Shirley

The Shirleys descend from Sir Robert Shirley created Earl Ferrers in 1711. Like the Thynnes, Marquesses of Bath, they inherited their county Monaghan estate through their descent from Lady Dorothy Shirley, formerly Devereux, a sister of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex. The county Monaghan estate passed to the sons of the 1st Earl Ferrers’ second marriage following his death in 1711. George Shirley of Ettington, Warwickshire, was the grandfather of Evelyn John Shirley of Ettington and Lough Fea and his five brothers and three sisters. Evelyn J. Shirley commissioned the building of Lough Fea as an occasional home for the family in the 1820s. His nephew, George Morant junior, was agent to the estate in the early 1850s. His son, Evelyn Philip Shirley, owned a very large estate in the parishes of Magheross, Magheracloone, Donaghmoyne and Killanny in the mid 19th century, while his brother, the Reverend James Shirley, rector of Frettenham, held land in the same parishes except Magheross. In 1876 Evelyn P. Shirley owned 26,387 acres in county Monaghan while his uncle Sir Horatio Shirley of London owned 4,197 acres. During the 18th and 19th centuries the Shirleys were absentee landlords but in 1904 they came to live at Lough Fea on a permanent basis until 1977. In 1906, the Lough Fea had a rateable valuation of £102 and was occupied by the trustees of S.E. Shirley. The estate now comprises about 1,000 acres and is still owned by the Shirley family. See http://www.shirleyassociation.com/NewShirleySite/NonMembers/Ireland/loughfea.html

Associated Families

Houses

Name	Townland	Civil Parish	PLU	DED	Barony	County	Map Ref
Annahean House	Annahean	Killanny	Carrickmacross	Drumboory	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: N885975 OS Sheet: 34 Discovery map:
Raferagh	Raferagh	Magheross	Carrickmacross	Raferagh	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: H751037 OS Sheet: 30 Discovery map: 35
Derrylavan	Derrylavan	Magheross	Carrickmacross	Carrickmacross	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: H819027 OS Sheet: 31 Discovery map: 35
Belle Vue	Nafarty	Magheross	Carrickmacross	Carrickmacross	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: H836048 OS Sheet: 31 Discovery map: 35
Shirley House	Drummond Etra	Magheross	Carrickmacross	Carrickmacross	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: H839037 OS Sheet: 31 Discovery map: 35
Losset House	Losset	Magheracloone	Carrickmacross	Enagh	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: H821009 OS Sheet: 31 Discovery map: 35
Lough Fea House	Doohatty	Magheracloone	Carrickmacross	Lough Fea	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: H828022 OS Sheet: 31 Discovery map: 35
Doohatty	Doohatty	Magheracloone	Carrickmacross	Lough Fea	Farney	Monaghan	OSI Ref: H830019 OS Sheet: 31 Discovery map: 35

Archival sources

Songs sung and election addresses given in favour of Col Charles Powell Leslie and Evelyn J. Shirley at an election in Monaghan, 26 June 1826. Ms 1420; National Library of Ireland
Shirley Mss – 2 volumes numbered III and IV of original letters, mostly on private matters, addressed to Evelyn John Shirley, 1821-26 and 1827-33. Microfilm P 4068; National Library of Ireland
Shirley of Ettington Collection includes records relating to their Irish estate in Co Monaghan. The Irish estate papers include leases, maps, plans, prints, accounts, rentals, agents’ letters & other records re their estate at Lough Fea including a pamphlet on tenant right in the barony of Farney (CR464/165), 17th-19th century. CR 229, CR464, CR2131, CR2485, CR2747. CR229/120/7 contains a coloured view of house and grounds at Doohatty [Lough Fea].; Warwickshire County Record Office
Shirley of Ettington (& Lough Fea), deeds, family & estate papers, 1600-2000. D3531; Public Record Office, Northern Ireland
Morant of Brockenhurst Wills and Settlement – include records relating to the interest of George Morant the younger of Shirley House, Carrickmacross, in the Shirley estate, 1845-76. George Morant (1814-1874) was the eldest son of George Morant and Mary Shirley and agent to the Irish estate of the Shirleys . 6M80/F/B10-24; Hampshire Record Office
Wrest Park Manuscripts (de Grey family, Barons Lucas), include a letter from Lord Rossmore, Rossmore Park, to Earl de Grey, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, re violence on the Shirley estate and ways to prevent further outbreaks, 4 April 1843. L29/700/26/2; Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service
Marriage settlement of Evelyn Philip Shirley and Mary Clara Elizabeth Lechmere, 1842. T1172; Public Record Office, Northern Ireland
Seymour Papers at Longleat contain some records relating to the manor of Farney and Seymours, Sir Robert Shirley and others, 1649-1674. SE/Box XVI/70. SE/Box XVII/77, /79, /85.; Longleat Library and Archives
Shirley Estate - Valuation Survey of townlands A-D, 1851. Ref. 2016:158; Monaghan County Museum
Shirley Estate - Loan Book, March 1835-July 1846. Ref. 2016:161; Monaghan County Museum

