Friday 26 February 2021

County Down Beef

In Northern Ireland, supermarket meat origin labels can be confusing; where precisely the meat is slaughtered, and where it is packed.

I saw this yesterday in a very large supermarket at Knocknagoney, County Down.

With this in mind I think it's best to purchase red meat at one's local butcher.

Recently I visited my butcher, saw a fillet of beef behind the counter, and a good, thick slice was cut for me.

That evening I fried the steak, roasted a few potatoes, fried an onion, and had it with béarnaise sauce.

Needless to say, the steak was really tender and juicy, as you can see in the image.

Mount Stewart Memories

On the White Stag at Mount Stewart

WILLIAM PATTERSON RECOUNTS HIS MEMORIES OF MOUNT STEWART, ANCESTRAL SEAT OF THE MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY

I was a young man living in County Down near Greyabbey.

It was 1964 if I remember correctly, and on occasion I would meet a dark haired lady of middle years dressed as a ‘nanny’ - blue uniform and darker overcoat - and pushing a very smart ‘pram’ which contained a cherubic small boy of about 18 months with fair hair.

We got chatting on one occasion and we walked the long winding footpath together towards Mount Stewart where she explained that her charge was Lady Mairi Bury’s grandson, Charles Villiers.

Nanny Ellis holding Master Charles

Her name was Elizabeth Ellis - a Scottish lady - but I was asked to call her ‘Nanny’ like everyone else.

I was invited to her apartment in Mount Stewart to take tea and biscuits on several occasions, and it was during these visits that I met Charles’ mother, Elizabeth Villiers, and his very well known grandmother, Lady Mairi.

Lady Mairi had a rather disconcerting cool appraising stare, but she must have decided that I was suitable company as I was a welcome visitor, and got to attend a couple of her famous parties.

Billy in the Nursery

I cannot remember now at this remove most of their names, but they were the great and good of society and the arts.

The ladies were very glamorous and dripping with diamonds and the men suitably attired to match their companions.

I thought I might be very out of my depth, but I was very pleased to find them, with a few exceptions, easy to speak to and interesting to listen to.

Michael O’Duffy was a very well known Irish tenor at the time and he entertained the guests accompanied by the wonderful Duncan Morrison from Stornoway on the piano.

Duncan used to play for Rev Sydney MacEwan on many of his recordings.

I met Duncan on several different occasions at Mount Stewart and we exchanged Christmas Cards for several years after.

One character I remember from one of her parties was a gentleman of whom it was whispered had psychic powers, by name Clifford Frost.

I was in deep conversation with someone, I can’t remember who, when he weaved his way over and asked to see my hand.

He took my proffered palm and stared at it, weaving slightly all the while as a result of the bountiful liquid refreshment on offer by our hostess, then dropped it and walked off saying “You’ll get all you want out of life”.

You know, despite the odd knock-back, he wasn’t far wrong.

When Jessie Matthews - dancer, actress, star of stage and screen and latterly on radio as Mrs Dale in Mrs Dale’s Diary, came to open a garden fête for Lady Mairi, I had the pleasure of meeting her, and on giving her a donation for her charity, I was rewarded with a hug and a kiss, and told I was a darling.

I admit to blushing, but walked around on air for the rest of the afternoon.

Billy at the Swimming-pool

There was a well concealed private swimming-pool belonging to the family on the Strangford Lough side of the road which I was kindly offered the use of, and spent many a happy day there in the company of Nanny, Charles the baby and my dog Kim and sometimes just on my own.


On one of these solitary visits I daringly removed my swimming togs and for the first time swam in the nude.

Billy & Charles at the Swimming-pool in 1965

I found it to be a wonderful experience - no clinging togs and a great feeling of being at one with nature.

On many warm summer days we walked around the beautiful gardens enjoying the flowers and shrubs, the statues, and little concealed nooks and crannies - little worlds within the larger one.


The well known composer and pianist from Stornoway, Duncan Morrison (above), in green velvet Scottish evening attire, with his sister Bella Morrison in a black dress (with a rather curious third figure present, seemingly in fancy dress with a black fur hat and a blacked face - maybe having been cast as "the Black Man" who had brought in a New Year?).

Wonderful days with lasting memories for me, and I bless the day I struck up a conversation with Nanny Ellis, who continued to be a friend for many years after she had left the employ of the family.

The memories all come back when I occasionally return to Mount Stewart as one of the many visitors, and one of the few who remember this historic house as a wonderful family home.

First published in February, 2019.

Thursday 25 February 2021

Woodlawn House

THE BARONS ASHTOWN WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LIMERICK, WITH 11,273 ACRES

The family of TRENCH is descended from a French protestant family, said to have emigrated from the town of La Tranche, in the province of Poitou, to avoid the religious persecutions instituted by LOUIS XIV against those who dissented from the established church.

This family and that of TRENCH, Earls of Clancarty, derive from a common ancestor, namely,

FRÉDÉRIC DE LA TRANCHE, or TRENCH, who fled from France after the massacre of St Bartholomew, and took up his abode in Northumberland about 1575.

He married, in 1576, Margaret, daughter of Thomas Sutton, and had issue,
THOMAS, his heir;
James (Rev), Rector of Clongill, m Margaret, daughter of Hugh, Viscount Montgomery of the Ards;
Adam Thomas.
Mr Trench thereafter crossed into Scotland, where he died in 1580.

