Estate: Bermingham/Birmingham

Associated Families

• Ruttledge
• Bodkin (Kilcloony)
• Bermingham/Birmingham (Baron Athenry, Earl of Louth)
• Trotter (Kilquain)
• Burke (Keeloges)
• Dennis (Bermingham House)
• Sewell

Description

Edward Bermingham, Lord Athenry, was granted over 5,000 acres, mainly in the barony of Dunmore, county Galway, by patent dated 16 Sept 1680 while Remigius Bermingham was granted overe 5,200 acres in county Mayo in 1681. There are records relating to the Bermingham family in the late 17th and early 18th century in the Westport Estate Papers. The descendants of Lord Athenry sold the Kilcloony estate to the Bodkins in 1759 and the Barbersfort estate to the Ruttledges in 1816. Thomas Bermingham 22nd Lord Athenry and a Member of Parliament for county Galway was created earl of Louth in April 1759. By his second marriage to Margaret Daly of Quansbury he left as his co heiresses three daughters, who married Thomas B.H. Sewell, William St Lawrence 2nd Earl of Howth and Joseph Henry Blake of Ardfry.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Quainsborough/Quansbury Lodge/Stowlin (H910) Originally a Daly house. In 1783 Taylor and Skinner and Wilson, in 1786, record Queensborough as a seat of the Earl of Louth. Slater refers to Quansborough Lodges as the seat of William B. Burke in 1846. Mentioned in the sale notice for portion of the St. George estate in November 1853. John P Watson was the occupier of a house valued at £13 in the townland of Stowlin, parish of Kilquain, barony of Longford, in 1856. In 1906 this house was owned by Kate Watson and was valued at £33. Buildings are still extant at site though may have been modernised. The Clonbrock Estate Papers, Collection List 54 in the National Library contain early 19th century rentals of the Quansbury estate. In many documents the name of this house is spelt Quansbury but on the Ordnance Survey maps it is spelt Quainsborough.	Stowlin	Kilquain	Portumna	Kilquain 175	Longford	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.18349 -8.21692 OSI Ref: M855148 Discovery map #53. OS Sheet #107, 108.
Bermingham/Birmingham House (H1051) An 18th century house which was originally the seat of the Bermingham family, Barons Athenry and Earl of Louth. Occupied by Richard D'Arcy in 1814 and uninhabited in 1837. It was leased to John Irwin Dennis the following year and bought by him in 1851 from Clifford Trotter. Since then the house has been the home of the related families of Dennis, O'Rorke and Cusack Smith. The house and demesne were advertised for sale early in 2007. The Clonbrock Estate Papers, Collection List 54 in the National Library contain early 19th century rentals of the Bermingham estate.	Birmingham Demesne	Tuam	Tuam	Tuam Rural 222	Dunmore	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.52606 -8.80228 OSI Ref: M468 532 Discovery map #39. OS Sheet #30.

Archival sources

• Galway County Library: Minutes of evidence of Committee of Privileges on petition of Edward Bermingham of Dalgin, county Galway, to claim the title Baron of Athenry. London: [n.d].
• Irish Architectural Archive: Bermingham photos & press cuttings. 093/061 & 047/016
• National Archives of Ireland: Papers relating to the Bermingham family of Athenry, 1800. Lindsay Collection. Small Accessions Index, No. 10
• National Archives of Ireland: S.R. & C. Walker, solicitors' collection (1962), contains statement of case re title of Thomas Earl of Louthe to lands in baronies of dunmore & Clare, Co Galway. M.6101
• National Library of Ireland: Westport Estate Papers, Collection List 78
• National Library of Ireland: Pedigree of Birmingham, Barons Athenry and Earls of Louth and of Clondargin, Dalgen and Adergoole, Co Galway and of St. Sebastian, Spain, c 1200-1826. GO MS 170: 22-26 & 175-181
• National Library of Ireland: Pedigree of De Bermingham of Dalgin, c 1641-1750. GO MS 175: 104
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of royal licence to William Clifford Bermingham Trotter of Quansborough, Co Galway to take name Ruthven in lieu of Trotter, 1 Apr 1865. GO MS 152: 528-530
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of grant of arms to William B. Trotter, son of Thomas B. Trotter, on assuming name and arms of Ruthven, 29 Apr 1865. GO MS 109: 79-80
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of confirmation of arms to descendants of Clifford Trotter of Charleville Cottage, Co Wicklow and Lady Mary St Laurence, daughter of 2nd Earl of Howth, their grandson William Clifford Bermingham Trotter of Raheen, Co Galway, 5 Apr 1862. GO MS 108: 410-411
• National Library of Ireland: Clonbrock Papers, Collection List 54
• Public Record Office, Northern Ireland: Marriage agreement between Thomas Birmingham Trotter & Rosabelle Maria St. Clair, Dublin, re lands in Birmingham, Co Galway, 3 July 1838. T 662(143)

Contemporary printed sources

• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 69 (D'Arcy)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol II, 648
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland, 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 265
• TAYLOR, George & SKINNER, Andrew. Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783. Facsimile of 2nd edition. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1969: 211
• WILSON, William. The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 122 (Bermingham House), 138 (Queens-borough)

Modern printed sources

• Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society: KNOX, H. The Bermingham Family of Athenry. X (1917-1918), 139-154
• Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society: ORPEN, Goddard H. Notes on the Bermingham Pedigree. IX (1915-1916), 195-205
• Jnl. of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society: MOHR, Paul. The de Berminghams, Barons of Athenry. LXIII (2011), 43-56
• BENCE-JONES, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 41
• BURKE, Sir Bernard. A genealogical history of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire. London: Harrison, 1883: 48-49
• Reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Record Office, Ireland: Bermingham of Athenry. Vol 56

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