Dawson/Massy-Dawson (Ballynacourte)
In 1666 John Dawson was granted an estate of over 2,900 acres in county Tipperary including the castle of Ballinecourte. In 1703 James Dawson of Ballynecourty, county Tipperary, purchased land in the baronies of Coonagh and Clanwilliam, county Limerick and Clanwilliam, county Tipperary, part of the confiscated estate of King James II. The 1st Baron Massy married as his first wife, Mary Dawson, daughter and heiress of James Dawson of Ballynacourty. Their second son, James (born 1736), assumed the additional surname of Dawson and his family succeeded to Ballynacourty. The estate of Reverend John Massy Dawson, grandson of James, is recorded as the immediate lessor of at least 20 townlands in the parish of Clonbeg, barony of Clanwilliam, at the time of Griffith's Valuation, though he himself died in 1850. His estate also held land in the parishes of Clonbullogue and Killardry, barony of Clanwilliam and Ballybacon, barony of Iffa and Offa West. In the 1870s his brother, George Staunton King Massy Dawson of Ballinacourty, owned 19,093 acres in county Tipperary.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballynacourty | Ballynacourty | Clonbeg | Tipperary | Clonbeg 147 | Clanwilliam | Tipperary |
OSI Ref: R857 294
OS Sheet: 73 Discovery map: 74 |
|
| Woodville | Mackanagh Lower | Clonbeg | Tipperary | Clonbeg 147 | Clanwilliam | Tipperary |
OSI Ref: R876 291
OS Sheet: 74 Discovery map: 74 |
|
| Glenbrook Cottage | Tooreen | Clonbeg | Tipperary | Clonbeg 147 | Clanwilliam | Tipperary |
OSI Ref: R872287
OS Sheet: 73 Discovery map: 74 |
|
| Cappagh (Clanwilliam) | Cappauniac | Clonbulloge | Tipperary | Killadriffe 148 | Clanwilliam | Tipperary |
OSI Ref: R985294
OS Sheet: 75 Discovery map: |
Archival sources
- Large collection of solicitors' records including documents re the Massy & Dawson families, 19th century. E.J.French solicitor's collection, Small Accessions Index 8 ; National Archives of Ireland
- Miscellaneous Massy-Dawson family correspondence,1810-1893. WRO 1915/41-42 ; Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office
- Typescript copy will of George King Staunton Massy Dawson, Ballinacourte, Co. Tipperary, 14 Jan. 1893, with codicils. 999/186/1; National Archives of Ireland
- Baker, Ringwood & Gordon, solicitors' collection, includes Massy Dawson Papers - wills, deeds from 1670, abstracts of title to various estates in Cos Limerick & Tipperary, legal papers, rentals, acccounts, stock book for Ballynacourte, wage accounts, family papers - all connected to administration of estate of George King Staunton Massy Dawson, a lunatic. Small Accs. Index 105, T.11,887-11,888, T.12,199-12,207, D.23,223-23,243, M.4461-4478; National Archives of Ireland
- Baker, Ringwood & Gordon, solicitors' collection, includes fee farm grant of 270 acres in East Keile, barony of Clanwilliam, Michael Head of Derry to John Dawson of Ballynecourty, 3 Mar 1738. Small Accs. Index 105, D.21,038 ; National Archives of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix III. Abstracts of the conveyances from the trustees of the Forfeited Estates and Interests in Ireland in 1688'.: 350, 351, 354, 357
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Clanwilliam Barony, 12 (Ballynacourty), 21 (Mackanagh Lower), 26 (Tooreen)
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 350 (Ballinacourty & Woodville)
- 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] : 311
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 161
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 55
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 290 (Ballynacourty & Mackanagh Lower)
- SLATER, Isaac. ''Royal National Directory of Ireland: List of the principal seats''. (Manchester: 1894) : xxii, 171 (Ballynacourty)
- WILSON, William. ''The Post-Chaise Companion or Travellers Directory Through Ireland''. The author: Dublin, 1786 : 364 (Cappagh)
- ORDNANCE SURVEY NAME BOOKS, County Tipperary: Vol.I, Parish of Ballybacon, 194, 204. Vol.II, Parish of Clonbeg, p.201-202, 221-230.
- BATEMAN, John. ''The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland''. London: Harrison, 1883. : p.123
Modern printed sources
- MOSLEY, Charles (ed). ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage''. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999: II, 1878-1882
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland''. London: Harrison & Sons, 1904: 137
- BENCE-JONES, Mark. ''A Guide to Irish Country Houses''. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 25 (Ballynacourty)
- ''Tipperary Historical Journal'': MARNANE, Denis G. A Tipperary Landlord's Diary of the 1860s. (1991), 121-128