Mount Trenchard House

THE SPRING-RICES, BARONS MONTEAGLE OF BRANDON, WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LIMERICK, WITH 6,445 ACRES

EDWARD RICE, of Dingle, County Kerry, during the reign of HENRY VIII, married Anne, daughter of John Wall, of County Limerick, and was father of

ROBERT RICE, of Dingle, who wedded Julia, daughter of Sir James Whyte, Knight, of Cashel, County Tipperary, and was father of

STEPHEN RICE, of Dingle, MP for Kerry, 1613, who made a deed of settlement of his estates, 1619, and died in 1623.

He espoused Helena, daughter of Thomas Trant, of Cahirtrant, County Kerry, and had two sons, JAMES, MP for Dingle, 1635, from whom descended the RT HON THOMAS SPRING-RICE MP, of Mount Trenchard, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon; and

DOMINICK RICE, MP for Dingle, 1635, who married Alice, daughter of James Hussey, Baron of Galtrim, from which marriage descended

THE RT HON SIR STEPHEN RICE (1637-1715), Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and a supporter of JAMES II, who wedded Mary, daughter of Thomas FitzGerald, of County Limerick, and had issue,

THOMAS;
EDWARD, of whom we treat.

Sir Stephen's elder son,

THOMAS RICE, of Mount Trenchard, wedded Mary, daughter of Maurice FitzGerald, 14th Knight of Kerry, and had issue, a son,

STEPHEN EDWARD RICE, of Mount Trenchard, who married, in 1785, Catherine, only child and heir of Thomas Spring, of Castlemaine, County Kerry, and had issue,

THOMAS, his heir;
Mary; Catherine Ann.

Mr Rice died in 1831, and was succeeded by his son,

THOMAS SPRING-RICE (1790-1866), of Brandon, County Kerry, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1835-39, who wedded firstly, in 1811, the Lady Theodosia Pery, second daughter of Edmund, 1st Earl of Limerick, and had issue,

STEPHEN EDMUND, his successor;
Charles William Thomas, father of SIR CECIL SPRING-RICE GCMG GCVO;
Edmund Henry;
Aubrey Richard;
William Cecil;
Mary Alicia Pery; Theodosia Alicia Ellen F Charlotte; Catherine Anne Lucy.

Mr Spring Rice was elevated to the peerage, in 1839, in the dignity of BARON MONTEAGLE OF BRANDON, of Brandon, County Kerry.

My his first wife he had issue,

STEPHEN EDMOND, his successor;
Charles William Thomas;
Edmond Henry Francis Louis;
Aubrey Richard;
William Cecil;
Theodosia Alicia Ellen F Charlotte; Mary Alicia Pery; Catherine Anne Lucy.

His lordship's eldest son,

THE HON STEPHEN EDMOND SPRING-RICE (1814-65), of Mount Trenchard, espoused, in 1839, Ellen Mary, daughter of William Frere, and had issue,

THOMAS, 2nd Baron;
FRANCIS, 4th Baron;
Aileen; Lucy; Theodosia; Mary; Alice; Frederica; Catherine Ellen; Amy.

The Hon Stephen Edmond Spring-Rice predeceased his father, and was succeeded by his elder son,

THOMAS, 2nd Baron (1849-1926), of Mount Trenchard, who married, in 1875, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the Most Rev and Rt Hon Samuel Butcher, Lord Bishop of Meath, and had issue,
Stephen Edmond (1877-1900);

THOMAS AUBREY, 3rd Baron;
Mary Ellen (1880-1924), of Mount Trenchard.

***** 

Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron (1849–1926);
Thomas Aubrey Spring Rice, 3rd Baron (1883–1934);
Francis Spring Rice, 4th Baron (1852–1937);
Charles Spring Rice, 5th Baron (1887–1946);
Gerald Spring Rice, 6th Baron (1926–2013);
Charles James Spring Rice, 7th Baron (b 1953).
The heir presumptive is the present holder's uncle, the Hon Michael Spring Rice (b 1935).
The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his son, Jonathan Spring Rice (b 1964).
The heir presumptive's heir apparent's heir apparent is his son, Jamie Alexander Spring Rice (b 2003).

MOUNT TRENCHARD HOUSE, near Foynes, County Limerick, is a late-Georgian house of three storeys over a basement, with two curved bows on its entrance front, which overlooks the River Shannon estuary.

There is a wide curved bow in the centre of its garden front, too.

One side of the house has a two-storey Victorian wing, which is almost as high as the main block; while the other side has a one bay, three storey addition and a lower two-storey wing.

Mount Trenchard was occupied by the Irish Army in 1944.

When the 5th Baron Monteagle of Brandon died in 1946, the estate was sold.

Lady Holland lived there for several years.

In 1954, the Sisters of Mercy acquired the estate and ran it as a private school for girls.

They extended the complex to include inter alia a large 1960s dormitory block, classrooms and a church.

Mount Trenchard House became the preserve of the nuns and continued in use as a dwelling.

Subsequent owners acquired the estate in 1996 and began restoring Mount Trenchard House for use as a centre for holistic medicine.

One aspect of the conservation plan was to restore the historic approach to the house which was originally from the south side (in the second half of the 19th century the house had been re-oriented to the north).

This involved changes to the present grounds and paths and woodlands, on the recommendation of the architects leading the project, the owners appointed me to advise them on the forestry and arboriculture aspects of the woodland, heritage, veteran/ancient and champion trees on the estate.

