1880.

JENKINSTOWN HOUSE, Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, was an early 19th century house in "pasteboard Gothic", following the traditional Palladian plan of a centre block joined to wings by  single-storey links.

The house was built for Major George Bryan to the design of William Robertson.

There is a two-storey centre block; a two-storey projecting porch crowned with a battlemented gable and pinnacles; two-storey end towers with quatrefoil windows.

Jenkinstown House (Image: Savill's)

Later in the 19th century, one of the wings was re-built with corbelled bartizans; and the centre block was demolished apart from one of its walls.

The 4th Lord Bellew lived in one wing of the house; his staff in the other.

By the 1930s, the house had become somewhat dilapidated.

First published in December, 2012.