The eldest son,

THOMAS TRENCH, of Garbally, married, in 1610, Catherine, daughter of Richard Brooke, of Pontefract, Yorkshire, and had issue,
Frederic, founded the house of CLANCARTY;
JOHN, of whom we treat.
The younger son,

THE VERY REV DR JOHN TRENCH, of Moate, County Galway, Dean of Raphoe, wedded Anne, daughter of Richard Warburton, of Garryhinch, and had issue,
FREDERICK, his heir;
Alexander;
Richard;
Anne; Judith.
The Dean died in 1725, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

FREDERICK TRENCH (1686-1758), of Moate, County Galway, who married, in 1718, Mary, daughter and heiress of Richard Geering, Clerk of the Court of Chancery, and had issue,
FREDERICK, his heir;
Anne; Mary; Elizabeth.
Mr Trench was succeeded by his only surviving son,

FREDERICK TRENCH (1724-97), of Moate and Woodlawn, County Galway, who wedded, in 1754, Mary, eldest daughter and co-heir of Francis Sadleir, of Sopwell Hall, County Tipperary, and had issue,
FREDERICK, his heir;
Francis, of Sopwell Hall, father of FREDERICK;
Thomas (Very Rev), Dean of Kildare;
William, of Cangort Castle;
Charles;
Richard;
John;
Catharine; Mary; Elizabeth; Frances; Anne; Sophia; Mary; Catherine.
Mr Trench was succeeded by his eldest son,

FREDERICK TRENCH (1755-1840), of Moate, MP for Maryborough, 1785-90, Portarlington, 1798-1800, who espoused, in 1785, Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Dr Robert Robinson, and niece of the Hon Mr Justice Robinson, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench, but had no issue.

Mr Trench was elevated to the peerage, in 1800, in the dignity of BARON ASHTOWN, of Moate, County Galway.
The 8th and present Baron lives in East Sussex.


*****

THE TRENCHES of Woodlawn were one of a number of Trench families who came to prominence in County Galway in the 17th century.

They were all descended from Frederick Trench who came to Ireland early in the 1600s.

Strategic marriages into the Warburton and Power families led to the acquisition of more lands in East Galway.

Much of the Woodlawn estate was originally Martin and Barnewall lands which were purchased by the Trenches in the early 18th century.

Lord Ashtown was recorded as a non-resident proprietor in 1824.

In County Roscommon he held over a 1,000 acres; and in County Tipperary he held at least 21 townlands in the parishes of Ballingarry and Uskane, barony of Lower Ormond, inherited from the Sadleir family of Sopwell Hall.

In the 1870s, Lord Ashtown's main estate in County Galway amounted to over 8,000 acres and he also held land in seven other counties including County Waterford where he had purchased lands from the Earl of Stradbroke in the 1870s. 

These townlands remained in Trench ownership until purchased by the Irish Land Commission in the 1930s.

In 1852 Lord Ashtown married as his second wife Elizabeth Oliver Gascoigne, an heiress with large estates in County Limerick and Yorkshire.

In the 1870s Lord Ashtown is recorded as the owner of 11,273 acres in County Limerick and 4,526 acres in County Tipperary.


WOODLAWN HOUSE, near Kilconnell, County Galway, is a Palladian-style country house comprising a three-bay, three-storey central block built ca 1760, having slightly advanced end bays and projecting tetra-style Ionic portico to entrance bay.

There is an interesting video clip of the mansion house and ruinous outbuildings here.

The House consists of 30,000 square feet standing on 115 acres of land.

It boasts 26 bedrooms, a walled garden, courtyard, gatehouse, gardener's house and a lake.

Woodlawn was remodelled ca 1860 and flanked by four-bay two-storey wings having projecting pedimented end bay to each wing.

The central block has tripartite openings to end bays, ground floor of each end bay having segmental pediment and engaged Doric columns to slightly advanced middle light, and flanked by Doric pilasters.

The wings have tripartite windows to pedimented bays, ground floor having Venetian-style windows, middle light slightly advanced and having engaged square-plan Doric columns, flanked by Doric pilasters and having with moulded capitals and cornices.

The mansion is set in its own demesne, with outbuildings to west, and entrance gates and lodge to east.


This large house is an elaborate exercise in classical orders, the use of carved and cut limestone extending throughout the front elevation and evidence of both the skill of 19th century stonemasons and the wealth of the Trench family whose seat it was.

An unusual composition, the quoins to the central block give a vertical emphasis that is extended by the pinnacles.

Although the motifs are classical, the extensive use of dark limestone, the variety of textures and treatments, and the use of pinnacles give it a somewhat Gothic appearance typical of the late 19th century.

Extended and remodelled by the 2nd Baron Ashtown in the 1860s to designs drawn up by James F Kempster, the county surveyor for the East Riding of County Galway, it shows little evidence of the Georgian house behind the façade.

During the 1920s, the 3rd Baron was declared bankrupt and, as a result, the house was closed up and its contents sold at auction; at one point, the IRA occupied one of the wings.

The 4th Baron eventually returned to Woodlawn, but in 1947 he sold the estate to his cousin, Derek Le Poer Trench who, in turn, disposed of it in 1973.

Since then, Woodlawn has had two further owners but neither of these have lived in the house.