Mount Trenchard is currently used by an agency of the Irish government as an accommodation centre for asylum seekers.

First published in January, 2013.

Kinlough House: II

THE BIG HOUSE AT KINLOUGH, COUNTY LEITRIM

From Chapter Eight of A Man May Fish by T C Kingsmill Moore, first edition published 1960, copyright Estate of T C Kingsmill Moore 1979. 

"… My son tells me that you are an ardent fisherman. We have a house on the shore of Lough Melvin which fishes well in April, and there will be some salmon in the Bundrowse. If you could spare a week or a fortnight of your Easter vacation to stay with us my wife and I would be very pleased.”

This letter, the first of many phrased with the same careful courtesy, introduced me to the big lakes of the west and to a feature of Irish country life then rapidly passing away.

At Bundoran a wizened coachman met me with an outside car which soon covered the hilly miles to where the Big House stood, surrounded on three sides by woodland and open on the fourth, where lawns and fields sloped to the water’s edge.

In spring, the daffodils spread themselves in golden drifts down to the lake, in autumn the scarlet lobelia blazed a flare of colour between house and shrubberies.

The house itself, built when the Georgian style was yielding to the Victorian, was large but architecturally undistinguished.

Originally the walls of all the main rooms had been covered with French cartoons in grisaille, illustrating scenes from classical mythology.

The many life-sized nudes were a little too explicit for Victorian taste, and pictures and furniture had been arranged to hide the more compromising details.

When a later generation, bracing itself to acknowledge the facts of anatomy, removed the obstructions, it was too late.

The discolouration was permanent.

Already the house was an anachronism, a manor house without an estate.

For nearly a century, when Irish country life had been built on a structure of landlord and tenant, it had been the centre of interest for a barony, its stables full of carriages and horses, its garden a model, its owners men of learning and public spirit.

Politics and literature have dealt harshly with the Irish landlord.

Sad and mad they may have been; too often they were absentees.

But many of them were men of culture, bravery, and a high sense of public duty.

Their libraries were good and sometimes remarkable.

They planted world-famous gardens.

They organised and endowed innumerable Irish charities, relieved distress, and helped and advised such tenants as were willing to accept their advice.

Much of their time was spent in hunting and field sports, but these provided employment of the type that the Irish countryman likes, and made the big house a centre of interest and society.

Above all, they supplied a personal relationship which made up for many abuses.

A good landlord was united to his tenantry by bonds part patriarchal, part feudal, and entirely human, which formed a not unsatisfactory pattern of life.

Now all of this has been changed, shattered irretrievably by a great reform which had enabled the tenants to become freeholders.

The landlords lived on, financially not much worse off, still doing their duty on bench and synod, and spending much of their leisure in sport; but the ties which bound them and their families to the countryside were snapped.

Old retainers still remained.

The coachman who had met me was serving his fourth generation, the parlour maid had been nurse to my host, the gardener had been trained by his grandfather.

But the dust was settling; the Big House was dying at its roots.

My host, who had for some years been living a life of use and wont in which sport had ceased to play a part, his guns licensed but unfired, his rods idle in their cases, now roused himself to put his son and myself on the road to true orthodoxy.

He was orthodox to a fault, his fishing methods not so much dated as out-dated, but I owe him a grounding in caution, in boat-craft, and in etiquette which was to help me in difficult times and places...

For four years my fishing centred around the Big House, ten days in spring and the same in August.

The old retainers were dropping away.

“I’ve seen what I’ve seen and I’ll not see much more,” said the coachman, now nearly ninety on the last occasion that he drove me to the station.

On my next visit he was gone.

Kate, the parlour maid, found her rheumatism too crippling, and the gardener retired on a pension to a cottage.

The squire had ceased to come to the lake with us, and he was intellectually less alert.

Over the port he had been eager to cross-question me on all the vexed problems of the day, with his unvaried courtesy treating my undergraduate opinions as if they were worth listening to.

Now he avoided discussion.

When things puzzled him he no longer sought an answer.

He lived more and more in the past.

A weary, slightly despairing look often came over his kindly face.

I was too young to recognise the significance of these changes, signs that the organism could no longer adapt itself to its environment, the first, faint, far-borne notes of the trumpet of Azrael.

Then at one stride came disaster.

Father and mother were dead; the son, always delicate, became incurably ill.

The Big House had fallen.

Another old Irish family had come to an end.

Of the Big House itself only a few ruins now remain.’ 

T.C. Kingsmill Moore was born in Dublin in March 1893 and he died there in February, 1979, at the age of 85. He went to school in Marlborough, England, and returned to Dublin to take a degree at Trinity College. 

During the First World War, from 1917-18, he was in the Royal Flying Corps in France and Flanders. He became a barrister on his return to Dublin and during the Civil War from 1922-23 was also the War Correspondent for the Irish Times. 

In 1947 he was appointed a judge of the High Court and in 1961 a judge of the Supreme Court, retiring in 1965. His visits to the Big House at Kinlough took place between 1914 and 1917 when he was an undergraduate in Trinity. 

First published in March, 2019. 

Royal Visit

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall have begun a two-day visit to Northern Ireland.

Their Royal Highnesses, having been received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast (Mrs Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle CBE), this afternoon visited Cookstown, County Tyrone, and were received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of County Tyrone (Mr Robert Scott OBE).

TRH subsequently visited Superstars Café, 13 Oldtown Street, Cookstown, and were received by Mrs Frances Nolan (Deputy Lieutenant of County Tyrone).

