Rochfort (Drumman and Sidebrook)
Other branches of the Rochfort family held land in county Westmeath besides the Earl of Belvedere at the time of Griffith’s Valuation (publ. 1854), including William Henry Rochfort who was descended from William Rochfort of Clontarf, county Dublin, a younger brother of the 1st Earl and his wife Henrietta Ramsay. William H Rochfort, born in 1795, had an interest in the lands of Drumman, 2,614 acres in the parish of Castlelost. However he was a spendthrift and womanizer and spent time in Fleet Street Prison due to the non-payment of his debts. Griffith’s Valuation records Drumman as being in the hands of the Court of Chancery as there was a legal case pending between William H Rochfort and his mother Mrs Brown. His assignees and others, including his son Rajphoot Runjheet Rochfort (a minor), were advertising the sale of Drumman in the Encumbered Estates Court in July 1857, with a fee farm rent out of Brannockstown or Bellfield in the parish of Enniscoffey. Another branch of this family appear to have lived at Sidebrook, parish of Castlelost. There is reference to George Rochfort of Sidebrook’s will 1786 in the list of Prerogative Wills. John Rochford of Sidebrook died in 1828. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation John Rochfort held a sizable portion of the 1,804 townland of Farthingstown from ‘Cooper’ [Cowper] Rochfort. In 1876 Robert Rochford of Sidebrook owned 815 acres in county Westmeath. The Irish Law Times of 4 December 1886, 574, refers to the bankruptcy of Eliza Rochford of Sidebrook, widow.
Associated Families
No associated families were found for this estate
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drumman Lodge | Drumman | Castlelost | Mullingar | Milltown | Westmeath |
OSI Ref: N494418
OS Sheet: 33 Discovery map: 48 |
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| Sidebrook House | Farthingstown | Castlelost | Mullingar | Castlelost | Westmeath |
OSI Ref: N473397
OS Sheet: 33 Discovery map: 48 |
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Archival sources
- Fitzmaurice Papers, VIII Rochfort Estate Papers 1678-1909 Ms 51,060/296-394; National Library of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: I, 300 (Drumman Lodge and Sidebrook)
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Mullingar Union, 127 (Drumman); 128 (Farthingstown)
- TAYLOR, George & SKINNER, Andrew. ''Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed in 1777 and corrected down to 1783''. Facsimile of 2nd edition. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1969: 74 (Sidebrook)
Modern printed sources
- WILSON, Frances. ‘‘The Courtesan’s Revenge’’. London; Faber and Faber Ltd, (2003),: 173-185
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical history of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire''. London: Harrison, 1883: 456
- O'Brien, Donal. ''The Houses and Landed Families of Westmeath''. The author, Athlone (2nd edition 2015): 100, 172