Adams (Rathconnell)
Originally from Lincolnshire, this family descended from Reverend Ranulph Adams and his wife Maria Archdall. He came to Ireland in the mid-17th century and was granted lands in the baronies of Moyashel and Magheradernon and of Rathconrath, County Westmeath. He died in 1675. In 1703 Randal Adams of Dublin bought about 500 acres in the barony of Rathconrath for £300, formerly the estate of John Dalton, from the Trustees of forfeited estates. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation (publ. 1854) Francis Adams was one of the principal lessors in the parishes of Rathconnell and Mullingar, county Westmeath while William O’B. Adams MD held land in the parish of Castletownkindalen. The land in the parish of Mullingar was ‘in Chancery’. In November 1859, the 1,419 acre estate of Randall Adams in the barony of Moyashel and Maghereadernon was advertised for sale in the Land Court. In the mid-1870s Randal Adams of Deansfort, county Longford, owned 583 acres and William O’B Adams of Kingstown, Dublin, owned 712 acres in county Westmeath.
Associated Families
Houses
| Name | Townland | Civil Parish | PLU | DED | Barony | County | Map Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rathconnell Court | Rathconnell | Rathconnell | Mullingar | Castle | Westmeath |
OSI Ref: N466550
OS Sheet: 19 Discovery map: 41 |
Archival sources
- Landed Estates' Court Rentals (O'Brien), Adams, 18 Nov 1859, Vol 57 (32), MRGS 39/029, (microfilm copy in UG); National Archives of Ireland
- A rental and a collection of 9 maps of the estate of John Adams in County Westmeath, surveyed by Edward Wilson, with names of tenants, agreements, etc., 1681-97. Rental of the Westmeath estate of John Adams, August, 1697, edited by Rev. Paul Walsh in Analecta Hibernica, No. 10, 1941. Ms. 391; National Library of Ireland
- Thirty six documents concerning the family of Adams of Rathconnell, Co. Westmeath, including deed, will, rentals and legal papers in the case in Chancery of George and Elizabeth Dobbyn v. Francis Adams and others, 1697-1864. D. 26,410; National Library of Ireland
Contemporary printed sources
- PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. ''15th Annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Records Ireland,'' 1825. Vol XVI, Appendix I, Grants under Acts of Settlement: 52
- 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] : 3
- ''GRIFFITH'S VALUATION OF IRELAND'[Primary Valuation of Tenements]', 1850-1858. : Mullingar Union, 203
- 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: 244, 245
Modern printed sources
- O'Brien, Donal. ''The Houses and Landed Families of Westmeath''. The author, Athlone (2nd edition 2015): 166
- ''Analecta Hibernica'': WALSH, Paul. ‘The Adams Rental’. X, (July 1941), 1-9, 252, 253-286