The Prince of Wales afterwards attended a Reception at Lissan House, County Tyrone, and was received by Mrs Meta Bell (Deputy Lieutenant of County Tyrone).

His Royal Highness, Patron, The Prince's Countryside Fund, subsequently visited the College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise Greenmount Campus, 45 Tirgracy Road, Muckamore, Antrim, and was received by Mr Christopher Kerr (Deputy Lieutenant of County Tyrone).

The Duchess of Cornwall later visited a Women's Aid Refuge.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited Belfast on Wednesday, 23rd March.

Their Royal Highnesses visited C.S. Lewis Square, 402 Newtownards Road, to mark the Twenty Fifth Anniversary of the EastSide Partnership and were received by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of the County Borough of Belfast (Mrs. Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle CBE).

The Prince of Wales afterwards officially re-opened Belfast's Grand Opera House, 2-4 Great Victoria Street.

His Royal Highness, Patron, visited Marie Curie, 1A Kensington Road, and was received by Dr. Philip McGarry OBE DL (a Deputy Lieutenant of Belfast).

The Prince of Wales this afternoon attended a Reception for those who supported the refugee community in Northern Ireland, at Titanic Belfast, 1 Olympic Way, Queen's Road.

HRH, Patron, Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation, subsequently attended a Reception at Titanic Belfast.

The Duchess of Cornwall this morning visited Holywood Arches Library, 12 Holywood Road, and was received by the Very Rev Dr. F. Sellar DL(a Deputy Lieutenant of Belfast).

Her Royal Highness this afternoon visited BBC Northern Ireland, Broadcasting House, 25 Ormeau Avenue, and was received by Mrs. Michele Marken DL (Deputy Lieutenant of Belfast).

HRH afterwards visited Titanic Belfast and was received by Mr. N. Price DL (Deputy Lieutenant of Belfast).

Alan Clark: Diaries

I have been re-reading the immensely enjoyable Diaries Into Politics, by the late Alan Clark.

The Hon Alan Clark, elder son of the Lord Clark, was MP for Plymouth (Sutton), 1974-92, Kensington and Chelsea, 1997-99.

He was appointed a Privy Counsellor when he became Defence Minister.

If you haven’t already dipped into his Diaries, or indeed his other publications (including the splendid Back Fire: A Passion For Motoring, I urge you so to do.

Alan was an insufferable snob.

He once said that Michael Heseltine - “odious Heseltine” - had to buy his own furniture.

In July, 1981, the Clarks gave a grand dinner party for Aspinall’s Ball at Port Lympne: Edward and Fiona Montagu, Jonathan Aitken, Jonathan Guinness and his wife, and two of his sons.

The food “was delicious and the table almost overloaded with Meissen, solid silver, Venetian glass etc.” 

Boy Scouts lined the driveway holding torches of pitch, girl guides doing the same thing from the car park.

As Simon Heffer has said, Diaries show all sides of a man who was, within his complex personality, arrogant, sensitive, loyal, unfaithful, patriotic, selfish, selfless, and - at all times - completely technicolour.

Knocktopher Abbey

THE LANGRISHE BARONETS OWNED 2,615 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY KILKENNY

This family is descended from Sir Nicholas Langrish, Knight, who was seized of the Manor of Langrish, Hampshire, in 1273. The Irish branch is descended from Rafe, or Ralph, third son of Nicholas Langrishe, of Langrishe.

Ralph Langrishe, of Bordon, died between 1542-59; the third in descent from him was Major Hercules Langrishe (1594-1659), Carver in Ordinary to Queen Henrietta Maria, who prevented the arrest of the "Five Members" by CHARLES I.

JOHN LANGRISHE (1660-1735), son of Hercules Langrishe (the first member of the family who settled in Ireland), became proprietor of the borough of Knocktopher, County Kilkenny.

Mr Langrishe, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1696, married firstly, Alicia, second daughter of Harry, 2nd Baron Blayney, and widow of Thomas Sandford, of Sandford Court; and secondly, Miss Sandford, daughter of Colonel Sandford; but had issue by neither of those ladies.

He wedded thirdly, Mary, daughter of Robert Grace, feudal baron of Courtstown, and had an only son, his successor,

ROBERT LANGRISHE (c1696-1769), of Knocktopher, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1740, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in Ireland, 1745-9, who espoused Anne, daughter of Jonathan Whitby, and had issue,

HERCULES, his heir;
Olympia.

Mr Langrishe was succeeded by his son and heir,

THE RT HON HERCULES LANGRISHE (1731-1811), of Knocktopher, MP for Knocktopher, 1761-1800, who was created a baronet in 1777, designated of Knocktopher Abbey, County Kilkenny.

Sir Hercules, who was a member of the Privy Council, represented the borough of Knocktopher in the Irish parliament for forty years, during which period he ranked amongst the most distinguished of its members, and was the first who advocated and obtained a partial relaxation of the most atrocious code of laws which oppressed the Roman Catholics of Ireland, a code that consigned 80% of the population to unmitigated and grinding slavery, and reduced the whole of the state to semi-barbarism.

He married, in 1755, Hannah, daughter and co-heir of Robert Myhill, of Killarney, County Kilkenny, and sister of Jane, wife of Charles, 1st Marquess of Ely, and had issue,

ROBERT, his successor;
John;
James (Very Rev), Dean of Achonry;
Elizabeth; Mary Jane; Hannah.