Michael Lally, a local publican, bought the property ca 1989.

Before that date, in 1982, a fire burnt out the east wing and caused extensive damage to the central block, partly because of the water used to put out the flames.

Much of the original decoration of the house has also been lost, not least the fireplaces in the principal reception rooms.

While all the walls still stand and the pitched slate roof remains, Woodlawn today is a mere shadow of the house it had been 100 years ago.

Other former seats ~ Chessel House, Southampton, Hampshire; Lotherton Hall, West Yorkshire.

Ashtown arms courtesy of European Heraldry.  First published in December, 2011.

Tuesday 23 February 2021

Hatley Manor

THE WHYTES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LEITRIM, WITH 10,989 ACRES

JAMES WHYTE (son of Mark Whyte, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Edwards, of Old Court, County Wicklow), married firstly, in 1783, Gertrude, daughter of James Gee, grandson of William Gee, of Bishop Burton, and had issue,
JAMES, his heir;
Robert, who took the name of Moyser.
He wedded secondly, the daughter of Sir Thomas Hildyard, and had a daughter, ANN CATHERINE, who succeeded to the Hildyard estates.

Mr Whyte died in 1807, and was succeeded by his elder son,

JAMES WHYTE, of Pilton House, Barnstaple, Devon, who married, in 1805, Frances Honoria, daughter of the Rt Hon John Beresford, brother of 1st Marquess of Waterford, and had issue,
JOHN JAMES, his heir;
James Richard (Rev);
Robert Charles;
Mark Beresford;
Charles;
William Thomas;
Selina Catherine Harriet; Frances Honoria; Mary; Barbara Henrietta.
Mr Whyte died in 1852, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN JAMES WHYTE JP DL (1806-89), of Newtown Manor, County Leitrim, Lieutenant-Colonel, 7th Hussars, who espoused, in 1842, Mary Ann Jesse, daughter of Charles Dieudonné de Montenach, and had issue,
CHARLES CECIL BERESFORD, his heir;
Theodore William;
Marie Elizabeth Frances Medora; Marie Gertrude; Emma Frances Honoria; Florence Alma Julia.
Mr Whyte was succeeded by his eldest son,

CHARLES CECIL BERESFORD WHYTE JP DL (1845-1923), of Newtown Manor and Hatley Manor, High Sheriff of County Leitrim, 1877, who married, in 1874, Petronella Hallberg, daughter of Herr Magnus Hallberg Riksdagsman, of Sweden (who succeeded to the estates of Charles Manners St George JP DL and Madame Ingrid Christina St George, in counties Leitrim and Roscommon), and had issue,
CECIL HARMAN BALDWIN, his heir;
John Theodore Marcus;
Maryanne Christina de Montenach St George;
Ingri Melesina Beatrice Gertrude;
Mona Selina Petronella; Chisogona Constantia Barbara Beresford;
Florence Holda Medora; Lucile Theodora Gwendoline;
Ebba Harline d'Iberville Le Moyne; Edith Estelle Ermyntrude le Poer.
The eldest son,

CECIL HARMAN BALDWIN ST GEORGE WHYTE (1881-), High Sheriff of County Leitrim, 1911, Lieutenant, 5th Battalion, the Connaught Rangers.


HATLEY MANOR, near Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim, built about 1830, became the seat of the Whytes through marriage.

In the manner of Castle Ward House, it has a split personality: The entrance front is Italianate; the garden front, Gothic.

The house faces across a forecourt to the main street of Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim.


The Gothic front overlooks the demesne, which leads to the river.

Hatley was originally a seat of the St George family, of Hatley St George, Cambridgeshire.

The last St George to live there is interred in an elaborate Victorian-Classical mausoleum in the grounds.


Charles Cecil Beresford Whyte and his wife left Hatley Manor in 1908 and went to live in Newton Manor near Dromahaire, a residence owned by Charles Whyte.

Hatley Manor was subsequently leased to Richard Allen, Clerk of the Crown and Peace, who remained in residence there until 1916.

It was thereafter let to his successor, Robert Lonsdale, who had been Crown Solicitor in Manorhamilton.

Mr Lonsdale remained there until 1926, when he retired and went to live in Dublin and England.

Hatley Manor was subsequently purchased by the Flynn Family.

First published in June, 2012.

Thursday 18 February 2021

Granston Manor

THE EARLS OF UPPER OSSORY WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN QUEEN'S COUNTY, WITH 22,510 ACRES

This most ancient and noble family was descended from Heremon, the first monarch of the Milesian race in Ireland; and after they had assumed the surname of FITZPATRICK, they were for many ages Princes of Ossory, in the province of Leinster; from whom, in a direct male line, descended

BARNABY FITZPATRICK (c1485-1575), last Prince of Ossory, on his submission to HENRY VIII, who was created, 1541, Baron Upper Ossory.

He wedded, about 1530, Margaret Burke, eldest daughter of Piers, 8th Earl of Ormond, and had issue,
BARNABY, his successor;
FLORENCE, successor to his brother;
Grainne.
His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,

BARNABY, 2nd Baron (c1535-81), companion and favourite to EDWARD VI, whose letters to that monarch are still preserved.

He served as a volunteer in France, under HENRY II, against the Emperor; and after his return he behaved with great bravery against Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger, and was knighted in 1558.

