Landed Estates
University of Galway

Cronin (Park)

The Cronins, descended from a Gaelic family, appear to have been settled in the Killarney area since at least the early 18th century. The estate amounted to over 10,000 acres in Kerry by the 1870s following Daniel Cronin’s inheriting of the Coltsmann (Flesk Castle) estate in the mid-19th century. The representatives of Henry M. Cronin were the proprietors of over 700 acres at the same time. In 1854, over 7000 acres of this estate, in which members of the Coltsmann and Godfrey families also had an interest, were offered for sale in the Encumbered Estates Court. Purchasers of lots included Denis Shine Lawlor, The McGillycuddy and Dr. Maybury as well as lands purchased in trust. Further property, mostly in county Cork, was offered for sale in October of the same year. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation Daniel Cronin was one of the principal lessors in the parishes of Killaha, Kilnanare and Nohavaldaly, county Kerry, as well as the parish of Kilmocomoge, barony of Bantry, county Cork. His sister, Christina Duggan, formerly Cronin, was one of the principal lessors in the parishes of Kilnanare, Molahiffe and Nohavaldaly, barony of Magunihy, at the time of Griffith’s Valuation. In the 1870s she was the proprietor of over 700 acres in county Kerry. For over a century the Cronins had a lease from the Crown of lands in the parish of Nohavaldaly, barony of Duhallow, county Cork. When the lease expired in the early 1830s the property was placed in the care of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.

Associated Families

Houses

Name Townland Civil Parish PLU DED Barony County Map Ref  
Rath More House Rath More Kilcummin Killarney Kilnanare 83 Magunihy Kerry OSI Ref: W150929
OS Sheet: 60
Discovery map: 79
Park Park Killarney Killarney Killarney Rural Magunihy Kerry OSI Ref: V985907
OS Sheet: 66
Discovery map: 78
Knocknaseed Knocknaseed Nohavaldaly Killarney Coom 60 Magunihy Kerry OSI Ref: W158966
OS Sheet: 60
Discovery map: 79
Shinnagh House Shinnagh Nohavaldaly Killarney Rathmore Magunihy Kerry OSI Ref: W172927
OS Sheet: 68
Discovery map: 79
Flesk (Glenflesk) Castle Dromhumper Killarney Killarney Killarney Rural 67 Magunihy Kerry OSI Ref: V989899
OS Sheet: 67
Discovery map: 78 		Photo of Flesk (Glenflesk) Castle

Archival sources

  • Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Cronin, Coltsmann, Godfrey, 13 July 1854, Vol 30, MRGS 39/0013, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
  • Encumbered Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Cronin, Coltsmann, Godfrey, 10 October 1854, Vol 30, MRGS 39/0013, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
  • Confirmation of arms to Alfred Martin Duggan Cronin of Kimberley, South Africa, son of George Roche Cronin, with mention of descent from Denis Duggan of Mount Infant, Co. Cork, and Denis's wife, Frances Galway, niece of Daniel Cronin of Park, Co. Kerry, Dec. 3, 1924. GO Ms.111c, fol.57 ; National Library of Ireland
  • Irish Tourist Association Survey Files, 1942-43: Parish of Rathmore (Rath More Presbytery); Kerry Library, Local History & Archives Section

Contemporary printed sources

Modern printed sources