Paradise Hill

THE HENNS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY CLARE, WITH 7,664 ACRES

The family of HENN, one of English origin, was settled in County Clare for upwards of two centuries. RICHARD HENN, High Sheriff of County Clare, 1738, obtained a grant of "Paradise Hill", and various estates in that county, in 1685, from the Earl of Thomond.

WILLIAM HENN (c1720-96), second son of Thomas Henn (younger brother and devisee of Richard Henn, the grantee of Paradise Hill), High Sheriff of County Clare, 1766, was called to the Irish Bar and appointed a Judge of the King's Bench, 1768.

He married Miss Elizabeth Parry, and had (with three daughters) an only son,

WILLIAM HENN, Master of the Irish Court of Chancery, 1793, who wedded, in 1782, Susanna, sister of Sir Jonathan Lovett Bt, of Liscombe Park, Buckinghamshire, and had issue,

WILLIAM, of whom presently;
Jonathan, QC;
Richard, Commander RN;
Eleanor; Susanna; Eliza; Jane; Frances.

The eldest son,

WILLIAM HENN (c1782-1857), who, like his father, became a Master in Chancery in Ireland, 1822, espoused, in 1809, Mary Rice, eldest daughter of George Fosbery, of Clorane, County Limerick, by Christiana his wife, daughter of Thomas Rice, of Mount Trenchard, in the same county, and had issue,

William, died unmarried;
THOMAS RICE, of whom hereafter;
Jonathan Lovett, died unmarried;
George;
Richard;
Christiana; Susanna; Mary; Ellen; Jane.

The second son,

THOMAS RICE HENN KC JP DL (1814-1901), of Paradise Hill, County Clare, Barrister, County Court Judge, Chairman of Quarter Sessions for County Carlow, 1859, and for County Galway, 1868, Recorder of Galway, 1878, married, in 1845, Jane Isabella, second daughter of the Rt Hon Francis Blackburne, LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, and had issue,

William, Lieutenant RN; dsp;
FRANCIS BLACKBURNE, of whom we treat;
Thomas Rice;
Edward Lovett;
Richard Arthur Milton, of Castle Troy House;
Henry (Rt Rev), Bishop of Burnley;
Adela Jane; Mary Rice.

The second son,

FRANCIS BLACKBURNE HENN JP (1848-1915), of Paradise Hill, Barrister, wedded, in 1880, Helen Letitia Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Gore, of Woodlands, County Clare, and had issue,

WILLIAM FRANCIS;
Thomas Rice, b 1901;
Muriel Helen Isabella Rice; Lilian Adela Gore; Maud Susan Beatrice.

The eldest son,

WILLIAM FRANCIS HENN CBE MVO (1892-1964), of Paradise Hill, wedded, in 1915, Geraldine Frances Jane, daughter of Thomas George Stacpoole-Mahon, and had issue,

WILLIAM BRYAN, AFC, b 1917;
Francis Robert, CBE, b 1920;
Margaret Geraldine, b 1922.

PARADISE HILL, Ennis, County Clare, was a two-storey Georgian house, with two curved bows and a Gothicized Venetian window as its doorway.

High-pitched roofs and pointed dormer gables were added in the Victorian era; and iron balconies.

Paradise Hill was burnt in 1970.

Francis Robert Henn, CBE, has compiled The Henn Family of Paradise, including early lineage and reminiscences.

First published in March, 2016.