Kilcoleman Abbey

THE GODFREY BARONETS OWNED 6,331 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY KERRY

MAJOR JOHN GODFREY, of Colonel Edmund Ludlow's Regiment of Horse (a member of the ancient family of GODFREY, of Romney, Kent), obtained for his services in Ireland, during the rebellion of 1641, a grant of Bushfield (Kilcoleman Abbey) consisting of of 6,331 acres in County Kerry, and settled there.

Major Godfrey, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1673, married Margaret Davies, and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

WILLIAM GODFREY, of Bushfield, County Kerry, and of Knockgraffan, County Tipperary, who wedded Deborah, only child of Alderman Luke Lowther, Lord Mayor of Dublin, 1680-81, and was succeeded at his decease by his eldest son,

JOHN GODFREY (1686-1711), of Bushfield, who espoused Philippa, daughter of Anthony Chearnley, of Burncourt, County Tipperary, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
JOHN, succeeded his brother.

Mr Godfrey was succeeded by his elder son,

WILLIAM GODFREY, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1735, who wedded, in 1730,  Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev Richard Downing, and had issue, five daughters.

He was succeeded by his brother,

CAPTAIN JOHN GODFREY (1709-82), of Bushfield, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1754, who married Barbara, daughter of the Rev Lucas Hathaway, and granddaughter (maternally) of the 1st Earl Coningsby, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his successor;
Luke (Rev Dr), Rector of Middleton, Co Cork;
Edward;
Anthony;
Letitia; Phillippa.

Captain Godfrey was succeeded by his eldest son,

WILLIAM GODFREY (1739-1817), of Bushfield, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1780, who was created a baronet in 1785, designated of Bushfield, County Kerry.

Sir William, MP for Tralee, 1783-90, Belfast, 1792-7, wedded, in 1761, Agnes, only daughter of William Blennerhassett, of Elm Grove, County Kerry, and had surviving issue,

JOHN, his heir;
William (Rev), Rector of Kenmare;
Luke, a major in the army;
Letitia; Agnes; Phillippa; Arabella; Margaret; Elizabeth.

Sir William was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN GODFREY, 2nd Baronet (1763-1841), of Bushfield, renamed Kilcoleman Abbey, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1801, who espoused, in 1796, Eleanor, eldest daughter of John Cromie, of CROMORE, County Londonderry, and had issue,

WILLIAM DUNCAN, his heir;
John (Rev);
Henry Alexander;
Robert;
James George;
Richard Frankland;
Anne; Agnes; Eleanor.

Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR WILLIAM DUNCAN GODFREY, 3rd Baronet (1797-1873), JP DL, of Kilcoleman Abbey, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1829, who married, in 1824, Mary Teresa, second daughter of John Coltsman, of County Kerry, and had issue,

JOHN FERMOR, his heir;
William;
Henry Arthur;
Christiana; Eleanor Isabella.

Sir William was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN FERMOR GODFREY, 4th Baronet (1828-1900), High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1861, wedded, in 1856, Mary Cordelia, only surviving child of Thomas White Scutt, of Clapham House, Sussex, and had issue,

WILLIAM CECIL, 5th Baronet;

JOHN ERNEST, 6th Baronet;

Hubert Charles;

Mabel Edith; Helen Gertrude; Mildred Feridah.

Sir John was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR WILLIAM CECIL GODFREY, 5th Baronet (1857-1926), who espoused firstly, in 1885, Adela Maud Gethin, only surviving child of Frederick Fownes Hamilton, of Coolayna, County Kildare, and had issue,

PHYLLIS MAUD MARY (Kilcoleman Abbey).

Sir William married secondly, in 1901, Mary Henrietta, eldest daughter of Richard John Leeson-Marshall, of Callinafercy, without further issue.

He died without male issue, and the title devolved upon his next brother,

SIR JOHN ERNEST GODFREY, 6th Baronet (1864-1935), of Kilcoleman Abbey, who wedded, in 1897, Eileen Mary, only daughter of John Edmund Currey, MD, of Lismore Estate, County Waterford, and had issue,

WILLIAM MAURICE, his successor;

Mary Constance; Dorothy Louisa; Helen Ursula.

He was succeeded by his son,

SIR WILLIAM MAURICE GODFREY, 7th Baronet (1909-71), of Thatches, Brenchley, Kent, and Ballinagroun, County Kerry, who married, in 1933, Caroline Iris, daughter of Alban Robins, of Rusthall Grange, Tunbridge Wells, and had issue, three daughters,

Susan Mary; Bridget Jane; Iris Belinda.

The baronetcy expired following the decease of the 7th Baronet, without male issue.

KILCOLEMAN ABBEY, Milltown, County Kerry, was granted by CHARLES II to Major John Godfrey "for his services against the rebels" in the Irish rebellion of 1641.

Sir William Petty, in his Reflections on Matters and Things in Ireland, called this donation "by no means an equivalent for the Major's services".

Kilcoleman: ruinous in 1976

It was built ca 1800 by Sir William Godfrey, 1st Baronet, comprising a fairly plain, Georgian, three-storey block.

The house was altered in 1819 by Sir John, 2nd Baronet to designs of W V Morrison, who gave it a Tudor-Revival makeover, with four slender turrets on each corner, topped by cupolas (not dissimilar to Glenarm Castle and Borris).

A two-storey service wing was added later.

Kilcoelman Abbey, south front (image: Dr J Knightly)

Morrison created a two-storey galleried hall, which opened with arches on to the staircase.

Sir John Ernest Godfrey, 6th Baronet, was the last of the Godfrey Baronets to live at Kilcoleman.

When he died in 1935, his son and heir, Sir William, 7th Baronet, was living in England; and, in 1941, decided to sell what was left of the estate to his cousin, Phyllis Godfrey, only child of the 5th Baronet.

Phyllis continued to live at Kilcoleman until November, 1958, when her mobility had deteriorated to the extent that she moved into the gate lodge.

Phyllis Godfrey, the last of the family to reside at Kilcoleman, died in December, 1959.

Kilcoleman Abbey was inherited again by the 7th Baronet, who considered restoring one of its wings.

The overwhelming cost and burden had become too great for him, so Sir William sold the derelict, crumbling mansion and remaining 166 acres to the Irish Land Commission. 

Kilcoleman Abbey was demolished in 1977.

Other residence ~ Thatches, Brenchley, Kent.

First published in March, 2016.