Johnston (Williamstown and Bawnboy)
In the 1870s William Johnston of the Rent Office, Williamstown, county Galway, owned 584 acres in the parish of Templetogher, barony of Ballymoe, part of the estate of the McDermotts of Springfield at the time of Griffith's Valuation. He purchased his Williamstown estate from the Connollys in 1860. William Johnston had a brother Captain John Johnston, who owned an estate in county Cavan. William Johnson's nephew Robert Henry succeeded to both the Williamstown and county Cavan properties. Robert Henry Johnston was also a land agent and by the early 20th century controlled a number of estates in both counties Galway and Cavan. A strong supporter of the Orange Order he became heavily embroiled in disputes with tenants over land ownership. William Keaveney has written a book about Johnston's treatment of tenants on his wife's estate at Aughrim and his own estate at Williamstown, county Galway. Robert Henry Johnston was the eldest son of Captain John Johnston of Swanlinbar, county Cavan, who died in 1864, and his wife Isabella Eccles daughter of Captain John Jameson of Clonkeen, county Monaghan. In the mid-19th century Captain John Johnston of Mackan, parish of Kildallan, held an estate comprised of six townlands in the parish of Kildallan, county Cavan and his brother William held some land in the parish of Urney. In 1876, William Johnston of Bawnboy House owned 1,016 acres in county Cavan. In 1872, Robert Henry married Mary Elizabeth Blackstock and they had a son Arthur Henry. By 1904 their residence was Bawnboy House, county Cavan. Corville had also been the home of this family for a time. Robert Henry Johnstone of Bawnboy House died in 1934 and is buried in Templeport graveyard.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mackan | Mackan | Kildallan | Bawnboy | Diamond | Tullyhunco | Cavan |
OSI Ref: H284103
OS Sheet: 19 Discovery map: 27 |
Contemporary printed sources
- 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] : 236
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 296
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Bawnboy Union, 93 (Mackan)
- LEET, Ambrose. ''A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland''. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 278 (Mackan)
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: II, 79 (Mackan)