His lordship espoused, in 1560, Joan, daughter of Rowland, 2nd Viscount Baltinglass, and had issue, an only child, MARGARET.

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

FLORENCE, 3rd Baron (d 1613), who married Catherine, daughter of Patrick O'More, of Abbeyleix, and had issue, six children, of whom
Geoffrey;
THADY, successor to his brother;
JOHN, father of 1st BARON GOWRAN;
Joan.
The eldest surviving son,

THADY, 4th Baron, wedded Joan, daughter of Sir Edmund Butler, of Cloughgrenan, and had issue,
BARNABY, his successor;
Dermot;
Turlough;
John;
Margaret; Catherine; Onora; Joan.
His lordship died in 1627, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

BARNABY, 5th Baron, who wedded Margaret, eldest daughter of Walter, 11th Earl of Ormond, and had issue,
BARNABY, his successor;
Edward;
James.
His lordship died ca 1638, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

BARNABY, 6th Baron, who espoused Catherine, daughter of Sir Edward Everard, and had issue,
BARNABY, his successor;
John.
His lordship died ca 1666, and was succeeded by his elder son,

BARNABY, 7th Baron (d 1696), who married Margaret, daughter of Pierce, 1st Viscount Ikerrin, and had issue,
Barnaby, dsp;
Kieran, died in infancy;
John, died young;
Catherine; Mary.
His lordship, an adherent to JAMES II, was outlawed in 1690, and shortly thereafter his title was forfeited.

His kinsman,

COLONEL THE HON JOHN FITZPATRICK, of Castletown, Queen's County (son of Florence, 3rd Baron Upper Ossory), wedded Elizabeth, fourth daughter of Thomas, Viscount Thurles, and sister of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde, and had issue,
Edward, died unmarried;
RICHARD, his successor;
Arabella.
His second son,

RICHARD FITZPATRICK (c1662-1727), married, in 1718, Anne, second daughter and co-heir of Sir John Robinson, 2nd Baronet, of Farmingwood, Northamptonshire, and had issue,
JOHN, his heir;
Richard, m to Anne Usher;
three daughters.
Mr Fitzpatrick was raised to the peerage, in 1715, in the dignity of Baron Gowran, of Gowran, County Kilkenny.

His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,

JOHN, 2nd Baron (1719-58), who wedded, in 1744, the Lady Evelyn Leveson-Gower, daughter of John, 1st Earl Gower, and had issue,
JOHN, his successor;
Richard;
Mary, m to 2nd Baron Holland;
Louisa, m to 2nd Earl of Shelburne.
His lordship was created, in 1751, EARL OF UPPER OSSORY.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN, 2nd Earl (1745-1818), who espoused, in 1769, Anne, only child and heir of Henry, 1st Baron Ravensworth, and had issue,
Anne, b 1770;
Gertrude.
His lordship died without male issue, when the titles expired.

His natural son, however,

JOHN WILSON (1811-83), succeeded to the family estates and, in 1842, and assumed the surname of FITZPATRICK.

He wedded, in 1830, Augusta Mary, daughter of the Rev Archibald Edward Douglas, and had issue,
BERNARD EDWARD BARNABY, his successor;
Gertrude; Augusta; Florence; Cecilia; Edith; Olivia.
Mr Fitzpatrick, High Sheriff of Queen's County, 1836, MP for Queen's County, 1837-69, Privy Counsellor, 1848, Lord-Lieutenant of Queen's County, 1855-83, was elevated to the peerage, in 1869, in the dignity of BARON CASTLETOWN, of Upper Ossory, Queen's County.

His lordship was succeeded by his only son,

BERNARD EDWARD BARNABY, 2nd Baron (1849-1937), KP CMG PC, of Granston Manor, who married, in 1874, Emily Ursula Clare, only surviving daughter and heir of Hayes, 4th Viscount Doneraile, though the marriage was without issue.

His lordship, High Sheriff of Queen's County, 1876, MP for Portarlington, 1880-3, Privy Counsellor, 1908, Knight of St Patrick, 1908, died in 1937, when the barony expired.

The Castletown Papers are deposited at the National Library of Ireland.


GRANSTON MANOR, Abbeyleix, Queen's County, was a large rambling house, partly late-Georgian and partly later.

It had two storeys with an attic roof.

The entrance front comprised five bays with a Wyatt window above a balustraded portico.

The entrance front is is at the end of the house, which is considerably deeper that its width, with lower wings.

There is a long garden front with single-storey projections and balustrades.

The interior was renovated during the Edwardian era, mostly by the 2nd Lord Castletown.

The hall became part of an adjoining room, thus becoming a hall-cum-sitting room.

A new oak staircase was built.

The drawing-room was greatly enlarged.

Following the death of the 2nd Baron in 1937, Granston passed to his nephew, Lieutenant-Colonel G H J S Smyth, who assumed the surname of FitzPatrick.

Granston was sold to the Harper family in 1947, who re-sold about 1961.

It was acquired by Mr and Mrs H Duncan-Collie, but was almost totally gutted by fire in 1977.