Sir Hercules was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR ROBERT LANGRISHE, 2nd Baronet (1756-1835), who wedded, in 1782, Anne, daugher of Bellingham Boyle, and granddaughter of the Most Rev Dr John Hoadly, Lord Archbishop of Armagh, and had issue,

HERCULES RICHARD, his successor;
Anne; Henrietta Maria; Elizabeth.

Sir Robert as succeeded by his only son,

THE REV SIR HERCULES RICHARD LANGRISHE, 3rd Baronet (1782-1862), who espoused, in 1817, Maria, daughter of James Henry Cottingham, and had issue,

JAMES, his successor;
Richard;
Anne Maria; Rose Isabella.

Sir Hercules was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JAMES LANGRISHE, 4th Baronet (1823-1910), JP DL, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1866, Lieutenant-Colonel, 5th Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, who married firstly, in 1857, Adela de Blois Eccles; and secondly, in 1906, Algitha Maud, daughter of Sir Henry Daniel Gooch Bt, and had issue,

HERCULES ROBERT, his successor;
Adela Constance; Maria Cecilia; Mary Isabella; Frances Alice; Norah Elizabeth.

Sir James was succeeded by his only son,

SIR HERCULES ROBERT LANGRISHE, 5th Baronet (1859-1943), JP DL, High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, 1891, Honorary Major, Oxfordshire Light Infantry, Temporary Commander RNVR, who wedded, in 1887, Helen Amelrosa Hume, daughter of the Rt Hon William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Dick, and had issue,

TERENCE HUME, his successor;
Hercules Ralph, Lieutenant.

Sir Hercules was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR TERENCE HUME LANGRISHE, 6th Baronet (1895-1973), Captain, the Intelligence Corps, who married, in 1926, Joan Stuart, daughter of Major Ralph Stuart Grigg, and had issue,

HERCULES RALPH HUME, his successor;
Patrick Nicholas;
Robert Gore.

Sir Terence was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HERCULES RALPH HUME LANGRISHE, 7th Baronet (1927-1998), who married, in 1955, Grania Sybil Enid, daughter of Mervyn Patrick, 9th Viscount Powerscourt, and had issue,

JAMES HERCULES, his successor;
Miranda Grania; Georgina Emma; Atalanta Sue.

Sir Hercules was succeeded by his only son,

SIR JAMES HERCULES LANGRISHE, 8th and present Baronet (1957-), of Arlonstown, Dunsany, County Meath, who married, in 1985, Gemma Mary Philomena, daughter of Patrick O'Daly, and has issue,

RICHARD JAMES HERCULES, b 1988;
Victoria Anna Jean, b 1986.

KNOCKTOPHER ABBEY, Knocktopher, County Kilkenny, is a house which incorporates the remains of the first Carmelite friary in Ireland.

It was rebuilt ca 1866 in the High-Victorian-Gothic style, following a fire.

The house has trefoil-headed, mullioned windows and several gables; high roofs; and a pyramidal-roofed porch tower.

The Abbey remained in the family until 1981.

First published in July, 2018.

Dromore Castle

THE MAHONYS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY KERRY, WITH 26,173 ACRES

The O'Mahonys were, in early times, powerful chieftains in the province of Munster, and had extensive estates along the sea-coast of counties Cork and Kerry.

Opposite Horse Island, off the former county, was their castle of Rosbrin, boldly erected on a rock over the sea; and its proprietor, in the time of ELIZABETH I, availing himself of the natural advantage that it possessed, led a life of such successful piracy, that Sir George Carew, when Lord President of Munster, was obliged to demolish it.

From old family documents, it appears that the ancestors of RICHARD JOHN MAHONY, of Dromore Castle, held for a long period the office of Seneschal of Kerry, even down to the time of the Commonwealth.

In 1639, MacDermot O'Mahony was confirmed as High Sheriff of Kerry by CHARLES I. Not long after, the O'Mahonys, true to their allegiance, suffered fine and confiscation, and finally sought in foreign climes the distinction denied them at home.

COLONEL DERMOT O'MAHONY, of Rosbrin, a faithful adherent of JAMES II, fought and fell at Aughrim.

His brother, DANIEL MAHONY, received the honour of knighthood from that monarch at St Germain's for his gallant conduct at Cremona, and afterwards for his good services in France, Spain and Italy, obtained the title of Count from LOUIS XIV.

This was the celebrated General Count MAHONY, of the Spanish service, so distinguished at Almanza and in Sicily as Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish troops.

A chief line of the great House of Mahony resident in County Kerry was

JOHN MAHONY, of Dromore Castle, who married firstly, in 1794, Miss Higginbotham, of Bath, who died without issue; and secondly, Miss Day, daughter of the Ven Edward Day, Archdeacon of Ardfert, of Beaufort House, County Kerry, and had issue,

DENIS, of whom presently;
Richard.

He married thirdly, Miss Godfrey, daughter of Sir William Godfrey Bt, of Kilcoleman Abbey, County Kerry, by whom he had a daughter, Agnes, who wedded R C Hickson, of Fermoyle, County Kerry.

Mr Mahony died in 1817, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE REV DENIS MAHONY JP, of Dromore Castle, who married firstly, in 1827, Lucinda Catherine, only child of John Segerson, of West Cove, County Kerry, and had a son,

RICHARD JOHN, of whom hereafter.

