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| Arms of the Viscounts Blessington |
THE MARQUESSES OF DOWNSHIRE WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WICKLOW, WITH 15,766 ACRES
BLESSINGTON HOUSE, County Wicklow, was one of the largest late 17th century houses in the Kingdom of Ireland. It was built ca 1673 by the Most Rev and Rt Hon Dr Michael Boyle, Lord Archbishop of Armagh and the last ecclesiastical Lord Chancellor of Ireland. This prelate had been granted the Manor of Blessington in 1669 by CHARLES II, and laid out the town.
MURROUGH BOYLE (c1645-1718), who had been elevated to the peerage, in 1673, in the dignities of Baron Boyle and VISCOUNT BLESSINGTON, in the County of Wicklow, with limitation to the heirs male of his father.
He wedded firstly, Mary, daughter of the Most Rev Dr John Parker, Lord Archbishop of Dublin, by whom he had an only child, MARY; and secondly, in 1672, Anne, daughter of Charles Coote, 2nd Earl of Mountrath, by whom he had further issue,
He wedded firstly, Mary, daughter of the Most Rev Dr John Parker, Lord Archbishop of Dublin, by whom he had an only child, MARY; and secondly, in 1672, Anne, daughter of Charles Coote, 2nd Earl of Mountrath, by whom he had further issue,
CHARLES, his successor;Alicia; Anne.
His lordship, who was governor of Limerick and constable of Limerick Castle, a privy counsellor in Ireland, one of the commissioners of the Great Seal in that kingdom in 1693, and Lord justice in 1696, died in 1718, and was succeeded by his son,
CHARLES, 2nd Viscount, who married firstly, Rose, daughter of Colonel Richard Coote; and secondly, Martha, eldest daughter of Samuel Matthews, of Bonnettstown, County Kilkenny, but had no surviving issue.
His lordship died in 1732, when his estates devolved upon his only surviving sister, Anne, Viscountess Mountjoy, but the viscountcy of Blessington expired.
BLESSINGTON HOUSE, Blessington, County Wicklow, comprised two storeys with a dormered attic in its high-pitched roof.
The principal front had a five-bay centre recessed between two, three-bay projecting wings joined by a balustraded colonnade.
The house stood at the end of an avenue in an exquisite demesne with a deer-park.
The Blessington estate passed through marriage to the 1st Marquess of Downshire, whose great-grandmother was a daughter of Archbishop Boyle.
In her article about Blessington and the Downshire connection, Kathy Trant tells us that Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, was a great-grandson of Archbishop Boyle's daughter Eleanor, who had married William Hill of Hillsborough.
Thus began the Downshire association with Blessington, which continued until 1908, when the tenants bought out their holdings under the Wyndham Land Act.
The estate stretched from the Kildare boundary to the uplands of the Wicklow mountains comprised 36 townlands, 31 of which were in County Wicklow and five in County Kildare.
The 2nd Marquess also had residences at Hillsborough Castle, County Down, Hanover Square, London, Gloucester Street, Dublin, Hertford Castle, Hertfordshire,
Blessington House was burnt by insurgents in 1798.
The raids on Blessington continued into September but by then many of the tenants had left the estate.
The town was now in ruins and the surrounding countryside devastated.
On the Downshire estates, the question now was not whether but when the landlord would sell to the tenants.
This happened on the Blessington estate under the 6th Marquess, who had inherited in 1892, and the sale was completed by 1908.
In reality, the connection between the Downshires and Blessington had virtually ceased four decades earlier upon the death of the 4th Marquess.
The once great dynasties of the Boyles and the Hills, which for so long had dominated the lives of the people of Blessington, quietly came to an end.
Today, the principal reminders of their reign in Blessington are St Mary's Church; the agent's house (until recently, the Downshire Hotel); the Market House (now Credit Union House); the Inn (now the Ulster Bank).
The 1st Viscount's eldest daughter, Mary, espoused, in 1684, Sir John Talbot Dillon Bt, by whom they had issue a daughter, Mary, married in 1708 to Captain Dunbar; who dying without issue, in 1778, left his estate to Lord Hillsborough, Lord de Vesci, and Lord Longford, as descendants of Lord Primate Boyle.
BLESSINGTON HOUSE, Blessington, County Wicklow, comprised two storeys with a dormered attic in its high-pitched roof.
The principal front had a five-bay centre recessed between two, three-bay projecting wings joined by a balustraded colonnade.
The house stood at the end of an avenue in an exquisite demesne with a deer-park.
The Blessington estate passed through marriage to the 1st Marquess of Downshire, whose great-grandmother was a daughter of Archbishop Boyle.
In her article about Blessington and the Downshire connection, Kathy Trant tells us that Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, was a great-grandson of Archbishop Boyle's daughter Eleanor, who had married William Hill of Hillsborough.
Thus began the Downshire association with Blessington, which continued until 1908, when the tenants bought out their holdings under the Wyndham Land Act.
The estate stretched from the Kildare boundary to the uplands of the Wicklow mountains comprised 36 townlands, 31 of which were in County Wicklow and five in County Kildare.
The 2nd Marquess also had residences at Hillsborough Castle, County Down, Hanover Square, London, Gloucester Street, Dublin, Hertford Castle, Hertfordshire,
Blessington House was burnt by insurgents in 1798.
The raids on Blessington continued into September but by then many of the tenants had left the estate.
The town was now in ruins and the surrounding countryside devastated.
When life gradually returned to normal, people began assessing the damage to their property and many submissions were made to the commission established by the Government to consider the claims of those who had suffered losses during the rebellion.Lord Downshire received over £9,000 for the destruction to his property but he never rebuilt the mansion.
On the Downshire estates, the question now was not whether but when the landlord would sell to the tenants.
This happened on the Blessington estate under the 6th Marquess, who had inherited in 1892, and the sale was completed by 1908.
In reality, the connection between the Downshires and Blessington had virtually ceased four decades earlier upon the death of the 4th Marquess.
The once great dynasties of the Boyles and the Hills, which for so long had dominated the lives of the people of Blessington, quietly came to an end.
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Today, the principal reminders of their reign in Blessington are St Mary's Church; the agent's house (until recently, the Downshire Hotel); the Market House (now Credit Union House); the Inn (now the Ulster Bank).
First published in August, 2012. Blessington arms courtesy of European Heraldry. Excerpts of The Blessington Estate And The Downshire Connection, by Kathy Trant.
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