First published in August, 2011.  Upper Ossory arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

Tuesday 16 February 2021

Castletown Cox

THE VILLIERS-STUARTS OWNED 2,790 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY KILKENNY

LORD HENRY STUART (1777-1809), fifth son of John, 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bute, married, in 1802, the Lady Gertrude Amelia Mason-Villiers, only daughter and heir of George, 2nd and last Earl Grandison, and had issue,
HENRY, cr BARON STUART DE DECIES;
WILLIAM, of whom presently;
Charles;
Gertrude Amelia.
The second son,

WILLIAM VILLIERS-STUART JP DL (1804-73), High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1848, MP for County Waterford, 1835-47, wedded, in 1833, Catherine (d 1879), only daughter of MICHAEL COX, of Castletown, County Kilkenny (by the Hon Mary Prittie his wife, daughter of Henry, 1st Baron Dunalley, and sister and heir of Sir Richard Cox, 8th Baronet, of Dunmanway, County Cork, and had issue,
HENRY JOHN RICHARD, his heir;
Dudley;
Gertrude Mary; Geraldine; Evelyn.
Mr Villiers-Stuart and his siblings assumed, in 1822, the additional surname and arms of VILLIERS.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

HENRY JOHN RICHARD VILLIERS-STUART JP DL (1837-1914), of Castletown and Castlane, County Kilkenny, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1887, who espoused, in 1870, Jane Rigby, eldest daughter of Benjamin Rigby Murray, of Parton Place, Kirkudbright, and had issue,
WILLIAM DESMOND (1872-1961), Brigadier, CBE, DSO;
Charles Herbert;
John Patrick;
Kathleen Jane; Gertrude Elsie; Marie Violet.
FAMILY OF COX

MICHAEL COX, the youngest son of a respectable Wiltshire family (amongst whose progenitors was the learned Dr Richard Cox, one of the compilers of the Liturgy, tutor to EDWARD VI, and in the reign of ELIZABETH I, Lord Bishop of Ely), seated at Kilworth, County Cork, some time within the first quarter of the 17th century, and left, with other children, at his decease,

RICHARD COX, a man of great bodily strength and courage, who became a captain in Major-General John Jephson's regiment of dragoons, and fought successively under the royal banner of CHARLES I, and the republican one of Cromwell.

He married Catherine, daughter of Walter Bird, of Clonakilty, and died in 1651 (in consequence of a treacherous wound received from a brother officer of his own regiment, a Captain Narton) when his orphan son,

RICHARD COX (1650-1733), then not quite three years of age, was taken under the care of his maternal grandfather, Walter Bird; but that relation dying a few years later, he was placed by his uncle, John Bird, at an ordinary Latin school in the town of Clonakilty, where he soon evinced a strong disposition to learning.

In 1671, he entered himself at Lincoln's Inn, and was, in regular time, called to the bar.

Upon his return to Ireland, Mr Cox married; but in consequence of some disappointment regarding the fate of his wife, retired, in a fit of despondency, very uncharacteristic of his active mind, to a farm near Clonakilty, and there remained in obscurity for almost seven years.

The patronage of Sir Robert Southwell at length, however, recalled him into active life; and in 1680 he was Recorder of Kinsale, County Cork, when he settled at Cork and practiced as a barrister with considerable success.

In 1687, he withdrew, in consequence of the religious dissensions prevalent at that period in his native country, to Bristol, and there, at his leisure hours, compiled a "History of Ireland."

At the period of the Revolution he returned to Ireland, as secretary to Sir Robert Southwell, who accompanied William, Prince of Orange, in the capacity of principal secretary of state.

Upon his royal master's march to Dublin, after the battle of the Boyne, that prince published his manifesto, called "The King's Declaration at Finglass," which emanated from the pen of Mr Cox, and which so pleased His Majesty that he was heard to say that "Mr Cox has exactly hit my own mind."

After the surrender of Waterford, Mr Cox was made Recorder of that city, and thence, in 1690, removed to the second seat upon the bench of the Court of Common Pleas.

In 1692, he received the honour of knighthood; in 1701, Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas; and in 1703 was appointed LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND.

In the absence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he was twice nominated one of the Lords-Justices; and created a baronet in 1706, designated of Dunmanway, County Cork.

Upon the termination of the Duke of Ormonde's government, however, in 1707, Sir Richard Cox was removed from the chancellorship, but he subsequently accepted the office of Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, from which he was removed, with the other judges, upon the accession of GEORGE I, and his conduct was subsequently censured by a vote of the House of Commons.

Sir Richard married, in 1673, Mary, daughter of John Bourne, and had issue,
Richard (1677-1725), father of RICHARD, 2nd Baronet;
Walter;
John;
William;
MICHAEL, of whom hereafter.
The youngest son,

THE MOST REV DR MICHAEL COX (1689-1779), Lord Archbishop of Cashel and Primate of Munster, Chaplain to James, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who espoused, in 1712, Anne, daughter of the Hon James O'Brien MP,  and granddaughter of William, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin, by whom he left at his decease, in 1779, an only son,

RICHARD COX (1745-), of Castletown, County Kilkenny, who married, in 1776, Mary, daughter of Francis Burton, brother of Sir Charles Burton, 1st Baronet, and had (with two daughters), five sons,
MICHAEL, of whom hereafter;
Francis (Sir), 9th Baronet;
Richard (Rev), Rector of Caherconlish;
William;
Benjamin.
The eldest son,

MICHAEL COX (1768-), of Castletown, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1819, wedded Mary, daughter of Henry, 1st Baron Dunalley, and had issue,
Richard (Sir), 8th Baronet, of Castletown, dsp 1846;
Henry, died unmarried;
CATHERINE, of whom we treat.
The only daughter,

CATHERINE COX (c1808-1879), of Castletown, heir to her brother, wedded, in 1833, LIEUTENANT-COLONEL WILLIAM VILLIERS-STUART (see above).