He wedded secondly, in 1829, Jane, daughter of Sir John Blake Bt, of Menlo Castle, and by her had issue,

Denis;
Edward;
Henry;
John;
Rose; Margaret.

He espoused thirdly, in 1843, Katherine, daughter of Mathew Franks, of Merrion Square, Dublin, by whom he had one daughter, Mary Ellen.

The Rev Denis Mahony died in 1851, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

RICHARD JOHN MAHONY JP DL (1828-), of Dromore Castle, High Sheriff of County Kerry, 1853, who was father of

HAROLD SEGERSON MAHONY JP (1867-1905), of Dromore Castle, County Kerry, who succeeded his father in 1892.

When Harold Mahony was killed in a bicycle accident in 1905, he left no heirs.

The estate passed to his sister, Norah Eveleen Mahony, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Hood TD JP, who, in turn, left the castle to her cousin, Hugh Bolton Waller.

DROMORE CASTLE, near Templenoe, County Kerry, looks out over the River Kenmare.

It was built in the 1830s for the Mahony family to a neo-gothic design by Sir Thomas Deane.

It was designed and built for Denis Mahony.

Work began in 1831, although the account books show that only a negligible amount had been carried out before 1834.

Building work was completed in 1839.

The house is in the castellated Gothic-Revival style, with an external finish of Roman cement with limestone dressings.

With the notable exception of the grand south-facing window with its pointed arch, the windows consist of pointed tracery contained within rectangular frames, a style characteristic of Deane's domestic work.

The entrance hall, which is in the form of a long gallery, takes up half of the area of the ground floor.

The west wing of the Castle takes the form of a round tower, with a spiral staircase contained within an attached turret.

Although Dromore Castle appears to have been built on the instructions of Denis Mahony, his father John Mahony had made the decision to build a large residence earlier in the 19th century, but apparently abandoned the attempt after his yacht, returning from London with lead for the roof and wine for the cellar, sank in the River Kenmare, in view of the site of the house.

Thereafter, no further work took place until Deane began building work for Denis Mahony in the 1830s.

Denis Mahony was a rector of the Church of Ireland and a keen proselytiser.

He is known to have set up a soup kitchen at Dromore during the time of the Irish Potato Famine, and preached in the chapel at Dromore to the hungry who came for food.

His proselytizing activities did not make him a popular figure in the locality, and in 1850 he was attacked in his church at Templenoe.

On returning to Dromore, he found a further angry group had uprooted flower beds, felled trees and were about to set fire to the castle; it is claimed that they were only stopped by the intervention of the local priest.

After the Rev Denis Mahony's death in 1851, the castle was inherited by his son, Richard John Mahony, who successfully ran the estate in addition to farming oyster beds in the bay.

When Richard Mahony died, the castle then passed in turn to his son, Harold Segerson Mahony.

Harold was an extremely successful tennis player, and indeed was the last Irish winner at Wimbledon.

His tennis court can still be found in the gardens at the Castle.

It was in the late 1800s, during Harold Mahony's time as head of the household, that Harold Boulton, best known for writing the lyrics of the Skye Boat Song, came to visit Dromore, and it is then that he is thought to have written the words to the popular song "The Castle of Dromore," published in 1892.

When Harold Mahony was killed in a bicycle accident in 1905, he left no heirs, and the castle was passed to his sister, Norah Hood.

She in turn left the castle to her cousin, Hardrass Waller, and the castle remained in the hands of the Waller family until 1993 when it was offered for sale.

Dromore Castle is now owned by an investment company who are attempting to restore the building.

Beyond the Castle's gardens and outbuildings, the majority of the Castle grounds are now owned by  the Irish forestry board.

The Kerry Way runs through the grounds, and there are various footpaths leading to the Kenmare River. Entrance to the grounds is through a castellated gatehouse, also by Thomas Deane.

First published in June, 2012.

Clonbrock House

THE BARONS CLONBROCK WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY GALWAY, WITH 28,246 ACRES OF LAND

This family deduces its descent from a common progenitor with the Dillons, Earls of Roscommon, and the Dillons, Viscounts Dillon.

Sir James Dillon, brother of Sir Maurice, who was ancestor of the Viscount Dillon, was father of Sir Robert, who had two sons, Sir Richard, of Riverston, ancestor of the Earls of Roscommon; and Gerald, ancestor of the Barons Clonbrock.

This Gerald married Elizabeth, daughter of John, Baron Barry, and was ancestor of Thomas Dillon, of Clonbrock, County Galway, Chief Justice of Connaught, 1603; from whom was descended

ROBERT DILLON (c1704-46), MP for Dungarvan, 1728-46, who wedded Margaret, daughter of MORGAN MAGAN, of Togherston House, County Westmeath, and was father of

LUKE DILLON, of Clonbrock, who wedded Bridget, daughter of John Kelly, of Castle Kelly, County Galway, and the Lady Honoria Burke, daughter of JOHN, 9TH EARL OF CLANRICARDE, and had issue,

ROBERT, his heir;
Luke;
John;
Honoria; Susanna.

The eldest son,

ROBERT DILLON (1754-95), MP for Lanesborough, 1776-90, was elevated to the peerage, in 1793, in the dignity of BARON CLONBROCK, of Clonbrock, County Galway.

His lordship married, in 1776, Letitia, only daughter and heir of John Greene, of Old Abbey, County Limerick, and niece, maternally, of John, Earl of Norbury, and had issue,

LUKE, his successor;
Catherine Bridget; Letitia Susannah.