Contemporary printed sources

''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Carrickmacross Union, 51, 69, 70, 81, 83, 108, 114
LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 275 & II, 331 (Lough Fea)
SHIRLEY, Evelyn Philip. ''The History of the County of Monaghan''. London: Pickering and Co, 1869: 272-284
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] : 411
PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 85 (Doohatty)

Modern printed sources

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. Reports on Private Collections: Report on Shirley Papers, Lough Fea, relating to the Shirley and Devereux families and to lands in Co Monaghan, No 142
''Analecta Hibernica'': Report on Shirley Papers, Lough Fea, relating to the Shirley family and to lands in the barony of Farney, Co Monaghan. No 20 (1958)
SHIRLEY, E.P. ''Some Account of the Territory and Dominion of Farney in the Province and Earldom of Ulster''. 1845 : All
COLLINS, Peter. ''County Monaghan Records in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland''. PRONI, Belfast, 1998: 143-172
BENCE-JONES, Mark. ''A Guide to Irish Country Houses''. Revised ed. London: Constable, 1988. : 192-193
MULLIGAN, Kevin V. ''The Buildings of Ireland South Ulster, Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan'', (New Haven and London, 2013): 411-417 (Lough Fea), 417 (Derrylavan)
''Clogher Record'': Ó MEARÁIN, Lorcán. Estate Agents in Farney: Trench & Mitchell. X, No 3 (1981), 405-413.
''Clogher Record'': DUFFY, Patrick J. Remarks on viewing the estate of John Shirley Esquire situate at Carrickmacross, in the Barony of Farney, in the County of Monaghan, Ireland, [1814]. XII, No 3 (1987), 300-304.
''Clogher Record'': DUFFY, Patrick J. Maps of Farney in Longleat, Wiltshire and Warwick County Record Office. XII, No 3 (1987), 369-371.
''Clogher Record'': DUFFY, Patrick J. Assisted Emigration from The Shirley Estate 1843-1854. XIV, No 2 (1992), 7-62.
''Clogher Record'': DUFFY, P. J. Management Problems on a large estate in Mid-Nineteenth Century Ireland: William Steuart Trench’s Report on the Shirley Estate in 1843. XVI, No 1, (1997), 101-122.
''Clogher Record'': MCMAHON, Theo and O’NEILL, Marie. The cottiers of the Shirley Estate in the civil parishes of Donaghmoyne, Killanny, Magheracloone and Magheross 1840-1847. XX, No 2 (2010), 243-286.
''Clogher Record'': MCLAUGHLIN, Trevor and O’REILLY, Stephanie, James and Simon. Migration to Australia mid-nineteenth century: emigration from the Shirley Estate at the time of the Famine. XX, No 2 (2010), 287-334.
''Clogher Record'': DUFFY, DR P.J. Farney in 1634 – An examination of John Raven’s survey of the Essex estate. XI, No 2 (1983), 245-256.
''Clogher Record'': DUFFY, Patrick J. A lease from the estate of the Earl of Essex 1624. XIII, No 3 (1990), 100-114.