Entrance Front

CASTLETOWN, Piltown, County Kilkenny (popularly known as Castletown Cox to distinguish it from the celebrated Castletown in County Kildare), was the creation of the renowned architect, Davis Ducart, who was commissioned, in 1767, by the Most Rev Michael Cox, Lord Archbishop of Cashel (whose father, Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet, had leased the land from the Duke of Ormonde).

The Archbishop's armorial bearings adorn the garden front.

His Grace acquired the property following his first marriage to Anne Cooke, who had inherited it from her brother.

The Archbishop's second wife, Anne O'Brien, was granddaughter of the Earl of Inchiquin.

Castletown Cox has a principal centre block comprising three storeys over a basement, and seven bays.

At each side, in the Palladian style, there are stable and kitchen wings which lengthen two fronts of the mansion and then run outwards at right angles, thus forming a partly-enclosed forecourt.

The central block is said to be a variant of William Wynde's Buckingham House in London.

The roof is balustraded.

Castletown Cox is made of dressed sandstone and unpolished Kilkenny marble.

The main block is very finely cut, and the wings have rougher stonework with ashlar dressings.

Garden Front

The wings on the garden front are arcaded and terminate in pavilions with cupolas and octagonal domes.

The garden front is adorned with large, fluted Corinthian pilasters and exceptionally beautiful arcades.

Castletown was sold by the family in 1909 to Colonel William Henry Wyndham-Quin, later 5th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl.

Arcade, Pavilion and Knot-Garden

The Colonel laid out the very attractive, formal knot-gardens.

There is exquisite rococo plasterwork in the main reception rooms by the celebrated Waterford stuccodore, Patrick Osborne.

Dining-Room

The hall, staircase hall, and dining-room have decorative plaster panelling on their walls, and plasterwork ceilings.

The Hall

The hall boasts a screen of monolithic, fluted Corinthian columns of unpolished Kilkenny marble, similar to that used on the exterior.

Drawing-Room Ceiling

When Colonel Wyndham-Quin succeeded to the title in 1926, he sold Castletown to Major-General E R Blaque, son-in-law of Admiral Lord Beresford.

General Blaque's son, Charles, sold the estate in 1976 to Nicholas Walsh, who never moved into the mansion.

The self-styled Baron Brian de Breffny and his wife purchased the house from Mr Walsh in 1979.

Castletown Cox estate was purchased by Mr George Morgan Magan (created a life peer in 2011, as BARON MAGAN OF CASTLETOWN) in 1999.

The property was purchased in 2020 by Mr Kelcy Warren.

First published in April, 2018.  With gratitude to Richard Corrigan, without whom this article might not have been written.

Friday 12 February 2021

New DLs

APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY LIEUTENANTS


Mrs Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle CBE, Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast, has been pleased to appoint:-

Mrs Ann Theresa McGregor-Sistern MBE
Belfast

Professor Ian Andrew Greer
Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge
Belfast

to be Deputy Lieutenants of the County Borough, their Commissions bearing date the 11th day of February, 2021.


Signed: Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle CBE
Lord Lieutenant of the County Borough

Thursday 11 February 2021

Moore Abbey

THE MARQUESSES OF DROGHEDA WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KILDARE, WITH 16,609 ACRES

This noble family came from France very early after the Conquest, and having acquired a good estate in Kent, resided at the manor of Moore Place, as early as the reign of HENRY II.

THOMAS MOORE, living in the reign of EDWARD II, was ancestor, after ten generations, of

JOHN MOORE, of Benenden Place, Kent, living, in 1519, married Margaret, daughter of John Brent, and had, among other issue,
Owen;
EDWARD (Sir), father of 1st Viscount Moore;
George;
THOMAS (Sir), ancestor of the Earls of Charleville;
Nicholas.
Sir Edward and Sir Thomas went over to Ireland, as soldiers of fortune, in the reign of ELIZABETH I

SIR EDWARD MOORE, the elder brother, obtained for his services, from Her Majesty, a lease of the dissolved abbey of Mellifont, with its appurtenances, in County Louth, which he made the principal place of his abode; and it so continued that of his descendants until their removal to Moore Abbey, County Kildare, the seat of the Viscounts Loftus, of Ely, which devolved upon the Earl of Drogheda.

He married Mildred, daughter and co-heir of Nicholas Clifford, of Great Chart, in Kent, and was succeeded at his decease by his eldest son,

SIR GARRET MOORE (1564-1627), Knight, of Mellifont, MP for Dungannon, 1613-15, who rendered distinguished assistance to the government of ELIZABETH I, in quelling the Irish rebellion, and received at Mellifont the submission of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.

Sir Garret was elevated to the peerage in 1616, in the dignity of Baron Moore; and advanced to a viscountcy, in 1621, as Viscount Moore, of Drogheda.

His lordship wedded Mary, daughter of Sir Henry Colley, Knight, of Castle Carbery, County Kildare.

He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

CHARLES, 2nd Viscount (1603-43), who was killed at Portlester, County Meath, in the service of CHARLES I; in which he had previously distinguished himself as a gallant and enterprising officer.