His lordship was succeeded by his son,

LUKE, 2nd Baron (1780-1826), who wedded, in 1803, Anastasia, only daughter and heir of Joseph Henry, 1st Baron Wallscourt, by the Lady Louisa Catherine Bermingham, his wife, third daughter and co-heir of Thomas, Earl of Louth, and had issue,

ROBERT, his successor;
Louisa Harriet; Letitia.

The only son,

ROBERT, 3rd Baron (1807-93), espoused, in 1830, Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of Francis, 1st Baron Churchill, and had issue,

Luke Almeric, died in infancy;
LUKE GERALD, his successor;
Fanny Letitia; Caroline Anastasia.

His lordship was succeeded by his surviving son,

LUKE GERALD, 4th Baron (1834-1917), KP PC, who married, in 1866, Augusta Caroline, daughter of Edward, 2nd Baron Crofton, and had issue,

ROBERT EDWARD, his successor;
Georgiana Caroline; Edith Augusta; Ethel Louisa.

His lordship was succeeded by his only son,

ROBERT EDWARD, 5th Baron (1869-1926), who died unmarried, when the title expired.

CLONBROCK HOUSE, Ahascragh, County Galway, was built between 1780-88 by Robert Dillon, later 1st Baron Clonbrock.

It comprised three storeys over a basement, and replaced a an older castle which was burnt in 1807 owing to a bonfire lit to celebrate the birth of his lordship's son and heir, the 2nd Baron.

Clonbrock had a seven-bay entrance front with a three-bay, pedimented breakfront.

A single-storey Doric portico was added about 1824.

In 1855, the 3rd Baron added a single-storey, two-bay bow-ended wing to the right of the entrance front.

Following the death of the bachelor 5th Baron in 1926, Clonbrock passed to his sister, the Hon Ethel Louisa Dillon.

It was subsequently bequeathed to her nephew, Mr Luke Dillon-Mahon, who sold it in 1976.

Clonbrock suffered a catastrophic fire in 1984 and is now ruinous.

First published in March, 2014.  Clonbrock arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

House of Crichton

This name originally assumed from the barony of Crichton in Edinburgh.

This family is descended from a branch of the Viscounts Frendraught, in Scotland.

JOHN CREIGHTON, of Crom Castle, County Fermanagh, settled in County Fermanagh during the reign of CHARLES I.

He married Mary, daughter of Sir Gerald Irvine, of Castle Irvine, and was succeeded by his son,

ABRAHAM CREIGHTON (c1631-c1705), MP for County Fermanagh, 1692-3, Enniskillen, 1695-9, who commanded a foot regiment in WILLIAM III's service at the battle of Aughrim, 1692.

Colonel Creighton, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1673, married Mary, daughter of the Rt Rev James Spottiswood, Lord Bishop of Clogher, and had issue,

DAVID, his heir;
James;
Abraham;
Jane; Marianna.

He was succeeded by his only surviving son,

DAVID CREIGHTON (1671-1728), celebrated for his gallant defence, in 1689, of the family seat of Crom Castle, against a large body of the Jacobite army.

Having repulsed the assailants, young Creighton made a sally, at the instant that a corps of Enniskilleners was approaching to the relief of the castle, which movement placed the besiegers between two fires, and caused dreadful slaughter.

The enemy attempting to accomplish his retreat across an arm of Lough Erne at Inishfendra Island, near Crom Castle, that spot became the scene of such carnage, that it bore the name of the "Bloody Pass".

He represented Augher in parliament, 1695-9, and Lifford, 1703-28; attained the rank of major-general in the army; and was appointed Governor of the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, County Dublin.

General Creighton wedded, in 1700, Katherine, second daughter of Richard Southwell, of Castle Mattress, County Limerick, and sister of 1st Lord Southwell, and had issue,

ABRAHAM, his heir;
Meliora.

He and was succeeded by his only son,

ABRAHAM CREIGHTON (c1700-72), MP for Lifford, 1727-68, who was elevated to the peerage, in 1768, by the title of Baron Erne, of Crom Castle.

His lordship espoused Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Rogerson, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench in Ireland, and had issue,

David, died young;
JOHN, his successor;
Abraham;
Meliora; Charlotte; Mary.

He married secondly, in 1762, Jane, only daughter of John King, of Charlestown, County Roscommon, and widow of Arthur Acheson, by whom he had no issue.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

JOHN, 2nd Baron (1731-1828), who was created Viscount Erne in 1781; and advanced to the dignity of an earldom, 1789, as EARL OF ERNE.

His lordship wedded firstly, in 1761, Catherine, 2nd daughter of the Rt Rev Robert Howard, Lord Bishop of Elphin, and sister of the Viscount Wicklow, and had issue,

ABRAHAM, his successor;
John;
Elizabeth; Catherine.

He espoused secondly, in 1776, the Lady Mary Hervey, eldest daughter of Frederick Augustus, 4th Earl of Bristol and Lord Bishop of Derry, and had an only daughter, Elizabeth Caroline Mary, who wedded James Archibald, Lord Wharncliffe.

• Abraham Creighton, 2nd Earl (1765–1842);
• John Crichton, 3rd Earl (1802–85);
• John Henry Crichton, 4th Earl (1839–1914);
  • Henry William Crichton, Viscount Crichton (1872–1914);
    • Hon. George David Hugh Crichton (1904–1904);
• John Henry George Crichton, 5th Earl (1907–40);
• Henry George Victor John Crichton, KCVO 6th Earl (1937-2015).

