THE LE POERS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WATERFORD, WITH 13,448 ACRES
This family was founded by SIR ROBERT LE POER, Knight, Marshal and Lord of Waterford in 1179. In 1177 he was joined in commission with Hugh de Lacy in the government of Ireland, and from him have descended the Barons of Donoyle, and the Lords Power of Curraghmore.
SIR RICHARD POWER, Knight, of Curraghmore, County Waterford, Sheriff of the county, 1535, whose ancestors had been summoned to attend Parliament as feudal barons, was created, by patent, in 1535,
Baron Poer or
Power, of Curraghmore, County Waterford.
He married the Lady Katherine Butler, daughter of Piers, 8th Earl of Ormonde, and had issue,
Thomas, d 1564;
PIERS, his successor;
JOHN, 3rd Baron;
Katherine; Ellice; Margaret; Ellen.
His lordship died
ca 1538, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
PIERS, 2nd Baron (
c1526-45), a minor at his father's death, and granted in ward to James, 9th Earl of Ormonde, in 1540.
He took part in the siege of Boulogne, and died of his wounds at Calais,
unmarried, in 1545.
His lordship was succeeded by his
brother,
JOHN, 3rd Baron (
c1529-92), a
minor, who married the Lady Elinor FitzGerald, daughter of James, 15th Earl of
Desmond, and had, with three younger sons,
RICHARD, his successor;
Piers.
His lordship was succeeded by his eldest
son,
RICHARD, 4th Baron (1550-1607), who espoused Katherine, daughter of James, Viscount Buttevant, and had issue,
JOHN,
killed by "The White Knight"; father of 5th Baron;
Piers;
Thomas;
Edmond.
His lordship was succeeded by his grandson,
JOHN, 5th Baron (
c1599-1661),
who wedded Ruth,
daughter of Robert Phypoe, of St Mary's Abbey, Dublin, and had
issue,
RICHARD, his successor;
David;
John;
Piers;
Eleanor; Katherine.
His lordship was
excused from transplantation, 1654, at the hands of
CROMWELL, as he was bereft
of reason, and had been so for twenty years.
He was succeeded by
his eldest son,
RICHARD, 6th Baron (1630-90), who was created, in 1673,
Viscount
Decies and EARL OF TYRONE (2nd creation).
He married, in 1654, the Lady Dorothy Annesley,
daughter of Arthur, 1st Earl of Anglesey, by whom (who was buried in Waterford
Cathedral) he had issue,
Arthur;
JOHN, his successor, 7th Baron & 2nd
Earl;
JAMES, 8th Baron & 3rd Earl.
His lordship, 1st Earl of Tyrone (2nd creation), was
imprisoned in the Tower of London, as a Jacobite, where he died in 1690, and was
buried at Farnborough, Hampshire, when he was succeeded by his eldest
son,
JOHN, 7th Baron and 2nd Earl (c1665-93), who died
unmarried in
Dublin, and who was buried at Carrick-on-Suir, when he was succeeded by
his brother,
JAMES, 8th Baron and 3rd Earl (1667-1704), who wedded Anne,
daughter of Andrew Rickards, of Dangan Spidoge, County Kilkenny, by whom he had
an only daughter,
THE LADY KATHERINE POWER, who espoused, in 1717,
SIR MARCUS BERESFORD Bt, of Coleraine, and brought her husband the Curraghmore
estates.
Her ladyship died in 1769.
Sir Marcus (1694-1763), ancestor of the Marquess of Waterford, was created, in 1746, EARL OF
TYRONE (3rd creation).
Lord Power, 3rd
Earl of Tyrone, died without male issue in 1704, when his earldom and viscountcy
became extinct; but his barony of POWER, of Curraghmore, reverted to his heir
male,
JOHN, de jure 9th Baron Power, who, being a colonel in the army of JAMES II, and attainted and outlawed on account of the rebellion in 1688, could not take his seat, but he was allowed a pension of £300 per annum by the Crown.
He died in Paris, 1725, and left, with two daughters, Charlotte
and Clare, an only son,
HENRY, 10th Baron, but for the attainders of his
father and grandfather.
His lordship took out administration to his father in 1725, and petitioned the Duke of Bolton, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, for the Curraghmore estate, as heir male, upon which petition the Lords Stanhope and Harrington made a favourable report to His Grace, but the petition never came to a hearing.
He died intestate and unmarried in 1742, and was buried at St
Matthew's Church, Irishtown, Dublin.
Administration was granted to his
sisters in 1743.
