Estate: Fair (Fortville)

Associated Families

• Fair
• Browne/Dillon-Browne (Glencorrib)
• Cuff (Baron Tyrawley)
• Ruttledge
• Bowen
• Coyne/Kyne
• Trinity College, Dublin, Provost and Fellows

Description

In 1788 Robert Fair of Ballyjennings, parish of Kilmainemore, county Mayo, was leasing lands from a number of landlords including the farm of Toocananagh, near the village of Bohola, barony of Gallen, from Denis Daly; Ballyjennings and adjacent lands from Christopher Bowen of Hollymount and Ellistronbeg or Fortville from the Brownes of Glencorrib. He also had a share in a lease of the lands of Island, parish of Bekan, barony of Costello, from Francis Knox of Rappa. By 1809 he was able to buy the lands of Creggagh near Foxford from James Daly of Dunsandle, county Galway. It is likely that the Elizabeth Fair, who married Thomas Ruttledge of Bloomfield and Bushfield, was his sister. Two of his sons, John of Creggagh and Robert of Bushfield, married daughters of David Ruttledge of Tawnaghmore, parish of Kilbelfad, barony of Tirawley. Robert died in 1837 and left all his freehold property to his third son, Thomas of Fortville and later of Millmount, county Galway. His second son, Robert Fair of Carravilla and Bushfield, prospered and by the time of Griffith's Valuation had land in the parishes of Kilcommon, Kilmainemore and Robeen, barony of Kilmaine, Crossboyne and Mayo, barony of Clanmorris, county Mayo and barony of Ross, county Galway. He purchased in the Encumbered Estates' Court, parts of the estates of the Dillon-Brownes of Glencorrib, Marquess of Sligo, Henry Martin Blake of The Heath and Lord Oranmore and Browne. He had an only daughter, Jane, who married Thomas Ruttledge of Bloomfield. In 1876 Mrs Ruttledge Fair owned 2765 acres in county Mayo and 2799 acres in county Galway. Most of the Fair's estate was vested in the Congested Districts' Board on 29 May 1913.

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Bushfield (H437) The original house, now a ruin, was sometimes known as Creaghduff. Creaghduff was occupied by Burke esq in the 1770s. Thomas Ruttledge of Bloomfield made his will at Bushfield in 1797 and died there in 1805. Bushfield was the home of Arthur Knox and his wife Barbara, nee Lambert. Their daughter, Elizabeth, married Annesley Knox of Rappa Castle. Barbara married Charles White as her second husband and sublet the house to Robert Fair, son of Robert Fair of Fortville. It was valued at £15 the time of Griffith's Valuation. Robert Fair of Bushfield had an only daughter, Jane, who married Thomas Ruttledge of Bloomfield and their second son took the surname Ruttledge Fair. A new house was built in the 1920s and is the home of the Delaney family. Extensive remains of the original Bushfield farmyard survive at the site.	Bushfield	Kilcommon	Ballinrobe	Kilcommon 38	Kilmaine	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 53.63811 -9.06750 OSI Ref: M294 659 Discovery map #38. OS Sheet #119.
Carravilla (H438) There are actually two houses known as Carravilla and both are marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1838. The house located at M265 637 is named Carravilla House and is situated in a small demesne. The other, smaller, house is located at M262 641. Carravilla was occupied by Robert Fair in the 1830s. At the time of Griffith's Valuation William Ruttledge occupied Carravilla which he held from David Watson Ruttledge. Both houses are still extant.	Caheravoostia	Kilcommon	Ballinrobe	Kilcommon 38	Kilmaine	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 53.61795 -9.11082 OSI Ref: M265 637 Discovery map #38. OS Sheet #118.
Creggagh (H442) The house valued at £6 was held by John Fair at the time of Griffith's Valuation but was unoccupied. In 1894 Slater noted it as the seat of Major D.R. Fair. It was occupied in the early decades of the twentieth century but is now a ruin surrounded by forestry.	Creggagh	Toomore	Swineford	Toomore 104	Gallen	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 53.99289 -9.08571 OSI Ref: G288 054 Discovery map #31. OS Sheet #49.
Fortville (H443) Fortville was occupied by Robert Fair in 1814. At the time of Griffith's Valuation it was the residence of Anthony Kyne. Now the home of the Curran Flannery family, the Curran family having lived there since the 1910s.	Ellistronbeg	Kilmainemore	Ballinrobe	Kilmaine 24	Kilmaine	Mayo	Lat/Lon: 53.59538 -9.12232 OSI Ref: M257 612 Discovery map #38. OS Sheet #118.
Millmount House (H796) Thomas Phayre was leasing this property from the Earl of Clancarty's estate at the time of Griffith's Valuation. It also included a mill, herd's house and 150 acres. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage suggests it was built in the 1760s. It is still extant and occupied.	Gortnamacken	Kilchreest	Loughrea	Killogilleen 132	Dunkellin	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.18198 -8.63877 OSI Ref: M573148 Discovery map #52. OS Sheet #105.

Archival sources

• National Archives of Ireland: Will of Robert Fair, 5 June 1837. Thrift Abstracts 2028
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of grant of arms to Jane wife of Thomas Ruttledge of Cornfield, Hollymount, on her assuming name and arms of Ruttledge Fair, 26 Oct 1857. GO MS 108, 193-194
• National Library of Ireland: Copy of royal licence to Jane Ruttledge nee Fair, wife of Thomas Ruttledge of Cornfield, Co Mayo to use the surname Fair in addition to Ruttledge, 28 Aug 1857. GO MS 152, 280-282
• National Library of Ireland: Westport Estate Papers, rental of the estate of Major R Ruttledge Fair deceased for the year ending Nov 1919. MS 41,078/3
• Registry of Deeds: Sale of Creggagh, Daly to Fair, 1809. 609.220.421159

Contemporary printed sources

Many of these resources are now available online. For a list with Web links please see the Online Printed Sources Links

• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Ballinrobe Union, 99 (Bushfield)
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Loughrea Union, 31 (Millmount)
• HUSSEY DE BURGH, U. H. The Landowners of Ireland. An alphabetical list of the owners of estates of 500 acres or £500 valuation and upwards in Ireland. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Figgis, 1878. [available online at www.askaboutireland.ie] : 151
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 188 (Fortville)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol II, 67 (Bushfield/Knox), 67 &171 (Fortville)
• ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Mayo: Vol IV, 59 (Bushfield) & Vol V, 169 (Fortville)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. 24th Annual Report of the Congested Districts' Board for Ireland, [Cd 8356], HC 1916, vi, 564-586. Appendix VIII: 52
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 308

Modern printed sources