His lordship espoused Alice, younger daughter of Adam, 1st Viscount Loftus, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

HENRY, 3rd Viscount, who was created, in 1661, EARL OF DROGHEDA.

His lordship married Alice, fifth daughter of William, 2nd Baron Spencer, of Wormleighton, by Lady Penelope Wriothesley, daughter of Henry, Earl of Sunderland.

He died in 1676, was succeeded by his eldest son,

CHARLES, 2nd Earl, who wedded, in 1669, the Lady Letitia Isabella Robartes, daughter of John, Earl of Radnor, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; but dying in 1679 without surviving issue, the honours devolved upon his brother,

HENRY, 3rd Earl, who had assumed the surname of HAMILTON upon inheriting the estates of his brother-in-law, Henry, Earl of Clanbrassil.

His lordship espoused, in 1675, Mary, daughter of Sir John Cole Bt, of Newland, near Dublin, and sister of Arthur, Baron Ranelagh, and had issue,
CHARLES, father of 3rd & 4th Earls;
Arthur, dsp;
Henry, in holy orders;
John, in holy orders;
William;
Robert;
Capel;
Elizabeth.
The 3rd Earl died in 1714, and was succeeded by his grandson,

HENRY, 4th Earl (1700-27); who inherited the Loftus estates upon the decease of his maternal grandfather in 1725; but dying without an heir in 1727 (he had married Charlotte, daughter of Hugh, 1st Viscount Falmouth), those and the family honours and estates devolved upon his brother,

EDWARD, 5th Earl (1701-58), who wedded firstly, in 1727, the Lady Sarah Ponsonby, daughter of Brabazon, 1st Earl of Bessborough, and had issue,
CHARLES, his successor;
Ponsonby;
Edward, in holy orders.
His lordship married secondly, in 1747, Bridget, daughter of William Southwell, niece of Thomas, Lord Southwell, by whom he had two other sons,
William;
Robert.
The 5th Earl and his son, the Hon and Rev Edward Moore, were lost in their passage to Dublin in 1758.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

CHARLES, 6th Earl (1730-1822), KP PC, who was created, in 1791, MARQUESS OF DROGHEDA.

His lordship wedded, in 1766, Lady Anne Seymour, daughter of Francis, 1st Marquess of Hertford, by whom he had issue,
CHARLES;
Henry Seymour;
Elizabeth Emily; Mary;
Gertrude; Frances.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

CHARLES, 2nd Marquess.
Earls of Drogheda (1661; Reverted)
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Benjamin Garrett Henderson Moore, styled Viscount Moore.
The 1st and 3rd Marquesses were Knights of St Patrick (KP).

The 11th Earl was a Knight of the Garter (KG).

The 10th Earl was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Kildare, from 1918 until 1922.


MOORE ABBEY, near Monasterevin, County Kildare, was the large and luscious demesne of the Marquesses of Drogheda.

It was erected on the site of a medieval abbey.

The mansion was greatly repaired and improved about 1767; and is an extensive and commodious edifice, somewhat in the conventual style, yet quite destitute of all strongly marked architectural character.

The great hall is lined with Irish oak and is remarkable as the apartment in which the Court of Chancery was held by Adam, 1st Viscount Loftus, at the beginning of the 1641 rebellion.

The the site of the mansion is low, watery and without prospect, yet the surrounding demesne is very large and possesses some fine varieties of scenery; and the adjoining countryside ascends from the flat and boggy region on the north-east into a gentle and undulating mixture of low, pleasant and well-wooded hills.


The main front consists of a seven-bay central block of three storeys over a basement, with four-bay projecting wings of two storeys.

The windows all have pointed heads and Gothic astragals.

The roof parapets are battlemented.

There is an elaborate castellated entrance gateway to the demesne.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries, Moore Abbey passed to George, Lord Audley, who assigned it to Adam, Viscount Loftus.

The site was eventually acquired by the Moore family, Earls of Drogheda.

They were responsible for building the town of Monasterevin and much of Dublin.


In 1767, the 6th Earl pulled down the old abbey and used the stones to build a parish church, which has now been replaced by St John's parish church.

He replaced the abbey with a Neo-Gothic style mansion, now Moore Abbey.

Preparations for a sunken garden, in 1846, exposed a mass of skeletons on what was presumably the site of the abbey cemetery.

In 1924, John McCormack, the world famous operatic tenor, leased the house from Lord Drogheda.

In 1938 the Sisters of Charity of Jesus bought Moore Abbey where they now have a training school for nurses of the mentally disabled. 

Former town residence ~  Sackville Street, Dublin (now called O'Connell Street). 

First published in August, 2011. Drogheda arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

Monday 8 February 2021

Muckross House

THE HERBERTS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KERRY, WITH 47,238 ACRES

Since the merging of the elder branch of the family of CLIVE, by the marriage of the heiress of the last Herbert, Earl of Powis, with the son of the celebrated General Lord Clive, the chieftainship of the name seems indubitably to rest with HERBERT of Muckross, in County Kerry.
Descended from Thomas Herbert, of Kilcow, he went to Ireland under the care and patronage of his relative Lord Herbert of Chirbury and Castleisland, in 1656; which Thomas was the son of Matthew, the son of Sir John, the son of Sir William, the son of Sir Matthew, of Colebrook, only brother of the Earl of Pembroke of the 1st Creation.
These brothers suffered as Yorkists in the wars of the Roses.

