Dennis (Cork)
Hugo Read writes that in the mid 18th century John Dennis, a Quaker, was a timber merchant in Cork. He married Sarah Newenham and had an only child Elizabeth who married in 1763 Cooper Penrose. Through this marriage the Penroses inherited property in Cork city. Another member of this family was James Dennis, Baron Tracton of Tracton Abbey. Born in 1721 he was the son of John Dennis, a timber merchant of Kinsale and his wife Anne Bullen. James Dennis became a barrister and later a Member of Parliament. He was also legal adviser to the Earl of Shannon and in 1781 was made a Baron. In 1769 he married Elizabeth Piggott, daughter of Edmund Piggott of Chetwynd, county Cork. When Baron Tracton died in 1782 without an heir he left his estate in county Kerry to his eldest nephew the Reverend Meade Swift and his estates in counties Cork and Dublin to his other nephew John Swift, both of whom took the additional surname of Dennis. At the time of Griffith's Valuation James Dennis held an estate in the parishes of Carrigaline, Rathcooney and St Annes Shandon, barony of Cork, county Cork. In the 1870s the representatives of James Denis owned 1,029 acres in county Cork.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodhill | Ballinamought East | St Anne Shandon | Cork | Rathcooney 110 | Cork | Cork |
OSI Ref: W701 724
OS Sheet: 74 Discovery map: 87 |
|
| Tracton Abbey | Tubbrid | Tracton | Kinsale | Kilpatrick 200 | Kinalea | Cork |
OSI Ref: W731564
OS Sheet: 99 Discovery map: 87 |
|
| Chetwynd | Chetwynd | St Finbars | Cork | Inishkenny 70 | Cork | Cork |
OSI Ref: W647 680
OS Sheet: 86 Discovery map: 87 |
Archival sources
- Sarsfield Papers include documents re litigation re estate of James Dennis, Roscarberry, county Cork, 1732-1750. D 26,102; National Library of Ireland
- Shannon Papers. D/2707; Public Record Office, Northern Ireland
- Bull and Bull, solicitors, London (per British Records Association), deeds and other documents relating to the estates of the Dennis family, cos Cork, Dublin and Kerry, 1645–1910. 1095/1; National Archives of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 121
- 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] : 123
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Cork Barony, 66 (Chetwynd)
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 411 (Chetwin - Forrest)
Modern printed sources
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical history of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire''. London: Harrison, 1883: 165
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Ireland''. London: Harrison & Sons, 1904: 145
- MONTGOMERY-MASSINGBERD, Hugh (ed). ''Burke's Irish Family Records''. London: Burke's Peerage, 1976: 354-355
- ''Jnl. of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society''.: READ, Hugo. The Penroses of Woodhill, Cork: An Account of their Property in the City. 2nd Series, LXXXV (1980), 79-98
- BROWNE, McGOUGH & ROBERTS (eds). ''Tracton: where the abbey lies low''. ( Tracton, county Cork, 2007): James Dennis, Baron Tracton of Tracton Abbey (1721-1782)
- NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. Special Lists.: Summary Catalogue of material in deed boxes in the strong room of McGillicuddy, Darley & Orpen, solicitors, Kildare St, Dublin, include records re Dennis estate, Co Cork, c1700-1900 (unsorted collection in NA). Special List 350