Cooke (Cooksborough)
By the end of the 17th century this family was established in county Westmeath following a grant of 1,152 acres in the barony of Moycashell in 1669. John Cooke, born 1656, in his will dated 5 May 1730, mentions his wife Elizabeth (Foster), his three sons and ten daughters, some of whom were married to members of the Reynell, Rotton, Daniel, Nugent and Hudson families. In 1745 his eldest son Robert married Mary Sandford of county Roscommon and they had two children Elizabeth who married Thomas Purdon of Huntington, county Westmeath and Robert (1752-1835) who married Maria Saunders of Castle Saunders, county Wicklow. Both Robert and Maria’s sons died unmarried in their father’s lifetime and the estate was left to Robert’s illegitimate son Adolphus Cooke. A soldier and eccentric Adolphus Cooke’s estate was mainly in the parish of Rathconnell but also in Killucan and Killulagh. In the mid-1870s he owned 4,557 acres in the county. He left his estate to Edward Michael Pakenham, a younger son of the 4th Earl of Longford. Following his death in 1876 there were legal disputes about his will with his cousin Dr Wellington Purdon and the estate was sold to pay the debts.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooksborough House | Cooksborough | Rathconnell | Mullingar | Cloghan 67 | Westmeath |
OSI Ref: N505545
OS Sheet: 20 Discovery map: 41 |
Archival sources
- An Act for giving effect to a compromise of suits affecting the Estates in the Counties of Westmeath and Dublin, in Ireland, late of Adolphus Cooke, deceased. 1878. Private Act (Printed), 41 & 42 Victoria I, c.; HL/PO/PB/1/1878/41& 42V1n283; Parliamentary Archives
- Brief account by Robert Cooke of the behaviour of rioters who cut down one of his trees in Rathconnell Wood to set up a May-pole in Mullingar, 1 May 1761. Ms 4587; National Library of Ireland
- Will of Robert Cooke of Cookesborough, PROB 11/1154/73; National Archives, UK
Contemporary printed sources
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of owners of land of one acre and upwards, in the several counties .... in Ireland''. HC 1876, LXXX: 83
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 209
- 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] : 96
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Mullingar Union, 197 (Cooksborough)
- LEWIS, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland''. London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837: II, 491
- 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: 62, 244
- LEET, Ambrose. ''A directory to the market towns, villages, gentlemen's seats, and other noted places in Ireland''. Dublin: Printed by B. Smith, 1814 : 124
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''Return of Untenanted Lands in Rural Districts, Distinguishing Demesnes on Which There is a Mansion...'', HC 1906, c, 177: 366
Modern printed sources
- Woods, James. ''Annals of Westmeath Ancient and Modern''. Dublin: Sealy, Bryers and Walker, (1907): 89
- BURKE, Sir Bernard. ''A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain and Ireland''. London: 1862-1863: I, 281
- O'Brien, Donal. ''The Houses and Landed Families of Westmeath''. The author, Athlone (2nd edition 2015): 54