John Henry Michael Ninian [Crichton] succeeded his father as 7th Earl.

*****

Crom Castle in County Fermanagh, remains the ancestral seat of the Earls of Erne.

Crom Estate, however, has been a property of the National Trust since 1988.

The name Crom, which was sometimes spelt "Crum", is traditionally pronounced "Crum".

The 6th Earl, who died on the 23rd December, 2015, is survived by wife Anna, Countess of Erne, and his son and four daughters: John, 7th Earl; Lady Cleone; Lady Davina; Lady Katherine; and Lady Tara.

The 6th Earl retired as HM Lord-Lieutenant for County Fermanagh on the 9th July, 2012, having served 25 years in office.

One of his final official engagements was to welcome Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh to the county during Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee tour, on the 26th June, 2012.

First published in January, 2012.

1st Viscount Allen

JOHN ALLEN, the founder of this family in Ireland, settled there some time towards the close of ELIZABETH I's reign.

He came from Holland to Dublin as factor for the Dutch merchants (the family had emigrated from England to Holland in 1580), and beside amassing a very large fortune, distinguished himself by a refined taste in architecture.

Mr Allen was greatly esteemed, and consulted by the most eminent of the nobility and gentry in their buildings; particularly by the Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in his large, intended edifice near Naas, County Kildare.

Mr Allen laid out the plan of his own house at Mullynahack, near Dublin, leaving it to be executed by his son.

He died ca 1641, and was father of

SIR JOSHUA ALLEN, an eminent and opulent merchant of Dublin, who served the office of Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1673, and received the honour of knighthood.

Sir Joshua, High Sheriff of Dublin City, 1664, completed the house at Mullynahack begun by his father, called "Allen's Court."

He married Mary, daughter of John Wybrow, of Cheshire, and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Eleanor; Elizabeth; Mary.

Sir Joshua died in 1691, and was succeeded by his son,

THE RT HON JOHN ALLEN (1660-1726), Privy Counsellor, High Sheriff of County Dublin, 1691, MP for County Dublin, 1692-3, County Carlow, 1695-9, County Dublin, 1703-13, County Wicklow, 1713-14, County Dublin, 1715-17.

Mr Allen wedded, in 1684, Mary, daughter of the Rt Hon Robert FitzGerald, and sister of Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare, and had issue,

JOSHUA, his successor;
Robert;
Richard, father of the 4th and 5th Viscounts.

He was elevated to the peerage, in 1717, in the dignities of Baron Allen, of Stillorgan, County Dublin, and VISCOUNT ALLEN, County Kildare.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOSHUA, 2nd Viscount (1685-1742), MP for County Kildare, 1709-26, who espoused, in 1707, Margaret, daughter of Samuel du Pass, of Epsom, Surrey, and had issue,

JOHN, his successor;
Frances; Elizabeth.

His lordship was succeeded by his son and heir,

JOHN, 3rd Viscount (1713-45), MP for Carysfort, 1733-42; who, being insulted in the public streets by some disorderly dragoons, in 1742, received a wound in the hand, which occasioned a fever and caused his death soon afterwards.

Since he died unmarried, his sisters became his heirs, and the title devolved upon his first cousin (refer to the children of the Hon Richard Allen, youngest son of the 1st Viscount),

JOHN, 4th Viscount, MP for County Wicklow, 1742-5, at whose decease unmarried, in 1753, the honours passed to his next brother,

JOSHUA, 5th Viscount (1728-1816), MP for Eye, 1762-70, who married, in 1781, Frances, daughter of Gaynor Barry, and had issue,

JOSHUA WILLIAM, his successor;
Letitia Dorothea; Frances Elizabeth.

His lordship was succeeded by his son and heir,

JOSHUA WILLIAM, 6th Viscount (c1782-1845), a military officer, who served under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular Wars.

His lordship died unmarried, when the title expired.

STILLORGAN HOUSE, Stillorgan, County Dublin, was begun in 1695 by John Allen MP, afterwards 1st Viscount Allen.

It comprised a two-storey, seven-bay centre block, and single storey, seven-bay wings.

The house had dormered attics and high-pitched roofs.

The centre block had lofty, slender chimneys, two at each end.

The demesne had formal gardens, an obelisk, and a grotto by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce.

The mansion was demolished in 1860 and only the grotto and obelisk remain.

First published in August, 2018.  Allen arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

Glenmore Lodge

THE STYLE BARONETS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY DONEGAL, WITH 39,564 ACRES 

This family, which was originally of Ipswich, Suffolk, derives from

WILLIAM STYLE, of that place, whose son,

JOHN STYLE, obtained an aldermanic gown in London, and wedded Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Guy Wolston, Knight, of London, by whom he had

SIR HUMPHREY STYLE, Knight, of Langley Park, Beckenham, High Sheriff of Kent, 1543, during the reign of HENRY VIII, and one of the Esquires of the Body to that monarch.

This gentleman espoused Bridget, daughter of Sir Thomas Baldrey, Knight, and had three sons, viz.

Edmund;
OLIVER, of whom presently;
Nicholas, Alderman of London.

The second son,

OLIVER STYLE (1542-1622), after serving the office of Sheriff of London, 1606, purchased the manor of Wateringbury, Kent, and retired there.

