Spenser

Edmund Spenser, the poet, was granted a large estate in county Cork by Queen Elizabeth I, based around Kilcolman Castle, parish of Doneraile, barony of Fermoy. Welply writes that the poet purchased his estate at Renny, parish of Kilcummer, barony of Fermoy. By the early 18th century his descendants held estates in counties Cork, Galway and Roscommon. The estates in counties Galway and Roscommon were acquired by his grandson William Spenser in the 17th century following their forfeiture by the Brabazon family. A deed in the Registry of Deeds documents the sale of the Renny estate by William's grandson Edmund Spenser to John Dillon of Quarterstown on 19 June 1733. In 1748 the remnants of the Connacht estate were sold to John Wallis of Dublin.