The heir-general of the Earl of Pembroke married into the family of Somerset, Earl of Marquess of Worcester, and Duke of Beaufort.
From Richard Herbert descended in the younger branches the Lords Herbert of Cherbury, afterwards Earls of Powis, and Herbert, Earl of Torrington, both extinct in the male line; while from a senior, but never ennobled branch, the family of Muckross and Kilcow now remains the existing and legitimate representative of the famous name of HERBERT.
The Herberts were granted land in County Kerry during the reign of ELIZABETH I.

THOMAS HERBERT, of Kilcow, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1659, married Mary, daughter of Edward Kenny, of Cullen, County Cork, and had issue,
EDWARD, his successor;
John, dsp;
ARTHUR.
The eldest son,

EDWARD HERBERT MP (1660-1737), of Muckross, High Sheriff of Kerry, 1693, married, in 1684, Agnes, daughter of Patrick Crosbie, of Tubrid, County Kilkenny, and had issue,
EDWARD, his successor;
John, dsp;
Arthur, dsp;
Elizabeth; Margaret.
The eldest son,

EDWARD HERBERT (1693-1770), of Muckross, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1708, MP for Ludlow in Shropshire, 1756, married Frances, daughter of Nicholas, 2nd Viscount Kenmare, and had issue,
THOMAS, his successor;
Nicholas (Rev);
Edward, MP.
The eldest son,

THOMAS HERBERT, of Muckross, MP for Ludlow, married firstly, Anne, daughter of John Martin, of Overbury, Worcestershire, and had issue,
HENRY ARTHUR, his heir;
Edward (Rev);
Frances; Catherine; Mary; Emily.
He wedded secondly, Agnes, daughter of the Rev Francis Bland, Vicar of Killarney, and had issue,
Thomas, dsp 1798, buried at Worcester Cathedral;
Francis, killed in a duel at Gibraltar, 1797;
Cherry; Elizabeth.
Mr Herbert died in 1779, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

HENRY ARTHUR HERBERT (1756-1821), who espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Lord George Sackville, and sister to the last Duke of Dorset, and had issue (with a daughter), a son and successor,

CHARLES JOHN HERBERT, of Muckross, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1818, who married, in 1814, Louisa, daughter of Hugh Middleton, and had issue,
HENRY ARTHUR, his heir;
Charles, dsp;
Louisa; Jane; Maria.
Mr Herbert died in 1836, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT HON HENRY ARTHUR HERBERT (1815-66), of Muckross, Lord-Lieutenant and MP for County Kerry, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1836, Colonel, the Kerry Militia, Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1857-8, who married, in 1837, Mary, daughter of James Balfour, by Lady Eleanor his wife, and had issue,
HENRY ARTHUR, his heir;
Charles;
Eleanor; Blanche.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,

HENRY ARTHUR HERBERT DL MP (1840-1901), of Muckross, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1881, MP for Kerry, 1866-80, Major, London Irish Rifles, Captain, Coldstream Guards, who espoused, in 1866, Emily Julia Charlotte, only child of Edward, 2nd Lord Keane, and had issue,
HENRY ARTHUR EDWARD KEANE, his heir;
Kathleen Mary Eleanor.
The only son,

HENRY ARTHUR EDWARD KEANE HERBERT JP (1867-1931), married, in 1893, Charlotte Alice Dorothy Montagu, daughter of Arthur Charles Montagu Gifford, though the marriage was without issue.
Smith indicates that two members of the family received lands in Kerry after the Desmond rebellion, Sir William Herbert receiving over 13,000 acres; while Charles Herbert received over 3,000 acres. 

Over the next three centuries they were to remain amongst the foremost families in County Kerry.

Henry Arthur Herbert was one of the principal lessors of property in the baronies of Dunkerron North and Magunihy, as well as holding some property in the barony of Trughanacmy, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation.

The family fortunes declined systematically in the late 19th century and most of the estate was sold in the 1890s.

MUCKROSS HOUSE, County Kerry, is an irregular-plan, six-bay, two-storey over basement, quadruple-gable-fronted, Elizabethan-Revival style country house with dormer attic, built between 1839-43, designed by William Burn.

It is situated close to the shores of Muckross Lake, amidst the beautiful scenery of Killarney National Park.

The house is a focal point within the park.


It was built for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolour painter Mary Balfour Herbert.

This was the fourth house that successive generations of the Herbert family had occupied at Muckross over a period of almost two centuries. 

Originally it was intended to build a more ornate house than that which exists today.

The plans for a larger servants' wing, stable block, orangery and summer-house are believed to have been altered at Mary Herbert's request. 


Today the principal rooms are furnished in period style and portray the elegant lifestyle of the 19th century gentry; while, in the basement, one can imagine the busy bustle of the servants as they went about their daily chores.

During the 1850s, the Herberts undertook extensive garden works in preparation for Queen Victoria's visit in 1861. 

Later, the Bourn Vincent family continued this gardening tradition.

They purchased the estate from Lord and Lady Ardilaun early in the 20th century.

It was at this time that the Sunken Garden, Rock Garden and Stream Garden were developed.

First published in December, 2011.  BIBLIOGRAPHY: MUCKROSS HOUSE WEBSITE