He was succeeded by his only surviving son, 

THOMAS STYLE (1587-1637), of Wateringbury, High Sheriff of Kent, 1634, who married Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Robert Foulkes, of Mountnessing, Essex, and had issue,

THOMAS, his successor;
Elizabeth; Susan; Anne.

Sir Thomas was created a baronet in 1627, designated of Wateringbury, Kent.

He was succeeded by his only son,

SIR THOMAS STYLE, 2nd Baronet (1624-1702), who married firstly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Airmine Bt, of Osgodby, Lincolnshire, and had, with other issue,

Thomas;
OLIVER, succeeded his father;
Elizabeth; Mary; Susan; Anne.

Sir Thomas wedded secondly, Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Twisden Bt, of Bradburne, Kent, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench, and had, with other issue,

THOMAS, succeeded as 4th Baronet;
Margaret.

Sir Thomas was succeeded by the only surviving son of his first marriage,

SIR OLIVER STYLE, 3rd Baronet (c1670-1703), who died a few months after he inherited, and leaving no issue, the title devolved upon his half-brother,

SIR THOMAS STYLE, 4th Baronet (c1685-1769), who pulled down the ancient mansion of Wateringbury Place, and erected a new seat, where he kept his shrievalty in 1710.

He espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Charles Hotham Bt, and had issue, with two daughters,

CHARLES, his successor;
Robert (Rev);
William, Lieutenant-General.

Sir Thomas was succeeded at his demise by his eldest surviving son,

SIR CHARLES STYLE, 5th Baronet, who married, in 1770, Isabella, daughter of Richard, 1st Viscount Powerscourt, by whom he had Dorothy, wife of John Larking, and a son, his successor at his demise in 1774,

SIR CHARLES STYLE, 6th Baronet (d 1804), who wedded, in 1794, Camilla, eldest daughter of James Whatman, of Vintners, Kent, and had issue,

THOMAS, his successor;
THOMAS CHARLES, 8th Baronet;
Isabella Anne; Mary.

Sir Charles was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR THOMAS STYLE, 7th Baronet (d 1813), an officer in the army; at whose decease, unmarried, in Spain, the title devolved upon his brother,

SIR THOMAS CHARLES STYLE, 8th Baronet (1797-1879), MP for Scarborough, 1837-41, who wedded, in 1822, Isabella, daughter of Sir George Cayley Bt, of Brompton, Yorkshire, and had a daughter, EMMA (1828-34).

• Sir William Henry Marsham, 9th Baronet (1826–1904);
• Sir Frederick Montague, 10th Baronet (1857–1930);
• Sir William Frederick, 11th Baronet (1887–1943);
• Sir William Montague, 12th Baronet (1916–81);
• Sir William Frederick, 13th Baronet (b 1945).

The heir apparent is the present holder's only son Shannon Gay Style (b 1969).

*****

The Rev Robert Style, younger brother of the 5th Baronet, was Vicar of Wateringbury and Rector of Mereworth.

His eldest son,

CHARLES STYLE (1777-1853), of Glenmore, Stranorlar, County Donegal, married, in 1812, Frances, eldest daughter of John Cochrane, of Edenmore, Stranorlar.

*****

SIR THOMAS CHARLES STYLE, 8th Baronet, JP DL, inherited the Glenmore estate in County Donegal. His cousin,

SIR WILLIAM HENRY MARSHAM STYLE, 9th Baronet (1826-1904), JP DL, of Glenmore.

It is thought that Sir William Frederick Style, 13th Baronet (born 1945) lives in the USA.

THE LODGE, Glenmore, County Donegal, was a Georgian house, built in the mid to late 18th century.

It was renovated for Sir William Style, in the Neo-Tudor style, in the early 20th century.

The house was demolished in the 1990s.

The Glenmore estate is renowned for its game activities.

First published in November, 2014.

Coney Island

Coney Island, Lough Neagh (Image: Northern Ireland Tourist Board)

CONEY ISLAND, a tiny wooded islet in the south-west corner of LOUGH NEAGH, is a short distance by boat from Maghery, County Armagh.

In 1837 this little island extended to a mere two acres; the Lough, however, has since been lowered several times, and today comprises nine acres.

A cottage was built in 1896 as a summer retreat for Lord Charlemont.

The building has been renovated more recently and is now the dwelling of the warden on the island.

Coney Island ca 1840 (historic OS map)

The remains of a heavily overgrown, ruinous, rectangular, redbrick outbuilding located to east side of Cottage may originally have served as a summer house, though became the servants' range possibly following building of the cottage in 1896.

The mature woodland has winding paths, most of which are close to the lough, with fine prospects across to the mainland.

The open ground in front of the house used to be a croquet lawn.

At the eastern side of the island there are the ruins of a 16th century stone tower (O'Neill's Tower/ Coney Keep) and motte, where there was once a flag-pole.

Coney Island ca 1830 (historic OS map)

The National Trust remarks that the tower must formerly have stood almost on the tip of the pear-shaped island, but since lough levels have dropped through successive "lowerings" in the 20th century, the tower now stands well within the present lake edge.

The tower was extensively renovated by LORD CHARLEMONT to serve as a rustic mausoleum, and in which he was subsequently buried in 1913.

Coney Island, formerly called Inisdaville, was granted by Walter de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, to the Archbishop of Armagh ca 1266.

Ash, horse chestnut, sycamore, beech, oak, wych elm, and Scots pine trees predominate the island, and alder proliferates the circumference.

The island is owned by the National Trust and administered by the local borough council with public access.