Balfour (Westmeath)
This family descend from the Balfours of Castle Balfour, county Fermanagh. Following the marriage of Lucy Balfour with Blayney Townley of Piedmont, county Louth in 1692, their son Harry Townley inherited the Fermanagh estates and assumed the name of Balfour. The Fermanagh estate was later sold to the Earl of Erne. Harry’s brother Blayney Townley Balfour (1703-1788) married his cousin Mary, daughter and heiress of Hamilton Townley of Townley Hall, county Louth. Their grandson Blayney Balfour (1759-1856) of Townley Hall succeeded in 1788. In 1797 he married Lady Florence Cole, daughter of the 1st Earl of Enniskillen. Their eldest son Blayney Townley Blayney (1799-1882) married Elizabeth Catherine, daughter and heiress of Richard Molesworth Reynell of Reynella, county Westmeath. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation (publ. 1854) this family held land in the county Westmeath parishes of Leny and Rathconnell. In the mid-1870s Blayney Townley Balfour owned 1,623 acres in county Westmeath, 3,137 acres in county Louth, 1,453 acres in county Meath and smaller acreages in counties Armagh and Tyrone.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reynella | Reynella | Rathconnell | Mullingar | Clonlost 68 | Westmeath |
OSI Ref: N553582
OS Sheet: 13 Discovery map: 42 |
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Contemporary printed sources
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 82
- 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] : 18
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Mullingar Union, 204 (Reynella)