Barker/Ponsonby Barker

William Ponsonby Barker held estates in four counties in the 19th century. The Barkers acquired their Kilcooley Abbey estate, county Tipperary, through the marriage of Elizabeth Alexander and William Barker in the late 17th century. William Barker was granted over 3,300 acres in the barony of Pubblebrien, county Limerick in 1667 and over 1,300 acres in county Tipperary in 1678. He was also an estate of over 6,000 acres in county Down at this time. He was created a baronet in 1676. Sir William Barker, 3rd Baronet, married Mary, daughter of Valentine Quin of Adare, county Limerick and it was their grandson, Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby, who inherited the Barker estates and assumed the name Barker. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation the son of C.B. Ponsonby, William P. Barker, held an estate in county Limerick in the parishes of Croom and Kilkeedy, barony of Pubblebrien. His agents were the Reverend Richard Dickson of Vermont, county Limerick in the 1820s and 1830s and Robert Mason of Kilcooly in the 1840s. His county Tipperary estate was mainly located in the parish of Kilcooly, barony of Slievardagh but it was also situated in the parishes of Caher, barony of Iffa and Offa West and Kilmurry, barony of Iffa and Offa East, Modeshil and Mowney, barony of Slievardagh. His brother, Captain T. Ponsonby, held land in the parishes of Graystown and Modeshil, barony of Slievardagh. In the 1870s William P. Barker owned 8,184 acres in county Tipperary, 3,426 acres in county Limerick, 3,260 acres in county Kilkenny and 329 acres in county Kildare. In 1877 William Ponsonby Barker was succeeded by his brother, Thomas Henry Ponsonby, whose estate of over 2,200 acres in the baronies of Iffa and Offa West, Slievardagh and Eliogarty, county Tipperary and in counties Kilkenny and Dublin, was advertised for sale in June 1878.

Associated Families

Houses

Name	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Corcamore	Corcamore	Kilkeedy	Limerick	Clarina 55	Pubblebrien	Limerick	OSI Ref: R490 540 OS Sheet: 12 Discovery map: 65
Caherabbey House Upper	Caherabbey Upper	Caher	Clogheen	Caher 65	Iffa and Offa West	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S043 256 OS Sheet: 75 Discovery map: 74
Kilmurry Lodge	Ballynamona	Kilmurry	Carrick	Kilmurry 32	Iffa and Offa East	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S351 254 OS Sheet: 78 Discovery map: 75
Grangehill	Grangehill	Kilcooly	Urlingford	Kilcooly 174	Slievardagh	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S307 562 OS Sheet: 49 Discovery map: 67
Kilcooly Abbey	Kilcoolyabbey	Kilcooly	Urlingford	Kilcooly 174	Slievardagh	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S295 579 OS Sheet: 43 Discovery map: 67
George's Park	Kilcoolyabbey	Kilcooly	Urlingford	Kilcooly 174	Slievardagh	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S287 590 OS Sheet: 43 Discovery map: 67
Wilford	Shangarry	Mowney	Callan	Ballingarry	Slievardagh	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S303 454 OS Sheet: 55 Discovery map: 667
Willmount	Shangarry	Mowney	Callan	Ballingarry	Slievardagh	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S295 449 OS Sheet: 55 Discovery map: 67
Grove	Strike Upper	Coolmundry	Cashel	Peppardstown 44	Middlethird	Tipperary	OSI Ref: S230 337 OS Sheet: 70 Discovery map: 67

