Estate: Bodkin (Kilcloony)

Associated Families

• Bodkin (Kilcloony)
• Bermingham/Birmingham (Baron Athenry, Earl of Louth)
• Irish Land Purchase and Settlement Company

Description

The Kilcloony estate, parish of Tuam, barony of Dunmore, county Galway, was granted to Edward Bodkin by Francis Bermingham 21st Baron Athenry and James Daly in 1759. The Bodkin estate included lands in the parishes of Dunmore, Tuam and Liskeevy. The family had close links with Galway city, where they owned Rahoon House. The Bodkin's property in the town of Galway was advertised for sale in 1850. An 18th century member of the family was Valentine Bodkin, Warden of Galway. John J. Bodkin was one of the principal lessors in the parish of Fohanagh, barony of Kilconnell, at the time of Griffith's Valuation. His property in that area included a steward's house valued at £3 and 600 acres which were leased to Thomas O'Connor. John J. Bodkin was a Member of Parliament for county Galway from 1835 to 1847. In the 1870s his son John Bodkin owned 2,312 acres in county Galway. The Kilcloony estate was bought by the Irish Land Purchase and Settlement Company in 1884 for £43,000. Mohr writes that this was the only purchase of the company. Charles Stewart Parnell was its Chairman. Thomas Bodkin became Director of the National Gallery in the mid 20th century. see http://www.viovio.com/travel/102148193

Houses

House Name / Description	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Rahoon House (H721) In 1786 Wilson refers to Rahoon as the seat of Mr. French. In the early 19th century it was a Bodkin house, occupied by Roderick O'Connor at the time of the first Ordnance survey. It was held in fee by Thomas C. Dickson at the time of Grifith's Valuation and valued at £27. This house was bought by Kennedy O'Brien in the early 1870s and remained in his family's possession until the 1930s. Buildings are still extant at the site.	Rahoon	Rahoon	Galway	Barna 44	Galway	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.27305 -9.09137 OSI Ref: M272 253 Discovery map #45. OS Sheet #94.
Pallas (H964) At the time of Griffith's Valuation John J. Bodkin was leasing a property at Pallas, parish of Fohanagh, to Thomas O'Connor. The house was valued at £3 but was accompanied by over 600 acres.	Pallas	Fohanagh	Mountbellew	Annagh 143	Kilconnell	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.39777 -8.40594 OSI Ref: M730387 Discovery map #47. OS Sheet #61.
Quarrymount (H1047) Built in the 1830s, Quarrymount [also known as Kilcloony] was the home of the Bodkin family in the latter half of the 19th century and is reputed to have replaced an early home in the nearby townland of Ardnagall. The house was leased to Edward O'Kelly in 1881 for 31 years. By the early 20th century it was in the hands of the Congested Districts' Board and passed onto the Land Commission who sold the house and 220 acres to the Gordon family. In 1971 Henry Gordon sold the house and remaining 20 acres. The house has been extensively renovated in the early 21st century by the Costellos. For photograph of the house see http://homepage.eircom.net/~qvc/page29.html	Quarrymount	Dunmore	Tuam	Doonbally 196	Dunmore	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.59657 -8.87159 OSI Ref: M423 611 Discovery map #39. OS Sheet #16.
Siller House (H1048) On the 1838 Ordnance Survey map Siller House is marked as a substantial residence in the townland of Kilcloony. However by the time of Griffith's Valuation there was no house of more than £2 valuation in the townland of Kilcloony. There is no house at this location on the 25-inch Ordnance map of the 1890s.	Kilcloony	Tuam	Tuam	Doonbally 196	Dunmore	Galway	Lat/Lon: 53.58948 -8.85785 OSI Ref: M432 603 Discovery map #39. OS Sheet #16.

Archival sources

• Galway County Library: Encumbered Estates Court Rental, Bodkin, 5 Aug 1850, Galway Town. D1052
• Irish Architectural Archive: Quarrymount photos & document entitled "Quarrymount House, an uncertain future". 054/011
• National Archives of Ireland: Landed Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Bodkin, 6 June 1884, Vol 147, MRGS 39/065, (microfilm copy in NUIG)
• National Archives of Ireland: Documents relating to Bodkin property in city and county of Galway, 1676. M.6863
• National Archives of Ireland: Bodkin Papers, papers and photographs re family of Bodkin of Tuam, especially Thomas Bodkin, Director of the National Gallery, 1820-1985. Private Accessions No. 1155
• National Archives of Ireland: Will of John Bermingham, 1802. T.10823
• National Library of Ireland: Glynn Notebook, copies of deeds and documents re the Bodkin family, Tuam area, 17th & 18th centuries. MS 4183
• National Library of Ireland: 33 deeds re affairs of Bodkin & Clarke families, Co Galway, 17th-19th centuries. D 10,266-10,298
• National Library of Ireland: Ordnance Survey maps showing lands in non congested districts: Kilcloony estate, 529 acres in barony of Dunmore, Co Galway, 1907. 15.A.23(12)

Contemporary printed sources

• DUTTON, Hely. Statistical and agricultural survey of the county of Galway. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1824. : 415
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND, 1850-1858. : Mountbellew Union, 9.
• GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND, 1850-1858. : Tuam Union, 132 (Quarrymount)
• HARDIMAN, James. The history of the town and county of the town of Galway. Galway: The Connacht Tribune, revised edition 1985: 316
• 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: 42
• LEET, Ambrose. A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 229 (Kilcloony) & 326 (Rahoon)
• LEWIS, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: Vol I, 586 (Quarrymount), 648 (Rahoon - O'Connor) & Vol II, 648 (Kilcloony)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion..., HC 1906, c, 177: 339 (Quarrymount - CDB)
• PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland. HC 1876, LXXX: 293
• 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: 90 (French)

Modern printed sources

• Jnl. of the County Kildare Archaeological Society: FITZGERALD, Walter. The origins of the Bodkin family of county Galway. I (18911895), 204
• Jnl. of the Galway Family History Society : Galway Roots: MULLOY, Christy. The Bodkins of Kilclooney. IV (1996), 75-78
• Jnl. of the Old Tuam Society: MOHR, Paul. Landlords, politics and dining: A window into North Galway/South Mayo society during the decade before the Famine. Jots 2 (2005), 31-38
• MOHR, Paul. John Birmingham Esq. Tuam and Ireland's New Star. Co Galway: Millbrook Nova Press, 2002: 99-101
• MOLLOY, Christy. Milltown Sketches. [The author], 1995: 149-158
• O'DOWD, Peadar. Old and New Galway. Galway, Ireland : Archaeological, Historical & Folklore Society : Regional Technical College and The Connacht Tribune, 1985: 121 (Rahoon)

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