Upon his death the whole male descendants of Richard,
4th Baron, became extinct, and the representation of the 1st Baron Power
devolved on the heir male of Piers Power, of Rathgormuck, the brother of the
4th Baron,
JOHN POWER, of Gurteen, County Waterford, and of Grange, County
Galway,
Served in France under his maternal uncle, Colonel John Power,
9th Baron Power, and on his return to Ireland he wedded, in 1703, Mary, daughter
and co-heir of Richard Power, of Ballydrimney, County Galway, at the request of
his kinsman, he being the next relation in blood of the male line.
By
this lady he had five
daughters,
Helen;
Mary;
Bridget;
Katherine;
Elizabeth.
Mr
Power died at Grange in 1743, and was succeeded by his brother,
WILLIAM
POWER (FitzEdmond), of Gurteen, who died without an heir at Gurteen, 1755, and
was buried at Kilsheelan.
He was succeeded by his nephew,
EDMOND
POWER, of Gurteen, who espoused, in 1739, his cousin Elizabeth, daughter and
co-heir of John Power (FitzEdmond), of Gurteen, and had issue,
WILLIAM, his heir;
John;
James;
Richard;
Elizabeth; Katherine.
Mr Power was
succeeded by his son and heir,
WILLIAM POWER (1745-1813), of Gurteen, who married, in 1765, Mary, daughter of Captain Walter Delamar.
*****
JAMES succeeded, 1755, as
de jure 13th Baron La Poer.
His great-grandson,
EDMOND, 16th Baron (1775-1830), of Gurteen, 8th Light Dragoons (later 8th Hussars), fought in the Flanders Campaign, under the Duke of York.
His second son,
JOHN WILLIAM, 17th Baron, JP DL (1816-51), MP for County Waterford, 1837-40; Dungarvan, 1837, High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1841, was succeeded by his eldest son,
EDMOND JAMES, 18th Baron, JP (1841-1915), MP for Waterford, 1866-73. was created
Count de la Poer [Papal States] in 1864.
The Count was High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1879, Private Chamberlain to HH Pope Pius IX, HM Lord-Lieutenant for the County and City of Waterford, 1909.
His second son,
JOHN WILLIAM RIVALLON JP, 19th Baron and
2nd Count (1882-1939), 4th Battalion, Leinster Regiment, High Sheriff of County Waterford, 1913.
In 1922, he claimed the barony of Le Poer and Curraghmore.
The Committee of Privileges in the House of Lords decided that, but for the
attainder of John Power in 1691, the claim had been established.
Mr de la Poer was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Waterford, from 1915 until 1922.
His eldest son,
EDMOND ROBERT ARNOLD, 20th Baron, TD,
3rd Count, was commissioned, in 1936, in the London Irish Rifles, and fought in the 2nd World War.
He succeeded as
20th Baron le Power and Coroghmore in 1939; Captain, Royal Ulster Rifles; awarded the Territorial Decoration; was an engineer.]
He lived in 1976 at Gurteen.
In 1998, the world-renowned artist, painter and photographer
Gottfried Helnwein purchased Gurteen House, where he presently lives with his family.
GURTEEN LE POER, near Kilsheelan, County Waterford, is a large Tudor-Baronial house of great importance, which retains its original form and massing together with important salient features and materials, both to the exterior and to the interior.
Built in 1866 to designs prepared by Samuel Roberts for Edmond, 1st Count de la Poer, the architectural quality of the house is enhanced by the complex arrangement of gables, towers and turrets, all of which enliven the skyline.
The construction in limestone ashlar attests to high quality stone work, which is particularly evident in the fine detailing throughout.
A group of gateways to the grounds enhances the artistic design quality of the site, while a garden turret contributes to ornamental quality of the battlemented enclosure, itself augmenting the medieval tone of the grounds.
The house is of additional importance in the locality on account of its associations with the de la Poer family.
The main block is massive, with a lower service wing to one side.
The garden front has the same grouping of gables and three-sided bows, with a great tower in the entrance front.
The interior of Gurteen is commodious and agreeable, the centre boasting a galleried top-lit great hall, divided by a screen of Gothic arches.
Perhaps one of the most notable rooms in the house is the dining-room, said to contain one of the most perfect Victorian-Baronial interiors in Ireland.
The chimney-piece, of carved oak, is most exquisite with its heraldic angels holdings shields of the family arms, and its head of St Hubert's Stag - the family crest - complete with antlers and crucifix, mounted atop the mantel-shelf like a trophy.
First published in November, 2012. Colour photographs by kind permission of Gottfried Helnwein.
