Mount Talbot House

THE TALBOTS OWNED 5,916 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ROSCOMMON

RICHARD TALBOT (c1520-77), of Templeogue, County Dublin, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, eldest son of William Talbot, the youngest son of Thomas Talbot, Lord of Malahide, married Alice, daughter of John Burnell, of Balgriffin, was father of

JOHN TALBOT, of Templeogue, whose will was proved in 1584; father of

ROBERT TALBOT, of Templeogue, who wedded Eleanor, daughter of Sir Henry Colley, of Castle Carbury, and had two sons,

John, of Templeogue, dsp 1627;
HENRY, his successor.

Mr Talbot died in 1616, and was succeeded by his younger son,

SIR HENRY TALBOT, Knight, of Templeogue, who espoused Margaret, daughter of Sir William Talbot Bt, of Carton, County Kildare, and sister of Richard, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, and had issue,

JAMES;
WILLIAM, succeeded his brother;
Elizabeth; Bridget; Mary; Alice; Ellen; Barbara.

The elder son,

JAMES TALBOT, of Templeogue, and Mount Talbot, County Roscommon, Colonel in JAMES II's army, was killed at the battle of Aughrim, 1691.

He married Bridget, daughter of Francis, 17th Baron Athenry, and had two daughters,

Mary, m John, 9th Earl of Clanricarde;
Bridget, m Valentine Browne (ancestor of the Marquess of Sligo).

Mr Talbot died without male issue, and was succeeded by his brother,

WILLIAM TALBOT (-1692), of Mount Talbot, who wedded Lucy, widow of George Holmes, daughter and co-heir of William Hamilton, of Liscloony, King's County, by whom he had a son,

HENRY TALBOT (-1729), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1713, who married Isabella Forward, and had issue,

WILLIAM, his heir;
John (Rev).

The elder son,

WILLIAM TALBOT (-1787), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1753, wedded, in 1739, Sarah, widow of John Southwell, and daughter of the Rt Hon Henry Rose MP, and had issue,

Henry Rose, dvp 1759;
WILLIAM JOHN, succeeded his brother;
Bridget; Jane.

The younger son,

WILLIAM JOHN TALBOT (-1787), of Mount Talbot, wedded firstly, in 1765, Elizabeth Margaret, daughter of George Rose, of Moyvane, County Limerick, and had a daughter,

Jane, m in 1786 Sir Edmund Stanley.

He espoused secondly, in 1775, the Lady Jane Crosbie, daughter of William, 1st Earl of Glandore, and had further issue,

William, dsp 1851;
JOHN, of whom presently;
Charles;
Theodosia.

The second son,

THE REV JOHN TALBOT, assumed, in 1816, the name and arms of CROSBIE in pursuance of the will of his uncle, John, last Earl of Glandore.

He married, in 1811, Jane, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Lloyd, of Beechmount, County Limerick, and had issue,

WILLIAM (TALBOT-CROSBIE), of Ardfert Abbey;
JOHN, of Mount Talbot;
Anne; Diana.

The Rev John Talbot-Crosbie died in 1818, and was succeeded by his second son,

JOHN TALBOT JP DL (1818-95), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1857, formerly of the 35th Regiment, who assumed, in 1851, the name and arms of TALBOT instead of CROSBIE.

He espoused firstly, in 1845, Marianne, eldest daughter of Marcus McCausland, of Fruit Hill (otherwise Drenagh), County Londonderry, and had an only daughter,

Marianne Jane Theodosia.

Mr Talbot married secondly, in 1858, Gertrude Caroline, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Bayly, of Ballyarthur, County Wicklow, by whom he had a son,

CAPTAIN WILLIAM JOHN TALBOT JP DL (1859-1923), of Mount Talbot, High Sheriff of County Roscommon, 1886, Armagh, 1903, who wedded, in 1897, Julia Elizabeth Mary, only child of Sir Capel Molyneux Bt DL, of Castle Dillon, County Armagh, though the marriage was without male issue.

Captain Talbot was the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Roscommon, from 1917 until 1922.

MOUNT TALBOT HOUSE, near Athleague, County Roscommon, today lies in ruins.

It was built ca 1750 in the Palladian style, with wings constructed at an angle to the main block, joined by curved arcades.

The arcades, which were open, were embellished with urn finials on the parapets.

The central block was changed, about 1820, into a castellated Gothic, Tudor-Revival edifice.

The main block now had a huge square tower at one end with a pair of pinnacles or miniature turrets; and a third castlellated turret at the other end.

Whereas the garden front boasted a three-bay projection with pointed windows and Gothic pinnacles.

A grand Triumphal kind of arch with rusticated piers still remains at the former main entrance to the demesne.

The Talbot family's great ancestral home was maliciously burnt in 1922.

William John Talbot and his wife probably never returned.

Mr Talbot, the last Lord-Lieutenant of County Roscommon, died in London one year later.

Mount Talbot Church

THE charming little church at Mount Talbot, which contains the family mausoleum, was erected by the Talbots in 1766.

It has been described as "a plain, neat, Gothic building, erected in 1766 at an expense of £415, a gift from the Board of First Fruits."

Its last service took place in 1965, it is thought.

First published in December, 2017.