Archival sources

Thomas Ivers appellant v Sir William Barker in marriage agreement suit involving lands in Co Limerick. House of Lords Appeals, IV, 7; King's Inn Library
Sir William Barker v John & Joseph Damer & Nathan Evans re Barker estate in Co Limerick, mortgaged to Percy Freak & Edward Riggs & purchased by Thomas Ivers, Apr 1731. House of Lords Appeals, X; King's Inn Library
Ponsonby Papers, title deeds, estate and family papers, 17th-20th centuries.; Trinity College Dublin
Pedigree of Barker, Barts., of Bocking Hall, of Everley, Wiltshire, of Kilcooley, Co. Tipperary, c.1650 -- 1817. GO Ms.113, pp.449-52 ; National Library of Ireland
Rentals of the estates of William Barker in Cos. Tipperary and Kilkenny, 1843-4, 1851, 1850-60 and n.d., with burial certificate of Sir William Barker, Kilcooly parish, Co. Tipperary, Oct. 17, 1818. M.5390; National Archives of Ireland
Copy of grant of arms to Chambre Brabazon Ponsonby of Belmont in Kings County on his assuming under Royal Licence and in conformity with the will of his maternal uncle, Sir William Barker of Kilcooly Abbey, the name and arms of Barker, Dec. 20, 1818. GO Ms.106, p.112 ; National Library of Ireland
Estate and family correspondence of the Barker and Ponsonby families, c. 1725-1833. Microfilm P.5648 ; National Library of Ireland
Land Judges’ Court Rentals (O’Brien), Ponsonby, 18 June 1878, Vol 132 (26), MRGS 39/059, (microfilm copy in NUIG); National Archives of Ireland
Cathcart & Hemphill, solicitors' collection, includes miscellaneous documents re the estates in Co Tipperary & other counties of Chambre B. Ponsonby, 1782-1878. M.5738(1-25); National Archives of Ireland
Ponsonby Barker Papers, mainly leases from Chambre Brabazon Barker to tenants, 1828. TL/F/22; Tipperary Studies Research Library (Archives), Thurles

Contemporary printed sources

''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Barony of Pubblebrien, 25 (Corcamore)
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 146, 158, 168
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] : 19
ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, county Limerick: Parish of Kilkeedy, IV, 136-163
''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Barony of Iffa and Offa West, 21 (Caherabbey Upper)
''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Barony of Iffa and Offa East, 66 (Ballynamona)
''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Barony of Slievardagh, 77 (Grangehill & Kilcoolyabbey), 125 (Shangarry)
LEET, Ambrose. ''A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland''. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 230 (Kilcooly-abbey), 389 (Will-ford, Mr Richard Blackmore & Will-mount, Robert Lane)
LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: II, 71 (Kilcooly Abbey)
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 91, 196
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 288 (Kilcooly Abbey)
WILSON, William. ''The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland''. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 214 (Kilcooley Abbey)
ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Tipperary: Vol.I, Parish of Kilcooley, p.258. Vol.V, Parish of Kilmurry, p.187.

Modern printed sources

MONTGOMERY-MASSINGBERD, Hugh (ed). ''Burke's Irish Family Records''. London: Burke's Peerage, 1976: 961-962
NEELY, W.G. ''Kilcooley: Land and People in Tipperary''. Belfast: Universities Press (Belfast) Ltd.,1983: All
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. Reports on Private Collections: Ponsonby Papers, supplementary report includes reference to 31 letters from Rev Richard Dickson (agent for Co Limerick estate) & Stephen Dickson to members of the Barker & Ponsonby families, 1812-1838. Report No 470
HAYES, William and KAVANAGH, Art. ''The Tipperary Gentry''. Dublin: Irish Family Names, 2003 : 182-194
BENCE-JONES, Mark. ''A Guide to Irish Country Houses''. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 146-147 (Grove), 165 (Kilcooly)
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. Reports on Private Collections: Interim report on the Ponsonby Papers (from 1661), the property of Major G. T. Ponsonby, Kilcooly Abbey, Thurles, relating to the Ponsonby and Sherlock families, to lands in Co. Tipperary and to events in 1798. Report No 197
NOLAN, William. Patterns of living in County Tipperary from 1770 to 1850. In NOLAN, William (ed.) ''Tipperary: History and Society''. Dublin: Geography Publications, 1985: 288-314